In Wales, has rugby ever been in a deeper valley? 

Veteran rugby writer Rob Cole has been on the Welsh beat for 46 years. There were times in the 80s and 90s that were the nadir, but the last few years have eclipsed even those dark days.

TRYING TIMES: Vaea Fifita goes over for a Scarlets try in their URC clash with the Dragons at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff last April. Pic: Mike Jones, Inpho

ONE thing is certain, there is never a dull moment in Welsh rugby. The Principality’s national sport continues to lurch from one crisis to another and at the start of what will be my 47th season of covering the action, who knows which way the game will go.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all — the whole general committee walking out at an egm, international players threatening to strike, a coach being sacked in a car park after crashing out of the World Cup, losing to Western Samoa (not even the whole of Samoa) in Cardiff, Romania, Georgia and Fiji winning in the capital, coaches coming and going, CEO’s being sacked, two clubs opting out of the Welsh league to play against English clubs in friendlies, claims of sexism and misogyny and the capital city region going bust — something comes along that tops the lot.