Llanelli chief executive Stuart Gallacher has warned that Wales will cease to be a respected force in the world game if the country's clubs vote against drastic change.

Over 240 clubs will attend an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Welsh Rugby Union in 10 days to vote on the future of the game outlined in a handful of documents from various groups over the past four months.

But the organisation which embraces the so-called Gang of Six clubs - Rugby Partnership Wales - believe the major backers of their sides, who have pumped millions into the game, may walk away if they lose the vote on their plans to go it alone as professionals.

Newport, Cardiff, Swansea, Llanelli, Bridgend and Pontypridd have been accused of greed, and wanting Welsh Rugby Union cash all to themselves, by many outside their group.

But Llanelli chief executive Stuart Gallacher insisted: "The game is bankrupt here. We are probably paying 2,000 people to play rugby in Wales. That is more than any other country in the world.

"We are underachieving as a national team with no prospects to improve. If the EGM goes against us, I think we would have to re-evaluate our positions as clubs because the owners of our clubs would not be prepared to put half a million a year in with nothing to show for it.

"If they pulled out, who could blame them? All around the globe, leading rugby nations have understood the demands of the new professional era and have adapted accordingly.

"These nations are now moving further and further ahead of us and now even the developing nations are starting to catch us up.

"For many in Wales, the response to the professional era has been to bury their heads in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist.

"It's time for those people to open their eyes. It's time to adapt to professionalism - and now - or Wales may never again be a force on the field of international rugby.

"Wales has twice as many paid players as France, at least twice as many as England, almost six times as many as South Africa and over 13 times as many as Australia."

And RPW believe the future lies in developing youngsters to come through instead of sitting on the replacement benches because a foreign player has their place in the side.

"In Wales, we have over 50 overseas players playing premier division rugby. This is a situation we don't want to see continue but where are the players coming from to take their place in the future?

"There aren't enough quality Welsh players to go around. Strip away the overseas players and there are only just enough left for six teams, with nowhere near the quality to compete with other sides in Europe."

The EGM may decide to go with an idea to have eight teams in the national premier division, but Gallacher added: "The Welsh Rugby Union are kidding themselves if they think we have eight teams good enough to play in our domestic championship and Europe. We could have six but not any more than that."

Newport are the biggest success story in Wales during the professional era.

They have risen from the ashes of mediocrity to potential league champions this season because of the cash pumped in by office furniture millionaire Tony Brown.

However, they are already bracing themselves for losses this year believed to be around £1.4million.

And one Gang of Six owner said he was ready to pull out his backing if things went pear-shaped for the group on Sunday week.

He said: "If the vote goes against us, then I'm ready to get out and cut my losses."

Gallacher added: "If it's a status quo after this meeting, our clubs cannot carry on with the costs they have at the moment and I hate to think what would happen then.

"It's immoral to have people investing money like this into clubs when the game should be self-financing."