When Warren Gatland sat down with several newspaper journalists ahead of Wales versus England, one line stood out above others.
"The dam has burst now," said the Wales head coach. "It’s burst because the regions feel they are underfunded and haven’t got the success the players want."
Unfortunately, in my opinion, Gatland is right. Welsh rugby has issues from top to bottom and this is the end result, a Wales side who look destined to be trapped in the doldrums of world rugby for the next few years at least.
In the height of the first Gatland era when Wales were winning Six Nations Grand Slams as regular as clockwork there are some who would argue the Welsh Rugby Union took their eye off the ball by not investing enough into the regional game or its development pathway.
The charge is that their approach was too top heavy and they are now paying the price for it.
Gatland himself said this week: "Now that I reflect back on it and look back on the first period I was here, a lot of these issues were going on but the fact we had been reasonably successful as a national side probably papered over the cracks a little bit.
"It was stopping the dam from busting. Winning and success often hides away some of the issues that are going on behind the scenes."
The whole of Welsh rugby needs to take responsibility for where we stand - and that includes the four regions. Cardiff, Ospreys, Scarlets and Dragons aren't blameless, with some poor recruitment over the years which has squandered money.
However, regardless of who is at fault, or who you blame, the fact is the game in this country finds itself in a pitiful state.
Gatland has returned to a rugby playing nation in the throes of its biggest crisis since former chief executive David Moffett took Welsh rugby regional back in 2003.
If Wales are to climb their way out of this deep dark hole they find themselves in, it must be a collective effort between the WRU and its four, possibly soon to be three, professional sides.
There is no quick fix here, Wales are stuck in a rut and it may well take many years before they start competing for Six Nations titles again.
This time Gatland is unable to return and wave a magic wand to fix the national side's issues overnight, as he did back in 2008.
Make no bones about it, Gatland faces the biggest challenge of his coaching career over the next few months as he looks to avoid the same fate which befell Gareth Jenkins in 2007 when Wales were unceremoniously dumped out of the World Cup at the pool stage by Fiji.
As good a coach as Gatland is, Wales do not have the right profile of player to play the game the way they did during his first stint in charge, so he needs a change of approach.
In the peak of the first Gatland era Wales had by the far their strongest pack of forwards in the professional era, with the likes of Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton, Taulupe Faletau, Adam Jones, Gethin Jenkins, and Luke Charteris, among others, able to dominate most sets of forwards in world rugby.
Unfortunately Wales cannot muster that sort of power anymore and have been outmuscled in their opening three Six Nations defeats to Ireland, Scotland, and England, respectively.
Gatland needs to develop new methods which are based on movement of the ball, pace, skill, and athleticism, rather than a game based solely on physicality.
He must be even bolder by pushing the old guard to one side and continuing to blood the next generation of player with Dafydd Jenkins, Christ Tshiunza, Mason Grady, and Joe Hawkins showing promise. So too Jac Morgan and Tommy Reffell, while Louis Rees-Zammit is still only 22.
Those are the young guns Gatland needs to build his team around. The major surgery has to continue with others also coming in. They are having to learn in the harsh environment of international rugby, but surely this can be the only way forward?
It is a sign of how far Wales have fallen that, as things stand, they could well lose to a resurgent Italy in a fortnight.
Kieran Crowley's side, who won in Cardiff last March, have an attacking game which is streets ahead of what Wales have in their armoury at present. To avoid the ignominy of a first Six Nations whitewash since 2003, Wales will have to be significantly better than they were against England.
The players deserve a huge amount of credit for the way they fronted up after the way they've been treated over the past few weeks, but they were tactically inept against England.
After quickly working out England full-back Freddie Steward was unflappable under the high ball it was unfathomable how Wales' players just kept kicking the ball his way. Only for him to securely gather time after time and run it back at them, putting Wales under pressure.
Gatland's men need to be a lot smarter about how they go about their business and be prepared to adapt their game plan if it becomes clear things are not working on the field.
Gatland must also sort out the breakdown, an area where Wales were taken to the cleaners, and the right call would be to swap Justin Tipuric, however wonderful he has been for Wales, for Tommy Reffell.
Tipuric did not let Wales down against England and still has a lot to offer, but Reffell is significantly superior at the breakdown, and there's also an argument to play Jac Morgan in the same back-row as the Leicester Tigers man.
To be brutally honest, success between now and the conclusion of the World Cup is very unlikely.
However, the majority of the Welsh public may well accept defeats if they can see Wales genuinely looking to the future by not only turning to youth, but also dramatically changing the way they play.
A more modern approach, you might call it.
You just never know with rugby, and the draw is certainly in Wales' favour, but personally I'm fearing the 2023 World Cup might prove something of a lost cause. Wales will give it a go, but given the rebuilding job required some eyes might already need to start turning towards the 2027 tournament in Australia.
The jury is out on whether Gatland is indeed the right man to lead this rebuilding job - but he can certainly start the whole process by putting some firm building blocks in place.
READ MORE:
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