NOT so long ago it was certainly the Holy Grail but Sunday's disrupted launch of the North Midlands Cup poses a question.

Is it time to think the unthinkable and axe the dinosaur?

It would certainly allow the increasingly important and expanding leagues more time and space to provide clubs with their competitive action.

For a start the North Midlands super powers of Moseley and Worcester have been banned for the past two seasons and now both Stourbridge and Whitchurch also find themselves excluded in the interests of competition.

The advent of professionalism, either full or part-time, has opened a gulf which the smaller clubs can no longer be expected to bridge even in a one-off cup encounter.

Hard to believe that Worcester's win in 1996 was a major milestone in their development yet now they are realistically looking at the European Cup within a few seasons but that is another story.

Junior clubs still have the Tetley's Bitter Vase and the NPI Cup while Malvern, Bromsgrove and Kidderminster Carolians have even played in the Tetley's Bitter Cup in the past two seasons.

But the reason they were able to rub shoulders with such exalted company is thanks to the North Midlands Cup itself, as semi-finalists have the choice to stay in the NPI Cup or move up.

Sever links with the past and part of the sport itself is lost forever, consigned to history along with Richmond and London Scottish two great clubs who found no place in the new order.

The North Midlands Cup also gives smaller clubs a realistic chance of some glory and can set up some interesting local derbies in the process.

Worcester's attempts to revitalise their floodlit cup have melted away so the need for a regional competition to span the divisions remains. The North Midlands Cup still has plenty to offer.