Rugby stalemate

The meeting he called yesterday to settle the long-running and acrimonious dispute over the name of the new Gwent regional side broke up in failure.

Moffett, pictured, will now report to the WRU board on Thursday, without any recommendation, and they will decide the next course of action.

Whether that will be to impose a name, triggering a probable Newport decision to walk away from the process and for benefactor Tony Brown to carry out his threat to quit Welsh rugby remains to be seen.

But the impasse cannot continue indefinitely as the new region's business and marketing arrangements have to be put into place and the Heineken Cup and Celtic League programmes implemented.

Newport admitted after yesterday's meeting there was a real danger of the Gwent region collapsing. Ebbw Vale chief Marcus Russell declined to comment until further talks with Moffett.

A frustrated Moffett would not arbitrate over the name yesterday, saying: "I don't see that as my job. I would like to think they'd be able as responsible people to sort it out themselves."

But he admitted, "There is no prospect of that. It so happens we have a board meeting on Thursday and I will take it there.

"The matter will be discussed and we'll see what comes out of it. I'm not predicting one thing or another."

But Newport director and spokesman Martin Hazell made it clear today that without Newport in the title club benefactor Tony Brown would not fund the new region.

With players and other staff due to be paid for the first time next week and with no money from the WRU yet, that, he said, would leave the Gwent region in tatters.

"If anything the meeting yesterday was a step backwards. The WRU sat on the fence completely," he said. "I would like to know who is going to pay the salaries for all the players in this region?

"Tony Brown has said he is not going to fund somebody else's ball game and Newport are not going to.

"It's going to cost the WRU about £500,000 to start off this region and I said to David Moffett 'are you willing to let someone walk away who is willing to pay all this salary?'

"The whole thing's a horrible mess. All we can do is let it all go to pot and see who's prepared to try to pick the pieces up."

Moffett said he had intervened yesterday because of the impasse but never intended to make the decision for the two sides.

He said: "The Welsh Rugby Union agreed with all the regions that they would select their own names and colours. However, where there is an impasse, I would see if there was a role for the WRU to play.

"On this occasion the two parties are agreed on quite a lot. They are agreed on the colours, they are agreed the games should be played at Rodney Parade, which I would have thought was a good thing, but the one thing they are still unable to agree on, and there is no prospect of agreement, is the name.

"You have one party saying they will not accept Newport in the name and another party saying they won't accept a name without Newport in it."

At yesterday's meeting Moffett received the petition signed by over 10,000 people, including MPs and MEPs, supporting the Newport name's inclusion in the regional title.

And Newport city council yesterday stepped into the row, voting to support the campaign.

Moffett said: "I've received the petition and I'm not surprised at the numbers and I applaud the amount of work that went into it.

"But equally I've had e-mails saying they could easily get 15,000 signatures opposing the use of the name Newport in the Gwent region.

"We are talking about the region and regional rugby and it is a matter that should be able to be resolved by these two entities."