Steve Lewis says the WRU board should resign

Former WRU chief executive Steve Lewis said Jenkins should have been backed after being persuaded to go for the job 18 months ago despite not wanting it.

Lewis said: "Those who actively pursued and persuaded him should have stood by him and - I've no evidence to suggest that they didn't.

"Or they should've done the dignified thing and gone with him."

Lewis who quit the WRU eight months ago said the blame does not lie with one person.

"I'm on the outside looking in and my one concern is that if we'd one on Saturday, the indications are that Gareth Jenkins would have kept his job as the Welsh coach," he said.

The question has to be asked who is assessing the performance of the WRU board? Former WRU chief executive Steve Lewis

"The fact we lost on Saturday rests on the fact that our goal kicker has hit the upright twice and missed a penalty in front of the posts.

"So are we saying that if our goal kicker had successfully taken those kicking opportunities Gareth Jenkins would still be in a job and everything would be right?

"But everything is wrong because we hit the upright twice and missed a kick in front of the post.

"We can't let marginal decisions like that affect our whole appraisal of the welsh rugby structure."

He added: "Quite clearly the corporate structure and systems in process within the WRU need to be addressed.

"This is a professional game and we are running a professional game with an amateur structure.

"Otherwise, what happened on the weekend will repeat itself. It's repeated itself many times over the last 10 to 15 years and throughout that time, the structure of the WRU board has been quite stable.

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"So the question has to be asked who is assessing the performance of the WRU board?

"What people need to understand is it's the WRU board who appoint and replace national head coaches of the national rugby team."

But Lewis did point out that Jenkins set himself up for a fall when he told the public to judge him on the World Cup.

"Maybe in hindsight he should have been either better prepared or better coached or taken out of the PR headlights to some extent," he said.