THERE are times in your life, special occasions, when you know you will one day look back and say 'I was there'.

Top of my particular list would be that never-to-be-fogotten epic between the Barbarians and New Zealand in 1973.

Then there were those golden days of the seventies when Wales swept all before them on a tide of sheer brilliance.

Not much to write home about in the eighties. But in more recent times there were those memorable wins by Wales in France for the first time for 24 years and that last ditch Wembley win against England as they were set to be handed the championship trophy. And then came Saturday night, an unusually balmy night in the north-east of England, and what a barmy night it was!

Newport were meant to be little more than cannon fodder for Newcastle, the English cup holders expected to triumph over their Welsh counterparts. But Newport had other ideas as they took the game to one of the more recent arrivals on the rugby front.

In the process they showed what a great Welsh club, around for many more years than Newcastle, could really do.

And it was a slap in the face for all those who believe the Zurich Premiership is far stronger than the Welsh/Scottish League.

It reflects great credit on the Newport team and management. Coach Ian McIntosh has been insisting from day one there is a lot to come from the side. How right he is, and he gently reminded me that I was the one with the doubts over his team selection for Newcastle.

And what a triumph for club backer Tony Brown, who brought the South African over here. Privately Brown believes it is as big a signing for the club as Gary Teichmann. No-one will argue.

Bath and the cup final were great days, but Brown was literally bursting at the seams in Newcastle on Saturday night after the performance and the way the fans reacted. Now the task is to keep feet on the ground and start again with Toulouse at Rodney Parade on Saturday night. Rest assured, McIntosh will insist on precisely that.

Welsh clubs can also teach their English rivals a thing or two on the organisational front. What club here would accept a wedding reception on the same day as a Heineken Cup match, thus denying fans access to their main bar?

What Welsh club would so childishly play that old pop song 'Bye-Bye Baby, Bye-Bye' as a visiting forward was leaving the field having been yellow carded when the departure of one of their own players was greeted with silence?

Newcastle did both and they also print their programmes a month in advance even if there are several home games in that period.

Hence the howler on Saturday about how Newport had been strengthened by the arrival of Joost van der Westhuizen. Ebbw Vale also complained that they were segregated from the French at the Agen post-match dinner on Saturday night and even had different food! So all those who write off Welsh clubs are sadly mistaken and even more sadly, some of those are from within.

That wretched BBC2 Wales television programme Scrum V has a lot to answer for in that respect.

Having witnessed such a stirring performance by Newport in the north-east and marvelled at Llanelli's wake-up call to European and English champions Leicester, not to mention a few other Welsh wins, it was to Scrum V that I turned to wallow when I got home from Newcastle.

Not a bit of it. What did we get instead? Nothing other than yet more ego massaging from former Welsh players turned pundits and an interview with the Wales team manager, the programme blatantly advertising his own product in his firm's back yard.

And what were they all going on about? The demise of Welsh rugby, the need to throw as many as four leading Welsh clubs to the wolves and how the future is bleak unless they do.

And that on the back of terrific performances by just about all the Welsh clubs in Europe. What a disgrace!

If you ask me it's all about the Welsh team management, one or two club owners, a few former internationals and some muck raking writers all trying to promote themselves and seeking excuses before the forthcoming internationals.

The real powers that be, the Welsh Rugby Union and the clubs themselves, ought to have no truck with this rubbish.

MASTERMIND: Newport coach Ian McIntosh who plotted the downfall of Newcastle Falcons in the Heineken Cup