Jonathan Davies: Moffett has to find a way to play the four-club trick

'We cannot afford more than four top sides - any more and our best players will still be spread too thinly'

If the Welsh Rugby Union's new chief executive, David Moffett, has done nothing else in his swift and dramatic entry into office he has brought the game face to face with crunch time.

Before his arrival we had just been fannying about with a decision that is so vital to the future of Wales in world terms that it is frightening. In just two weeks in the job, Moffett has united everyone. The fact that they are united against him is less important than his achievement in bringing the whole situation to boiling point.

He has done so with a proposal for four provincial teams, including one up in the north of the country, that had them frothing at the mouth in indignation.

He took the criticism with a smile and then challenged his critics to come up with an alternative plan by Thursday. He has left no one in any doubt that the position is so grave they cannot leave it any longer. They must start tackling what everyone agrees is destroying us – too many clubs and too low an overall standard to equip our players for international duty.

Now those clubs are locked in a search for some savage surgery. After more than a century of deadly club rivalry, bordering on complete enmity in some cases, we ought to be grateful if they all come out of it alive.

At least, there is now general agreement that we have some of the greatest club names in the world and it is only right to build around them a framework for the future.

It took another outsider to remind us of the importance of our heritage. Howard Thomas, the deputy chairman of Euro Rugby, warned that it was vital to protect the "great brands" of the game in Wales and that the Heineken Cup would not welcome provincial sides being set up against the wishes of the clubs.

In our haste to see an improvement in the standard of Welsh rugby to somewhere near its old level, we have been barking up so many wrong trees. As one who was arguing for provincial teams a few months back, I include myself in that criticism.

At that stage, it did not seem to matter what we called them. There was an urgent need for another tier between clubs and international team; one that would better prepare our top players for their step up to the big stage.

If we can do that without relinquishing traditional club names, so much the better. Certainly, the fans will be happier. But let's not kid ourselves that the fans have forced this issue.

If you examine attendances this season it looks as if club supporters have already given up on the game.

Crowds in Wales have been shockingly low considering some of the fixtures that have been on offer. Even Llanelli have suffered in this respect. If the fans care, then now is the time to start showing it.

It all hinges on whether our clubs can bury their self-interest for the sake of the national good. It is asking a lot but something has to give.

We cannot afford more than four top sides – any more and our best players would still be spread too thinly. We can argue forever who or what those sides should be but I believe that we must elect Llanelli, to represent the west, Newport, to serve the east, Cardiff, the capital, and Pontypridd, the valleys.

I have no idea how you calculate the compensation for players now under contract or owners who have made big investments but the basic decision has to come first. It may take three years for all the problems to be solved, but the most important step is to set up a structure that is going to serve us best.

Some are still arguing for five super clubs, but that could well lead to us disbanding one in a year or two. Better to create a new one after a few seasons than have to drop one. The fact that all clubs would still be competing in the First Division, with semi-professional players, means that no club will die, but that all players will have a clear route to the top.

Apart from the impact that four clubs competing at a high level will have on the Welsh team, we can look forward to the clubs creating far more interest in the Celtic League and the Heineken Cup. That, surely, is a prospect to relish for the entire Welsh game.