Sam Warburton's scathing assessment of Welsh rugby that everybody's talking about

Ex-Wales rugby captain Sam Warburton has written a damning assessment of Welsh Rugby, describing it as "stuck in the stone age".

Wales were humiliated by Georgia last weekend, losing 13-12 just eight months after annual Six Nations strugglers Italy also beat Wales in Cardiff.

Wayne Pivac's coaching reign is under intense scrutiny now that he's lost 19 of his 33 Tests at the helm - including eight this year.

Warburton condemned the latest performance as "unacceptable" alongside former team mate Jamie Roberts on Saturday.

But now he's said Welsh rugby's entire structure needs "seismic changes" and that problems have been "brewing for some time both on and off the field."

"The system is just not working," Warburton wrote in an article for The Times.

"The whole thing needs to be wiped clean and a fresh start made.

"Sadly, I know it won’t happen. I know I will say these things and we will be in the same situation in 12 months."

Warburton slammed the WRU's governance system as "farcical".

"The amateur game still has way too much say," he explained.

"Of the 12 directors on the Welsh Rugby Union’s board, there are eight community members.

"That is like having eight people on the board of a company that are contributing to just one part of the business. It’s just way too many. There should be one community member on that board.

"The community game is hugely important, of course it is, and most of the people involved are well-intentioned, but it should not have eight representatives on the board of a company with a turnover of £100 million. It is farcical."

He went on to describe the player pathway in Wales as "failing" under the current system.

"Look at how Josh Adams had to go to Worcester to make his name and then had to be brought back to Wales," he said.

"Three of our most promising young players right now are all playing in England: Louis Rees-Zammit at Gloucester, and Christ Tshiunza and Dafydd Jenkins at Exeter Chiefs. It is quite alarming.

"Why have all these boys crossed the border? What are we not doing in Wales to keep these players? I don’t profess to know the answers but it looks like the problems at academy level are now being manifested in the national team."

Wales' Autumn Nations Series finale against Australia next Saturday now assumes huge importance, as does an opening Six Nations appointment with world number one team Ireland on February 4.

Pivac said in the immediate fall-out from Georgia's spectacular success he is "totally focused on building towards the World Cup" and that whether his position is under threat was "a question for other people, I would guess".

Wales have won their last three Tests against Australia, but their cause is not helped by the latest encounter falling outside World Rugby's autumn fixture window.

That means players not based in Wales - the list includes Gloucester wing Louis Rees-Zammit, Saracens centre Nick Tompkins and Exeter forward Christ Tshiunza - are unavailable.

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