THE row over regional rugby will not go away even if Wales did perform encouragingly against world champions Austra-lia - though that was put in perspective by England's monumental victory over the All Blacks in their own back yard.

It might be mid-summer when domestic rugby is hardly at the forefront, but before long there's going to be an almighty bust-up in Welsh rugby.

And the blame must be laid firmly at the door of the Welsh Rugby Union and David Moffett in particular.

It's all very well for Steve Hansen to have a go from the other side of the world at those who left him with a certain legacy.

He can claim that Wales were trying to run nine professional teams when a country like Australia have three, and he can hit back at former players who criticise when they also left him with a certain legacy.

But what of the current men at the top like himself and Moffett with salaries of over £200,000 a year as a nice little nest egg? What will be their legacy?

At the moment that legacy is an absolute mess at the top end of Welsh rugby. While agreeing that things couldn't stay as they were with nine clubs because the game was hurtling towards bankruptcy, what are they leaving in its place?

A complete and utter shambles is the answer. They have presided over a system which is doomed to failure, and I make no apology whatsoever for the negative attitude some involved even with the new so-called Gwent region will accuse me of adopting.

As soon as Moffett (and Hansen did not demur) agreed to five teams, two of them clubs and three merged teams, he was on a loser.

I'm not going to blame either Cardiff or Llanelli for standing up for their rights and insisting on being stand alone clubs. They were doing what they should have. I only wish Newport had adopted the same attitude.

That is not being selfish, Messrs Moffett and Hansen, but merely trying to protect more than a century of tradition.

But it was palpably wrong to allow just two clubs privileged status. It was all or nothing, not the hopeless compromise we've got now.

How on earth can two super clubs and three mergers work? The answer is it can't and it won't.

The results are painfully obvious already with no agreement between the three supposed regional teams, deadlock on everything from the name of the teams to the colours, to the retaining of staff and the whole infrastructure.

It's all a total mess. The system should have been either four equally merged teams or nothing at all.

Four teams on an equal footing would have stood a chance of succeeding, but five mixed up is hopeless.

No wonder Cardiff have launched their new team. That was easy as nothing has changed apart from the wonderfully innovative title of Cardiff Blues. Now that's going to ruffle a lot of feathers and put a lot of faces out of joint, I must say.

The combined teams have yet to announce anything and until the names are known then little can progress, be it marketing, sponsorship or season ticket arrangements.

Players are waiting in some cases to know where they stand while supporters are completely in the dark. As I said, a shambles.

All Moffett and Hansen can do is complain about the cards they have been dealt while setting up a system which is going to serve no-one properly.

It's not New Zealand, it's not Australia, this is Wales with its own history, in some cases distinguished, of Welsh club rugby.

Cast that aside properly and fairly, and maybe, just maybe, people will be carried with it. But allow two to remain while others are expected to throw everything away is nothing more than a recipe for disaster.

Moffett did not have the will or the courage to take two Welsh rugby giants on, yet the rest are expected to just fall into line.

Supporters throughout Wales won't have it. Disaffected fans from Newport, Bridgend, Pontypridd, Neath and Swansea are up in arms about it all, and you can't blame them.

Now Moffett is going to return from holiday next week with the roof about to fall in over his head. He's got a hell of a lot to sort out and I wouldn't bet much on his ability to succeed.