'I went to my old club to see if Welsh Rugby is affecting the game'

It feels impossible to get away from the negativity surrounding Welsh rugby at the moment.

Go online or pick up a newspaper and almost inevitably it feels like you will come across yet another commentator calling time on the national game.

Even for someone like myself who grew up watching and playing rugby in the long difficult decades of the 1980s and 1990s, it feels bad.

But is the outlook that desperate? Whisper it quietly but is that resilient pipeline of talent starting to dry up? And are rugby clubs still at the heart of communities?

To try to answer those questions I have gone back to the grassroots and the local club of my childhood: Aberdare RFC.

I joined them as they prepared for the first team's game on a Saturday morning.

Darrell Williams, chairman of Aberdare Rugby Club, remains upbeat about the national and the local game, but he said it is tough for clubs trying to retain their popularity in their community.

He added there are so many more things now for young players to do with their free time than a generation ago.

"It has got to be about fun because we are not professionals."

Mr Williams said his aim is to create a safe space for kids and to give them the ambition to play for the first team.

"If the first team is the pinnacle, we want the kids thinking: 'I want to be there. Can I be there? Am I good enough?'" he added.

Fellow committee man Colin Davies is on unglamorous washing up duties most weekends and is said to be obsessive about cleaning four sets of kits in the club's four washing machines.

When I was playing all you needed were shirts and a few sponges, these days there are tackle bags, medical equipment and a music system for the changing room.

This may be amateur rugby but do not be fooled, it is a serious business.

Similarly, Mr Davies said he accepts the challenge for a modern-day rugby club as "there is so much out there for people to do".

"You can do anything you want to on a Saturday but if you want to play rugby we are here for you.

"We have to try to push it," he added.

Aberdare RFC calls itself the community club, but is it still the heart of life in Aberdare? It is a question I put to Mr Davies.

"I think it's at the heart of our community. If you come here on a Sunday for a home fixture, this place is rammed to the rafters."

Lots of people go back to the club for sausage and chips, and while it is "nothing exciting", Mr Davies said it drags them back and gives parents from different age groups the opportunity to come and meet each other.

"That is the community coming together for a reason because they are part of one club.

"It is hard work but you do it because you still feel part of something."

Mr Davies also said there are lots of clubs struggling with second team rugby as the numbers are down, meaning many games get cancelled.

He said Aberdare Rugby Club are "doing OK" but some of the smaller clubs, who do not have the range of ages to produce a youth team, have lost it and it will be a "monumentous" task to get it back.

The club still puts out three teams every Saturday: a first, second and a youth team.

Its first team has reached the Admiral Championship East this season, the club's highest-ever league, which is two below the semi-professional Super Rygbi Cymru.

A legend of the club, the Wales and Lions prop Dai Young, has even returned to help out with some of the coaching - not a bad person to have among the backroom staff to say the least.

The team sit mid-table and I joined them for an away fixture against promotion chasers Penallta RFC, which they lost 31-24 in an exciting game that was a great advert for the community game.

The question I was keen to find an answer to is the extent to which the current 14-match record losing streak by the national team affects the mood of the devoted fans following the grassroot clubs.

Among a crowd of around 200 fans was Demi Thomas, who does not expect things to improve anytime soon.

Ms Thomas said she is still proud, but questions when the team are going to pick themselves back up.

She added: "It is demotivating for everyone.

"The iconic players have all retired and we have got all these youngsters and they are not as good as the ones who have left."

Another fan, Dorian Simmonds, said: "As a supporter you like to see the Welsh team winning.

"It gives you a spring in your step to see the national team playing with confidence and winning but we are where we are, and it's going to take years.

"We have to be patient," he added.

Cindy Baghurst said there are not enough youngsters coming through and wonders whether the regions are to blame "because they are keeping the old boys too long".

She added: "The young boys are not having the opportunities.

"I think it will come back but it is going to be a long slog."

Well, the disappointment is clear for all to see.

Supporters may not flock to watch their local teams in the way they once did but there is an appetite and there are fans who still love watching the club representing their town or village.

The question is what comes first: professional rugby or the community game?

All eyes may be on Wales vs Ireland at the Principality Stadium this Saturday but the truth is Wales needs both and, crucially, they both need and feed off each other.