I APOLOGISE in advance for this week’s column having an exclusively sporting theme – but I firmly belief sport has a central part to play in local communities and local economies.

Rodney Parade in Newport is this season playing host to two teams at the extremes of sporting fortune.

Riding the crest of a wave are soccer’s Newport County AFC, top of the league and hoping for promotion back to the Football League in their centenary season.

In the doldrums, meanwhile, are rugby’s Newport Gwent Dragons – racking up defeat after defeat, with just one player picked for the Welsh national team and growing discontent among supporters.

And, no, I haven’t forgotten about the landlords – Newport RFC – who are on a great run of four successive victories after a dreadful start to the season.

But for now let’s concentrate on our two professional sports teams.

There is more about Newport County elsewhere on this page.

For the Dragons, however, the rugby season is going from bad to worse.

There has been much talk from fans and our own rugby writer about a lack of ambition and purpose among the Dragons hierarchy.

I sympathise with such views.

It strikes me, however, that the Welsh Rugby Union is shying away from its responsibilities towards the nation’s regional teams.

The regions are a WRU creation and, particularly in Gwent, a controversial creation.

This week Welsh players plying their trade in England and France were effectively told to choose between cash and caps by the Welsh selectors. It is an old-fashioned and nonsensical stance.

Top-level rugby union is a professional sport. Players have short careers that can be ended by injury at any moment.

They will inevitably go where the money is to ensure they capitalise on their earning power while they are at the top of their game.

If the WRU really wants to keep the best Welsh players in Wales then it needs to start flashing the cash.

And that means investing heavily so that all four regional teams are capable of competing at the highest level.

At the moment there is too much reliance on individual benefactors.

If the WRU does not step in and puts its money where its mouth is (and let us not forget the Union is close to paying off the Millennium Stadium debt, after which it will be doing very nicely, thank you) then regions like the Dragons will continue to struggle. And players like Luke Charteris and Aled Brew will continue to follow the money.

It’s the WRU’s call. It’s time to put up or shut up.

Faith is rewarded by a big County victory

KEEP the faith was the message from this column last week to Newport County AFC fans who were criticising manager Justin Edinburgh after a couple of poor results.

And that faith was rewarded in style on Tuesday night as County roared back to form with a 6-2 demolition of Cambridge United. Some of County’s football was sublime and you could see the confidence a couple of early goals gave the team.

With 17 games of the season gone, County are top of the league and genuine promotion contenders.

In Justin we trust.