Brian Moore is at a loss to explain how Wales have manoeuvred themselves into a position of being World Cup contenders this autumn despite the 2019 struggles of the regional game here.
But the former England and Lions hooker, one of the foremost pundits on TV working with the BBC, has come up with a 'straightforward' answer to help underpin Warren Gatland's unprecedented success with the national team.
He has told Welsh Rugby Union chiefs to 'bite the bullet' and follow their lead at the Dragons by taking control of the Blues, Ospreys and Scarlets after a PRO14 and European season to forget for the regional game.
It comes after Gatland piloted Wales to the 2019 Six Nations Grand Slam and second spot in the global rankings, putting them in a good place for a crack at World Cup glory this autumn.
Moore, who played in the 1991 World Cup final against the Wallabies at Twickenham and in two more global tournaments, said on his Full Contact podcast: "Wales have probably got their best chance of any World Cup there's ever been.
"But it's strange how the national team continues to improve and has got itself into a position where, and I'm not saying they'll win the World Cup, they've got a much better chance they've ever had.
"How can they do that when some of the regional sides are terrible?
"The way countries like Wales, Scotland and Ireland, can compete is to get their act together with the national coaches and get the system, all the way down to juniors and minis, focussed.
"To me the Welsh Rugby Union should just bite the bullet.
"What you can't say (to the regions) is that you're autonomous, but we're going to dabble a bit.
"If there was loads of multi-millionaires that wanted to invest in Welsh regional rugby, they would have found them by now. But there aren't, simple as that!
"Bite the bullet, buy them, run them in the way you want. It's a big undertaking but to me it's a straightforward way forward."
The 64-times capped hooker, who played during a golden period of English rugby, gave his thoughts on fixing Welsh regional rugby after having 2005 Grand Slam-winning No.8 Michael Owen on the show.
The former Celtic Warriors and Dragons back-rower, who went on to finish his career at European and English champions Saracens, too was perturbed with the current state of the regional game.
Owen, capped 41 times by Wales, told the show: "It's really struggling and really challenging times for the regions in Wales.
"They're lacking a little bit of support like fans coming through the gates, and obviously playing performances are not helping that.
"It's a big challenge for Welsh rugby because the success of the national team has underpinned the whole of the Welsh game really and obviously it's difficult to sustain that.
"It's got to be having that cohesive plan and you can take a lot of heart from teams like Connacht, Glasgow and Edinburgh, they were probably in a similar sort of place where the Welsh regions are now, probably worse off.
"They've built themselves up and in the case of Glasgow and Connacht have won the PRO14, it is possible to do it, but it's going to take a lot of planning and work.
"You need that consistency because too much of the time in Wales you jump back and forth, they're not on a path of consistent improvement.
"That's what is required but there's no quick fixes, it's going to take a while.
"Hopefully the national team can be successful in the interim before the regions get their act together."
