'Frustration, confusion, a bit of fear': The fateful meeting with Ospreys players

Head coach Mark Jones revealed Ospreys players walked out of a meeting telling them of plans about the region’s owners to buy rivals Cardiff.

Welsh rugby was plunged into fresh crisis after it emerged Ospreys owners – Y11 Sports & Media – were the preferred bidders in a deal to purchase Cardiff from the Welsh Rugby Union.

The WRU has proposed cutting one of its four men’s professional sides – Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets – much to the dismay of fans throughout the country.

The potential Cardiff deal would allow two sides to effectively become one team in the Welsh capital, putting jobs at risk and banishing the Swansea-based side to the history books.

WRU chief executive Abi Tierney and WRU chairman Richard Collier-Keywood attended a Welsh Affairs Committee meeting in Parliament on Wednesday but were not asked about developments over the sale of Cardiff Rugby.

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Swansea’s local authority, however, has said it was considering legal action to safeguard the future of regional rugby in the city.

Current Ospreys players – including Wales captains Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake and internationals Sam Parry, Dan Edwards and Gareth Thomas – shared a statement, saying they have been “kept in the dark” over the region’s fate.

Ospreys players, coaches and staff held a meeting with chief executive Lance Bradley on Tuesday and Jones said they were told of the Cardiff interest, confirming Y11’s involvement in the bid for the first time.

“I think there was a variety of feelings actually, not just anger,” Jones said at a press conference ahead of Friday’s United Rugby Championship home game against Johannesburg-based Lions.

“Anger would have definitely been one, I think (there was) frustration, confusion, probably a bit of fear in the room as well around the unknown.

“If you don’t know what’s going on, it can create a lot of anxiety. So, a lot of feelings in the room and that certainly presented itself through the meeting.”

Confirming that a training session had been cancelled and players had walked out of a meeting, Jones said: “Yeah. Players were frustrated with some of what they were hearing, some were upset and just wanted their own space.

“It’s absolutely natural that individuals want to do that, fully support that.

“If you’re in a place where you need some space, you need to go and get it.

“That’s just what happened, it was nothing major, it was one or two players. There was no issues around that.”

Jones added further information from the Ospreys owners would be shared with the players – seven of whom were named in Wales’ Six Nations Championship squad on Tuesday – and coaching staff in due course.

He said: “What we know from the meeting is that our owners are interested in discussing a potential purchase of Cardiff Rugby and we don’t know anything around what that purchase looks like.

“That’s information that is going to be shared with the group in a short space of time.”