THE absolute shambles, the fiasco of a situation on the future structure of Welsh rugby leaves Newport in a dreadful position.

Just where do they go from here? What course of action do they take now?

I am, of course, referring to the joke of a solution which has been cobbled together at the last minute. Five teams, three of them regional and two of them super clubs - what sort of outcome is is that?

It's not what David Moffett wanted, it's not what Steve Hansen wanted and it's not what 97 per cent of the clubs voted for at last month's extraordinary meeting.

Moffett and Hansen have said all along they believe four provincial sides is the way ahead because there are not enough quality players for any more.

And while the number of teams was left open ended at the EGM, the clubs certainly had the impression they were voting for four provinces.

Widespread redundancies were promised, too many mediocre players were being paid, we were told, and four was the way ahead.

Well, now we've got five. Llanelli and Cardiff refused to budge from being stand alone clubs, Llanelli taking out a writ to prevent the WRU from going down that road.

ERC insisting on one team playing in the Parker Pen competition, while most important of all, the broadcasters were promising a cut in money because four did not provide enough games to cover.

So we are left with yet another Welsh rugby farce, a mixture of super clubs and districts.

Is anyone seriously going to believe Llanelli and Cardiff will play in Europe and the Celtic League as regions?

Does anyone think they are going to change either their name or their colours? The most you'll get is something like Llanelli Scarlets or Cardiff Blues.

Which is where Newport comes in. How can Tony Brown and the Rodney Parade directors now lose the brand name in their future title?

Are they going to be happy to see Llanelli and Cardiff retain their names while Newport, which has just as much standing, is lost in some kind of Gwent conglomeration?

There is now a huge responsibilty on the shoulders of the club directors to retain Newport's place in history.

No-one will forgive them if two of their biggest rivals keep their name while Newport's is lost forever at the highest level of the game.

The problem is the goalposts have now been moved substantially. Brown's original idea was for a Gwent team, probably incorporating the whole county, though the two merged teams would be Newport and Ebbw Vale.

But that idea almost certainly depended on equal mergers, the favoured plan being Cardiff and Pontypridd, Neath and Bridgend, and Llanelli and Swansea plus Newport and Vale.

But Cardiff and Llanelli refused to buy it - and I don't blame them one bit for fighting to retain their status at the top flight.

They refused to let 130 years or so of history go down the tubes, and they have to be admired for that.

But no-one showed similar fight at Newport, the deal to combine forces with Ebbw Vale and possibly incorporate the whole of Gwent was done months ago.

But, as I've said, the goalposts have now been moved with two stand alone super clubs in the final shakedown.

What is Moffett going to do now that his grand plan for the future of Welsh rugby has been shot down in flames.

What is the position of the Newport directors, most of whom have been associated with the club for many years?

One of them has indicated he will no longer be around if the Newport brand name is not in the future title. We'll see.

All major games are going to be played at Rodney Parade anyway, so given that fact what is the point of changing the name of the side playing there?

A compromise could easily be something like Newport Steelers.

In view of the cobbled together final agreement, due to be ratified by the WRU tomorrow, the name of Newport cannot be allowed to die.