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This weekend, the two Italian teams in the Guinness Pro12 conceded 103 points between them - and yet one of them will be guaranteed a place in the Champions Cup next season.

Zebre and Treviso occupy the two bottom places in the table, having won just six of their 35 combined matches in the cross-border league this term.

They are more than 30 points adrift of the last merit-based qualifying spot for entry into the Champions Cup. But nevertheless, one of them will take a seat at Europe’s top table next season.

It is, to my mind, a travesty and it makes a mockery of the Pro12 and the qualifying system.

It’s even more galling as we face up to the very real prospect of there being just one Welsh team in the Champions Cup next term.

For Wales to have the same level of representation as Italy in that elite competition - given the strengths of our respective teams - is just plain wrong.

Admittedly, our sides haven’t exactly lit up the European stage in recent years, but they have contributed and picked up a fair few notable scalps on the way.

Whereas, if you look at the various Italian teams, they have won just 6 out of their last 120 matches in the Heineken Cup or Champions Cup over the past decade.

That record hardly merits continued involvement in the top-tier event and nor does their lowly position in the Pro12.

Read more:Welsh regions could join Super Rugby in radical change to our game, suggests departing Ospreys boss Andrew Hore

Some will see this as merely sour grapes on my part and maintain that those three Welsh teams who are likely to miss out have only themselves to blame.

But this is more than just a Welsh issue, or even just an Italian one.

It’s about the credibility of the Pro12 and the qualifying process.

Italian record in Heineken Cup or Champions Cup over past decade 120 Matches 6 Wins

There’s no doubt the league has benefited significantly from the greater degree of meritocracy which was introduced amid the shake-up that saw the streamlined Champions Cup replace the Heineken Cup .

We can see that from the mad scramble for places and the intense nature of the run-in, with so much left to play for in the remaining weeks of the season.

But there is still one blot on the landscape which has to be addressed.

We have to move to fully-blown meritocracy and do away with any guaranteed spots for any country.

As its stands, the Pro12 has seven places in the 20-team Champions Cup and those are handed to the top finishing sides from each of the four participating countries, plus the next three on merit.

And that’s what leads to the unsatisfactory Italian issue.

It effectively means that only the top six qualify on merit, with the final spot going to either Zebre or Treviso, regardless of how far off the pace they are.

(Image: Huw Evans Agency)

The likelihood is the top Italian team will finish close on 40 points behind the team in seventh and yet qualify ahead of them for the Champions Cup.

I’m sorry, but this just cannot be right.

The qualification system from the Pro12 has to change, with the top seven progressing to the elite European event, regardless of what country they are from.

Also read:Warren Gatland voices concern over having just one Welsh team in next season's European Champions Cup

Some people will point to the fact that this could mean no Welsh representation whatsoever in the Champions Cup.

Well, if that’s the case, so be it.

If you can’t qualify on merit, then you shouldn’t be there. Remember, the Champions Cup is supposed to be an elite event.

Others will argue that it’s a pan-European competition and, as such, every Six Nations country should be represented in it.

Well, my answer to that is we have a two-tier Euro structure, with the Challenge Cup supplementing the main event and that’s where the Italian teams should really be competing.

The truth of the matter is they are out of their depth in the Champions Cup and they skew the draw in that teams have a much better chance of reaching the knockout stages if they have either Zebre or Treviso in their section.

People may also point to the fact that we have a duty to Italian rugby in terms of the development of the game in that country.

Read more:Helen O'Reilly breaks new ground by becoming the first female to officiate in the Guinness Pro12

Well, I think it’s fair to say the Celtic community has done its bit on that front and a darn sight more than either England or France!

Moreover, the Challenge Cup is the more appropriate setting for that development process, as proved by the fact that Zebre won three of their six matches this season to finish second in their pool.

poll loading Should Pro12 Champions Cup qualification system change? 0+ VOTES SO FAR YES NO

So let’s have true meritocracy and make it the top seven goes through to the Champions Cup and the next five go into the second-tier Euro tournament.

It simply can’t be right for the Celtic teams to be knocking lumps out of each other in a desperate bid to make the top six, while the Italian sides know they only have to finish above each other to qualify.

It’s an outdated system, based on entitlement rather than merit, and it needs to be changed.

But, for the moment, we are where we are and the reality is we may well have just the one Welsh side - the Scarlets - in the Champions Cup next season.

Never before has our representation at Europe’s top table been so small or so frustrating.

Also read:Ospreys admit Scarlets defeat is likely to be final nail in the coffin of disappointing season

The Ospreys’ defeat at home to the Scarlets on Saturday has effectively scuppered their chances of making it, so Cardiff Blues look our best outside hopes.

However, they have a tough trip to Parc y Scarlets next week, plus a Judgement Day tester against the Ospreys and a final weekend trip to Euro rivals Edinburgh.

So they really have their work cut out, given they are seven points adrift of that important sixth spot, with just four matches left to play.

One potential hope for the Welsh regions comes in the outcome of this season’s Challenge Cup.

If a Pro12 team wins that, then an eighth side will qualify for the Champions Cup from the league.

In theory, that could be the Dragons if they win the second-tier Euro event, but they are away to Gloucester in the quarter-finals, so the odds are stacked firmly against them.

A more realistic hope is with Connacht lifting the trophy. They have to travel to Grenoble in the last eight, but they are in outstanding form, as their status at the top of the Pro12 testifies.

If they were to win the Challenge Cup, then the team finishing seventh in the Pro12 would qualify and that could yet be either the Blues or the Ospreys.

However, if the men from Galway bow out, then a seventh place finish for one of our Welsh teams wouldn’t cut it and the Italian issue would become even more of a blight.