HISTORY and tradition count for little in society today - and Welsh rugby at the top level is clearly not immune from the general trend.

Money is at the root of everything and influential people in the game want the number of clubs at premier level reduced whatever the consequences and they want the Six Nations Championship condensed into a few weeks.

As Gwyn Jones wrote recently in his weekly column, the warmth which was part of what rugby was all about has disappeared from the game.

And the powers that be are determined to drive a horse and cart through all the values that made rugby the game that it was.

Consequently it matters not a jot that Neath were one of the founder members of the WRU, have produced dozens of internationals and are currently up in third place in the Welsh/Scottish League table.

They are broke, they dont have a rich benefactor and they are owned by the WRU who bailed them out of financial trouble.

As such they are expendable in the greater scheme of things.

It matters little that Ebbw Vale also have a great history stretching back more than 100 years and that they are keeping top class rugby afloat in the Valleys covering a wide area from North Gwent, to Merthyr, Abergavenny and into Powys.

Or that they have a top class coaching scheme and a first rate training facility. They, too, can go to the wall as far as some are concerned. Cut them off, they can play in the First Division, just like that.

And when it comes to the Six Nations, previously the century-old Five Nations, that can be condensed into a mere seven weeks.

What about the many thousands of travelling fans and all the support and camaraderie, not to mention revenue they bring to the party?

Welsh supporters in particular travel in their thousands, tens of thousands even, especially on the bi-annual pilgrimages to Scotland and Ireland.

Many of them dont have a ticket and dont even want one in some cases, preferring to watch the game in a pub miles from the centre in the general stupor.

Princes Street in Edinburgh and Grafton Street in Dublin are a sight to behold on the weekend of a Wales international, a mass of red and white, good humour and banter aplenty.

Its part of the very fabric of the tournament. Some save up for two years to make the trip and re-book their hotels for the next time the moment they leave.

Rome has now joined the scene. I met people from Newport in and around St Peters Square this year I hadnt seen for years.

How on earth are all those fans going to make it if in the year when Wales travel to Scotland, France and Italy the three matches are condensed into a mere seven weeks?

But who cares about fans and their needs? Coaches like Graham Henry and control freaks in the game want to have charge of teams and their players 24 hours a day, 52 weeks of the year.

They want to dictate how many clubs we have, who they are and when the players actually turn out, who for, what they eat, when they go to bed and probably when they can go to the toilet as well.

Is this what rugby is all about? Is this the cold hearted game it has become?

We may be about to enter the year 2002, but is this really progress? To me the heart of our great game is being ripped out.