TODAY we continue Argus Sport's inquiry into Welsh rugby with a look at how other countries have reformed the way they run the game. Here Andrew Baldock, the Press Association's Rugby Union correspondent, looks at how England have become the top side in the world.

WRU must learn from England's bitter civil war ENGLAND have won successive Six Nations titles, a Five Nations Championship, three Triple Crowns and topped the official world rankings since rugby union's amateur barriers came crashing down in 1995.

They've also beaten reigning world champions Australia twice, the Wallabies' fellow Tri-Nations heavyweights South Africa four times and drawn with New Zealand. Not bad for a country that did its utmost to self-destruct through a bitter civil war and an endless political power struggle.

You name it, and English rugby probably experienced it at some time during the last six years - rows, court action, Five Nations expulsion (twice), a European boycott and an international players' strike just for starters.

And if the game in Wales is, as it would appear, heading down a similarly rocky path, then Glanmor Griffiths and his Welsh Rugby Union colleagues could do worse than consult some of their English counterparts, who've been there, read the book and worn the T-shirt.

Not until last summer was peace finally declared - an eight-year agreement between the English Premiership clubs and the Rugby Football Union prompting sighs of relief from Cornwall to Cumbria.

England Rugby Limited, a 50-50 venture comprising five RFU directors and five from the Premiership clubs, now effectively runs the elite game, while players' interests are overseen by Premier Rugby Partnership, a joint initiative between clubs and the Professional Rugby Players' Association.

And you know the best thing of all? Whisper it quietly, but it's working. Partnership is the key word - the days of walking egos and inflated self-opinions have gone. Those who couldn't have their own way threw their toys out of the pram and sulked off into the distance. Good riddance.

After many false starts, English rugby now has a workable business plan at the top level and a slick, streamlined management team to run it.

The WRU must surely go the same way if it is to have any chance of prospering in the professional game. It needs to remove an archaic committee structure, shunt the gravy train into the sidings and follow England's example.

Talk of a players' strike, to coincide with next month's Six Nations clash between Wales and Scotland, is borne from frustrated club owners disillusioned about progress - or the complete lack of it - on the game's future as a professional sport.

Tough decisions need to be taken, but it's also about compromise and a rational approach at the negotiating table. There must be give and take on both sides, otherwise professional rugby in Wales will implode.

And getting the structure right is far more important than Wales beating Scotland at the Millennium Stadium on April 6. It is about seeing the bigger picture, planning for the future and putting in place people who can implement successful business and management strategies - as opposed to those only concerned with the next WRU freebie.

Until that happens, and the clubs-WRU relationship is about co-operation rather than one based on suspicion and hidden agendas, Wales will continue to fall further and further behind the only five countries currently capable of winning a World Cup - Australia, New Zealand, England, France and South Africa.

The WRU could appoint any coach in the world as Graham Henry's successor - and break the bank to get him - but if the structure isn't right, then what hope has he got of long-term success?

English rugby certainly learnt the hard way. Within a year of the International Rugby Board declaring the sport "open," England had been booted out of the Five Nations for negotiating their own £87.5 m TV deal with Sky. They were reinstated two months later. Then came the primacy of contracts row over international players between clubs and the RFU, regularly interrupted by some despairing financial results as the game struggled to cope.

In October, 1997, Saracens reported a £2.2m loss, prompting club owner Nigel Wray to admit: "If I'd known how much it was going to cost, then I would have thought twice about getting involved." Bristol too, were in the mire, losing almost £500,000 before eventually going into receivership and being rescued by lifelong Bath fan Malcolm Pearce.

Row after row, controversy after controversy raged unabated. There was a mass English boycott of the 1998/99 Heineken Cup and European Shield tournaments, another brief Five Nations expulsion in January, 1999 (that dispute was settled over a pie and a pint in a Glasgow pub) and Second Division Rotherham taking the RFU to the High Court over Twickenham's right to reduce Premiership club numbers.

Then came Tom Walkinshaw's 16-team British League plan, tabled around the same time as Rob Andrew's franchise-led RFU blueprint, more arguments and more threats as English rugby couldn't decide which way to go.

But perhaps most damaging - and certainly embarrassing - of all was the England players' strike of November, 2000, a 24-hour stoppage called because of a pay dispute with the RFU.

Just when everyone thought they had seen it all, hardened rugby hacks were left blinking in disbelief at the surreal sight of Martin Johnson and Lawrence Dallaglio filling the role of shop stewards.

It was the moment when English rugby became a laughing stock, and arguably the moment when a collective will surged througt the red rose game and said: "No more."

Eight months later peace was declared, at last giving the game firm foundations. The whole six-year struggle had been painful and with only one loser - English rugby. Welsh rugby cannot allow itself to go the same way - believe me, it was no fun for anyone.