Welsh Rugby Union performance director Nigel Walker has said "nobody" wants to cut four regions into three, not even the WRU.
The Union spent £25,000 commissioning a report by Oakwell Sports Advisory, known as the Umbers report, with one recommendation suggesting losing a team is the way to make professional rugby in Wales financially viable and successful.
A series of meetings have been ongoing behind the scenes for a number of weeks, with Welsh rugby in a state of crisis. The current four pro sides, Cardiff, Ospreys, Scarlets and Dragons have all endured largely miserable seasons, with the men's national side's disastrous Six Nations, which saw a first ever home defeat against Italy, appearing to be a tipping point for the WRU to act.
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Asked whether he thought Welsh rugby was indeed in a state of crisis, Walker said on BBC Scrum V: "That's one way of putting it. I wouldn't characterise it in that way. Yes, we have some challenges to overcome, but they are not peculiar to Welsh rugby. France have had to go through a difficult period, England are going through a difficult period at the moment.
"There needs to be a correction. We need to work together. The PRB, which is charged with setting the strategy, charting the direction of travel for the professional game in Wales, is talking about those things.
"The one option which has been mentioned is four (regions) to three, nobody in Welsh rugby wants to go from four to three. The regions don't want it, the WRU don't want it.
"It was an independent report commissioned by the PRB. Some might say it's semantics, but it's not a WRU report. It came up with a whole raft of options, of which one has been selected. It's 85 pages long! It was commissioned early in the new year, it was delivered in February. The regions and WRU have been talking about it for quite a few months.
"It's unfortunate that it's been leaked, but now it's in the public domain, people know we are considering these things very carefully.
"The important thing is that the PRB statement, after the recent meeting, said sustainability and success. That's what everybody is concentrating on. We have to have agreement in weeks rather than months, that would be my view."
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"The discussion we are having is, what does success look like for regional rugby? We need our regions to be successful and the WRU recognises we need our regions to be successful otherwise the national team won't be successful."
When asked about the game below the four regions and how that can be workable or bettered in order to drive up the quality of the player pool from which Wayne Pivac selects his Wales squad, Walker said he felt the Welsh Premiership is a key driver in aligning rugby in this country from top to bottom.
"The Welsh Premiership has been part of those discussions, it's such an important area," he added. "There has actually been a sub-group which I sit on which has Premiership representation.
"We have got some principles, we have reached agreement on a number of things. We have still got a way to go before there is total agreement. The quality and standard of the Welsh Premiership has to increase. Where the difference is is how we increase or improve that quality.
"But, absolutely, it has to be the finishing school for our 19, 20, 21 and 22-year-olds. And it has to be in sync with the regions, so we have regional and Premiership representation and WRU representation."
The financing of the Union's Parkgate Hotel adventure was also on the agenda, but Walker wanted to set the record on that, stating: "The hotel pre-dates me, but not one penny of WRU money went into the hotel venture, it's land owned by the WRU and a building owned by the WRU and that's the WRU stake. It's the other partners who are putting in the financial risk. That's a perception that's out there and it's incorrect.
"Revenue streams are important and the WRU has to look at revenue streams. Every organisation has to improve their revenue streams, how we do that is up for discussion.
