Moffett steps down as WRU chief

And in the three years as chief executive of the Welsh Rugby Union, few others have divided opinion within the game to such an extent.

To one man, Moffett has overseen the most important and significant changes in the history of professional Welsh rugby.

To another, he has ripped the heart and soul out of the game by neglecting the game at grass root level.

Here BBC Sport samples the views of those who have felt the force of Moffett's modernisation mission.

Gwyn Jones Former Wales captain

David Moffett has provided Welsh rugby with a stable background from which we can move forward and look forward to prosperity in the future.

Before his arrival we were looking at financial ruin and possibly, with the death of the stadium, real disintegration of rugby in Wales.

What David Moffett had was impartiality. He came from another country and he didn't belong to an agenda of constant in-fighting and parochialism that has dogged Welsh rugby for so long.

He drove through a huge change in the structure which I'm not sure a Welshman could have done.

Leighton Samuel Former Celtic Warriors owner

I'm as bitter now as I was then about the end of the Warriors.

There are a lot of disappointed supporters and I just feel there are huge areas of Wales that are not represented by top-class rugby.

Samuel begins WRU legal challenge

In terms of the other four regions, the Ospreys are doing reasonably well but I think it's sad for Wales that we've lost a team that represented probably the best part of Wales.

Derwyn Jones Ospreys team manager

David has been one of the best things to happen to Welsh rugby for a very long time.

He made a lot of difficult and big calls. He changed the structure of the game in Wales.

He hasn't always been popular with some but he's certainly made the right decisions for the right reasons.

I think he'll be remembered with a great deal of fondness and respect."

Derek Bevan Former international referee

They will be talking about David Moffett for years to come.

He's a man who has not been afraid to make unpopular decisions. He's hurt a lot of people and clubs along the way but he's balanced the books.

Possibly if he hadn't come to the Welsh Rugby Union, they could have been bankrupt by now.

Gareth Charles BBC Wales rugby correspondent

The fact that the WRU finds itself in a healthier position than at any other time in recent memory is very much attributable to David Moffett.

Slashing the massive Union debt will be considered his greatest achievement in a period of huge sea changes within Welsh rugby.

Moffett had the vision to reject Jenkins and Evans, and appoint Ruddock (who'd not even applied for the post) as Wales coach From Trelewis-am-byth Have your say on Scrum V

Without baggage from within the game in Wales and determined to look forward rather than to history and tradition, David Moffett was never afraid to take tough, often unpopular decisions.

The changes he oversaw didn't come without cost or pain. Within the corridors of Welsh rugby power they will be quite rightly be much consternation as to how they'll fill the pretty large shoes he has left behind.

But many amongst the wider rugby public who feel disillusioned and disenfranchised, they will already have raised a glass in celebration of Moffett's impending departure.