THE Welsh Rugby Union has lost two flag bearers with the departure on successive days of Terry Cobner and Sir Tasker Watkins.

At a time when figureheads are needed, the WRU has suffered major losses as two men respected throughout the rugby world decided to step down.

If it is any consolation for the WRU, that often maligned body, they can't possibly sink into the abyss of their counterparts at the Football Association where resignations rather than mere departures could become the byword.

The whole lot, manager, press officer and the men at the top of the governing body ought to fall on their swords in this fiasco, this moral cesspit, all of which makes the WRU seem positively angelic.

Not just Welsh rugby players can threaten to go on strike, so can England's footballers in support of a manager who has achieved precisely nothing.

Paid way above their talent, they seem to think they can hold a gun to their employers' heads, whereas the public hope their threat becomes a promise.

None of this for men of the calibre of Cobner and Sir Tasker, both of them with a standing in sport which transcends that kind of squalor. Not so much as a whiff of a scandal here.

Cobner, as WRU chairman David Pickering has said, was a man ahead of his time, just as he had been a hard flanker and captain, even taking over the pack leadership of the British Lions.

After becoming WRU director of rugby he reached the conclusion years ago after studying methods Down Under that Welsh rugby could not afford continuing profligacy at the top and that the number of teams playing at the highest level had to be reduced.

But politics dictated against that happening and Cobner had to swim against the tide, which soon became even more threatening with the arrival of Graham Henry and his decision to build up the Welsh team management.

Cobner became somewhat marginalised at the Welsh team end of the operation as Henry formed his own team, including, ironically, Pickering as manager.

But Cobner beavered away at the crucial development side of the game, appointing a series of officers with responsibility for bringing on youngsters throughout the game, and exploring extra funding through forging closer links with local authorities.

Then personal family tragedy took over which weighed heavily on him, as did the constant battle that his role increasingly entailed.

He decided to go, and he has retained a dignified silence save one standard comment issued to all members of the media.

Much the same applies to Sir Tasker Watkins, who is standing down as WRU president after a near unprecedented time in the position.

Old in years he may be, but he's still young and agile of mind, retaining a keen brain and razor sharp wit which endeared him to all the clubs, especially at annual and extraordinary meetings when he often had club delegates roaring with laughter.

Not for him the petty politics of every day Welsh rugby life, he rose above all that. But he did get one nasty taste of it when he and his team produced a report into the future of the game only to have it rejected, with his own chairman, Glanmor Griffiths, speaking against it.

But Sir Tasker always retained his dignity and he commanded respect wherever he went.

It will be difficult replacing men of the calibre of Cobner and Sir Tasker, but life goes on and at least there are signs of the WRU sorting out their crippling debt and regaining some stature in the world of rugby and business.

Their reputation had become tarnished by a succession of financial gaffes, not to mention somewhat incestuous management. Corruption was not exactly unknown, let's leave it at that.

But previous administrations have now been replaced and a more serious, more reliable, more heavyweight alternative is now in place.

It could even be said that Welsh rugby is beginning to get its act together. Now that does represent a transformation.