David Moffett insists Welsh rugby needs to scrap a Welsh region, suggesting the Ospreys should be the team to go.
The outspoken former Welsh Rugby Union chief executive is known as the father of regional rugby, having controversially cut the number of professional sides in Wales to five and then four.
Wales enjoyed an era of unprecedented international success arguably as a result of the system Moffett put in place, but they have struggled to be successful in their own right. Moffett is adamant now is the right time to go down to three teams, which he says should be called Cardiff, Newport and Llanelli.
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"Unfortunately, and I don't say this lightly, but Welsh rugby is at the stage where it needs to cut a professional side," the 75-year-old told WalesOnline.
"Having said that there are too many professional rugby teams in the world full stop. They need to cut the amount of teams by 25% on a global basis or they need to cut the players' wages by 25% because the game is no longer sustainable.
"I've always preferred quality over quantity. When you put quality over quantity you've got a greater chance of success and more people will come and watch you play.
"In Wales they need to go to three teams and they should be Cardiff, Newport, and Llanelli. The fundamental reason I'd axe the Ospreys over the Scarlets is because Llanelli own their own rugby ground which is a very significant thing no matter what they say.
"If you own your own stadium then you've got more financial certainty and I'm sorry but that cannot be overlooked in this current financial climate. They had the opportunity to merge a few years ago but didn't take it and here we are."
Welsh rugby is in the middle of its biggest crisis since Moffett ran the show back in 2003, with a player strike ahead of last weekend's Six Nations defeat to England only narrowly avoided. Since the start of the season, a freeze on offering contracts to players has been put in place by the Professional Rugby Board which has caused widespread panic and uncertainty. From next season, players' wages are set to go down while regional budgets will eventually get lowered to £4.5million, making it very difficult to be competitive on the field.
Along with cutting a region, Moffett has come up with further solutions he believes Welsh rugby should implement to avert an even worse financial crisis.
"With regards saving the professional game, the first thing which needs to happen is renegotiating the Covid loans they put on to the regions which needs to be absorbed by the WRU," he said.
"The WRU need to act very quickly otherwise the whole game is going to implode. We need people in Welsh rugby who are going to understand the situation very quickly along with how business and rugby work together.
"You could also set up a commission and have a commissioner a bit like they do in American sports: somebody who is an executive chairman and somebody with the power to get things done, but it has to be the right person.
"What you need to do is take the revenue and then distribute the money between the professional and community game as a set percentage. Let's say it's 30% for the professional game and 15% for the community game. They should just give them a chunk of money which then makes it more likely that every region will be concentrating on increasing revenues because if they do that they get a bigger percentage for themselves. If their revenues go down their percentage goes down but everybody knows what it is so they can plan ahead, which isn't the case now.
"While we are talking about cutting costs, what about the administration costs and the overheads which is out of control. That would be the first place I'd look to cut costs by having a good look at the headcount."
Welsh rugby has suffered serious reputational damage over the past couple of months with the WRU being accused of institutional misogyny and sexism. Former chief executive Steve Phillips recently resigned as a result of these allegations, while an independent taskforce led by the Rt Hon Dame Anne Rafferty has been set up to investigate.
Moffett, who spent three years in Wales, is angry at the situation the WRU finds itself in.
"It makes me angry," he said. "I've always supported women wherever I've worked. I don't understand how only one head has rolled over this? There must have been more people in senior positions who knew this was going on?
"They either knew and decided to do nothing about it or they didn't know when they should have known. It'll be very interesting to hear what comes out of this independent review into Welsh rugby.
"It's impossible to see a situation where more senior figures don't leave but that needs to be done quite quickly because you've got to cut that cancer out of the organisation. The new chair and CEO need to be able to start with a clean sheet."
At Test level, Wales are on course for their first Six Nations whitewash since 2003 despite reappointing Warren Gatland as head coach in December. Moffett believes everyone needs to get behind Gatland but insists they need to begin developing Welsh coaches who are good enough to take charge of the men's national side.
"I haven't always agreed with Gats in the past but I think Welsh rugby needs to get behind him because this is a very difficult time for the national side," he said. "He needs to get as much out of this side as he can so they can avoid the wooden spoon and have a reasonable World Cup but I also want to see him start to put some strong building blocks in place for the future.
"They need to really invest in their development pathway for coaches so that in the future they have Welsh candidates to coach Wales. I don't know what Gatland is doing after the World Cup but if he goes I'd look at bringing in someone like Robbie Deans because I think he's a phenomenal coach who could bring out the best in Wales. But as I've said they really need to start investing in young Welsh coaches."
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