This post was originally published on this site.
The Wales duo have been heavily linked with a move to Gloucester
The Ospreys have not given up hope of keeping Wales captains Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake, according to head coach Mark Jones.
Both have linked heavily with moves to Gloucester in the past week, with the Gallagher Prem club understood to be close to landing the pair amid the ongoing uncertainty in Welsh rugby. However, Jones insists the Ospreys are still hopeful of keeping their captain and vice-captain ahead of next season, as he admitted the current lack of clarity in Wales is not helping anyone.
“I haven’t given up on keeping anybody at the Ospreys,” said the Ospreys head coach. “We’re working tirelessly to get our retention right to begin with.
“There are players we feel are strong parts of the Ospreys and we’re dead keen to keep them in the environment. We’ve made as many approaches as we can to the players that we want to target and they have firm offers in front of them.
“But if you’re talking about all the players out of contract, I’m sure the best of them will be targeted by many teams. That’s a compliment to them and the Ospreys.
“All we can do is keep fighting to keep them in the building. Ultimately those guys have to make a decision and I’m sure we’ll hear in due course what those decisions are.”
The likes of Dan Edwards, Kieran Hardy and Gareth Thomas have also been linked with moves away, as the Welsh Rugby Union considers how it will go down to three teams.
Undoubtedly, losing any of those would be a blow to the Ospreys – but the departures of Morgan and Lake would be particularly tough.
“Any team that had those players with them, it would be a big blow to lose them,” added Jones. “All I can assure our supporters is we’re doing our best to keep them.
“They’ve got the best offers we can give in front of them. As head coach, I’ve been trying to give as much confirmation on how I see the Ospreys moving forward.
“But it’s so difficult when you don’t have future budgets, clarity on the amount of teams, or the competition you’re going to be playing in.
“It’s difficult to give a long-term view on what it looks like. We’ve done our very best and everyone at the Ospreys can be proud of that.”
The ongoing uncertainty could lead to a number of players leaving Wales in the coming months.
Around 80 players are out of contract at the end of the season, with no clarity currently being offered on what will happen next in terms of the WRU’s plans.
“Nothing that’s going on at the moment is helping, with that ambiguity,” said Jones. “Anytime there’s a void of information, it gets filled with rumour, anxiety and whatever.
“It’s not helping, the lack of information and clarity we can give players. We can only control the environment these players are in and the support we can give them.
“We can offer them contracts they hopefully feel are representative of their quality. That’s what we’re doing at the moment. That’s what I’m keeping it about at the moment, the things we can control.”
Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our free daily newsletter here and our WhatsApp channel here for all the breaking news.
