WALES will never go down to three regional rugby teams and there will always be a major side playing out of Gwent, Welsh Rugby Union chief executive David Moffett has insisted in an exclusive interview with the South Wales Argus.

He also urges Newport Gwent Dragons to get together under the brand name of Dragons, he urges their board to follow the example set by the Ospreys in their ground and facilities, warning about the dangers of losing players if they don't.

"There has been some debate whether there will be three teams," he said, referring in particular to the Dragons since the loss of benefactor Tony Brown.

"But there will always be four teams in the southern area of Wales, there will always be a region in the East playing out of Gwent. If it means the people running the Dragons take a decision to build a stadium somewhere else (away from Rodney Parade) or develop the existing ground we cannot be anything other than supportive.

"We have matured in our relationship with the Dragons and if we are unhappy and they cause problems we will have discussions with them behind closed doors.

"But the Ospreys have set the benchmark, they are clearly showing the way. If you were a player and you were offered a deal by two regions you would be more inclined to go there because of the new stadium and their facilities," said Moffett echoing the words of Dragons coach Paul Turner recently.

"The Scarlets are also close to building a stadium of similar size and the Blues have got the makings, though they need to update.

"The issue for the Dragons is they have got to give serious consideration to what they are going to do. They should be planning five or ten years ahead rather than 12 or 18 months.

"By the time you've decided, there's the sale, the development, the planning permission and getting a stadium built, all of which would take around five years."

Moffett did praise the Dragons board in not going out and signing overseas players, but adhering to WRU policy instead.

"The Dragons are the sleeping giants of Welsh rugby, they have got a fantastic rich vein of talent and I take my hat off to them because they haven't tried to invest heavily in overseas players, but been supportive of the Union," he said.

"But players are looking for a package. When a player like Gareth Cooper runs out he wants to know what the fans are cheering, that they are the Dragons. There is still some resistance but it is improving.

"At the New Stadium it's all 'Ospreys' that the fans are cheering and you can see it gives the players a lift, perhaps even getting them wins. It's all part of the package."

l The WRU have warned of a new crackdown on ticket touts and people on the internet selling tickets illegally above face value, as reported in later editions of yesterday's Argus.

"We will crack down on people selling tickets in the auction sites and on ticket touts," said Moffett. "We will trace those tickets and if we find that people have been ripped off there is a penalty system in place, like revoking the issue of tickets.

"I don't see why we should fuel the black market, we have to get tough and we will. People know the regulations and we will follow them through."

The demand for tickets has been phenomenal and over 50,000 have already been sold for the games against New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.

"I've done 3,000 events and I've never experienced anything like it," said stadium chief executive Paul Sergeant.

"But so many people have been getting ripped off, people either purchasing tickets that didn't exist or purchasing stolen tickets or requiring duplicate tickets when the original is still in existence.

Moffett, who said that the best guarantee of a ticket would be to buy one of 350 debentures still for sale over 25 years, compared the top price ticket in the Millennium Stadium of £45 with £70 at Twickenham, and a Wales ticket is cheaper than at any other home nations ground.

In formation on ticket availability for the general public will be put on the WRU website on September 27.