YOU couldn't dream it up, could you? Welsh rugby descends into anarchy less than a year after Wales won the Grand Slam for the first time for 27 years to send the entire nation into raptures.
It could only happen in Wales - the land, don't forget, that even back in the early seventies refused to honour the great Carwyn James, who to this day is the only man to coach a British Lions team to a Test series victory in New Zealand.
Did he ever become the Wales coach? Did he heck. He was rejected in his own country, a prophet without honour in his own land as he was called by some.
How could that be? Because people in the top echelons of Welsh rugby were jealous of him, they resented him and they couldn't come to terms with his worldwide popularity.
Thirty five years on nothing has changed in Welsh rugby. We still have the same petty jealousies, the same kind of people jockeying for position and power, more malicious rumours about the coach.
Everyone has got a role to play in this whole sad, sorry saga. The coach in charge of the Grand Slam winning team has gone, whether he resigned or was pushed before he jumped, and everyone is looking for someone to blame.
How could it be that we could shoot ourselves in the foot so badly so soon after such success? That's what the fans want to know.
Tonight's WRU board meeting, which promises to be even hotter than Gareth Thomas' appearance on Scrum V, will try to get to the bottom of it. We'll get some answers, but I'm certain we won't get the whole story.
Why was it that Ruddock felt he had to go? Was it because of player power? Did the players question his coaching abilities that much? Was it because he could not agree the terms of his contract with his employers? What was the role of WRU chief executive Steve Lewis in all this? How much did he know? Did he keep information from his own board?
What about the role of WRU chairman David Pickering? Did he not know about all the problems in the Wales camp?
How about team manager Alan Phillips? Where was he while the flak was flying? Surely he knew what was going on? Isn't he the buffer between the coach and players?
And did Scott Johnson, now promoted to head coach, have any say in the unhappy turn of events? What about the 'performance' of the Wales captain on Scrum V? I haven't spoken to anyone who wasn't amazed by it.
Was it conduct becoming of a Wales captain? Arms flailing, shouting, aggressive. If you hadn't seen it you wouldn't have believed it. Should he stay after that?
Questions, questions, and they won't go away. The WRU have simply got to come up with answers, they've got to get at the truth and then they've got to act.
I'm not one of those who believe Lewis should be the fall guy in all this. He is being blamed on all sides. If Ruddock told him he was going for family reasons should he have publicly or even in private told the board that there were other pressures involved?
If Thomas went to him with a group of senior players to complain about Ruddock, should he have 'grassed' on them? As it was, he remained loyal to Ruddock and his reasons and to the players and their concerns.
And if Ruddock told him he was finishing after the Six Nations did he not act with some judgement in getting Johnson in now, knowing he is also due to finish, hoping that could just persuade him to stay until the end of the World Cup next year, especially knowing the players favoured him?
If Lewis has to go, so does everyone else - Pickering, Thomas, Phillips and Johnson.
And if we do have to start all over again then there is one man, and one man only, who must be at the helm - Gerald Davies.
I'm told he is already in his new role on the WRU as a national representative bringing honour, respect and quiet authority to the table. Those are qualities sadly lacking at the moment.
Sir Tasker Watkins has them, but with the greatest respect he is now beyond this role.
Put Gerald Davies at the very top and we might restore some dignity, honour and respect to Welsh rugby. God knows, we need it.
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