\n<\/p>\n
The very survival of the Ospreys in its current guise also lies at the heart of the issues.<\/p>\n
Welsh rugby’s governing body confirmed it proposes to grant three licences for men’s clubs.<\/p>\n
There will be one in Cardiff, one in the east and one in the west, which is expected to result in a straight survival fight between Ospreys and Scarlets in Llanelli.<\/p>\n
Another option that has now emerged is Ospreys owners, Y11 Sport & Media, taking over WRU-owned Cardiff, which could produce the desired number of three professional sides.<\/p>\n
Discussions are continuing on what the future will hold and Jones was asked what guarantees he and the Ospreys squad had been given about the region’s future from the WRU, Y11 or regional bosses.<\/p>\n
“No guarantees. Nobody is giving any guarantees,” said Jones.<\/p>\n
“The only guarantee is they are still talking about it. I trust Lance Bradley [chief executive] and Dan Griffiths [rugby general manager] to do the best at that level of operation to represent us to the WRU. <\/p>\n
“I’ve got that level of trust. My job is to do the best I can with the rugby department.”<\/p>\n
Given the radio silence from the rugby powerbrokers, Ospreys supporters fear for the future of their side.<\/p>\n
When presented with the scenario the Ospreys could cease to exist in its current form, Jones responded: “It could be, but it could also be the start of something new, exciting or amazing. <\/p>\n
“Naturally, you always go to the fear side of things. I’m of the mindset that whatever comes out of this will be better than what’s before. <\/p>\n
“That’s how I’m viewing it. But until that happens, everyone will have to consider the other scenario you’ve outlined.”<\/p>\n
Jones launched an impassioned message to the Ospreys fans to just “keeping doing what they are doing” as he prepares for a trip to face Montauban on Saturday in France.<\/p>\n
“They are supporting the team exceptionally well home and away,” said Jones.<\/p>\n
“They are making noise at the ground which the players can live off. I’m not on social media, but I know there’s huge support for the players and the Ospreys. <\/p>\n
“I encourage them to keep going. We’re all working towards a bright future and we hoping that future will involve the Ospreys being a key part of it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The very survival of the Ospreys in its current guise also lies at the heart of the issues. Welsh rugby’s governing body confirmed it proposes to grant three licences for men’s clubs. There will be one in Cardiff, one in the east and one in the west, which is expected to result in a straight<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rugby"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}