TODAY Argus Sport gets under the skin of Welsh rugby. We begin a week-long investigation into the state of our national game - the people's game.

The country's morale was brought to an all-time low with the record 54-10 Six Nations defeat by Ireland five weeks ago.

We were cruelly exposed as the 'sick' nation of the Six Nations - the catalyst for coach Graham Henry's departure and the future was quickly clouded in uncertainty. The Kiwi - hailed as The Great Redeemer - arrived in a brave bid to make us a power in world rugby again.

The courting was over, Henry was here to stay...we thought. A glorious honeymoon saw Wales chalk up a record-equalling 10 successive victories and all seemed well.

But just over three-and-half-years later, dire problems were revealed with the marriage and ultimately the love affair ended in a desperate divorce.

Henry had found Wales' club structure in an almighty mess, no sponsor for the Welsh/Scottish League and his 'in-laws', the Welsh Rugby Union, in £50 million worth of debt over the family Millennium Stadium home.

Henry campaigned unsuccessfully for the re-birth of the Welsh game. He promptly called for fewer teams and the introduction of regional rugby as the performances of our top stars were found wanting week in, week out against top-notch opposition.

Not one Welsh team reached the semi-finals of the Celtic League in its inaugural season and only one - Llanelli - made it to the last four of the lucrative Heineken Cup.

To rub salt into already sore wounds, the fast-improving Irish clashed with the Welsh over their refusal to expand the Celtic League. Who can blame them?

The cracks in Welsh rugby are there for everyone to see and they're getting alarmingly wider.

Even as recently as Saturday, we revealed how next month's Six Nations clash against Scotland could be wrecked by the withdrawal of our top players.

The self-styled Gang of Six - which includes Newport - are threatening to take their ball home and sound the deathknell for bedrock clubs like our very own Ebbw Vale and Neath.

Sir Tasker Watkins' report into the state of the game had already signalled the ripples of discontent flowing through it...and the rugby river runs deep. The WRU president wants reform for the union itself - echoing thousands of dissenting voices in the local clubs, factories, offices, pubs and bakers' shops up and down the country.

OUT should go the famed committee men, he said. OUT with the numerous closed meetings which rarely yield the right results on the field.

IN should come an executive board to take up the reins he said. IN with a chief executive to oversee the whole show and a marketing arm to attract the sponsorship that's so desperately needed, he went on.

His vision was a shot in the arm for every fan. A shock for the WRU. If proof was ever needed that reform was necessary, the sight of 14,000 empty seats at the Millennium Stadium for the Six Nations clash against Italy was it. The Welsh public voted with its feet, disillusioned, discontent and distraught by the dismal demise. Deep down it hurt because the people of this proud nation care passionately that the red tide does rise up again and claims its silk-covered seat among the kings sitting at world rugby's top table.

But with our neighbours England, France and Ireland striding forward, the reality is we're in danger of being the red and white-clad court jester who's fallen unwittingly onto the dusty floor.

We insist that the custodians of the modern, professional era take urgent, pro-active action now to cement the foundations of a structure which will give reason for future generations of Welsh rugby fans to rejoice on a Saturday afternoon in Cardiff.

We begin today by putting our questions to the man right at the top of Welsh rugby, Glanmor Griffiths - WRU chairman and treasurer plus Millennium Stadium chief. And each day this week, our team of experienced rugby writers will take an in-depth look at the structure of the game on our borders and around the world.

How did they reinvent themselves? When did the revolution begin and how? We intend to bring you the reader - and loyal supporter - the answers, and prove there is a way forward. Wales can become a great rugby nation again. It matters to so many, it simply has to.