Dan Edwards is the Wales fly-half, but every now and then he takes the trouble to stop and look at the board in the Ospreys’ team room that has inscribed on it the name of every player who has worn the region’s shirt, including those from the silverware-laden galacticos era. “You think to yourself, ‘Jeez, I’m in the right place’,” he says.
For the local lad who lives a mere drop-kick away from Aberavon rugby ground, who grew up watching the Ospreys and hoping to one day play for them, the sense of history is almost palpable.
And why wouldn’t it be? On the aforementioned board are names such as Alun Wyn Jones, Shane Williams, Justin Tipuric, James Hook, Gavin Henson, Dan Biggar, Tommy Bowe, Marty Holah, Adam Jones, Duncan Jones, Paul James, Jerry Collins, Filo Tiatia, Justin Marshall, Mike Phillips, Ryan Jones, plus the first region’s captain, Scott Gibbs – immense figures, all.
Grafters like Steve Tandy, the current Wales coach, feature, as well as the tough-as-teak Andrew Bishop and Richard Hibbard, along with countless others who may not have commanded headlines but are still seen as integral to the region’s story.
All have helped make the Ospreys the most successful of the four Welsh professional teams in the matter of winning trophies, with four league titles and an Anglo-Welsh cup final success in the record books.
But here’s the thing: that fact alone doesn’t guarantee immunity from the gnawing uncertainty currently afflicting the top end of Welsh rugby.
TS Eliot saw April as the cruellest month, but October is proving no stroll in the park for the quartet of regions as they await news on the process that could theoretically see all of them done away with and replaced by two new entities. “We’ve got to make some big decisions if we want a radically different future,” the Welsh Rugby Union’s director of rugby Dave Reddin said in the summer.
Reddin’s words sent a chill across the regions. All can mount a case for surviving. All have their histories and casts of heroes – the Ospreys are far from alone on that score. All will argue they have the potential to be successful in the seasons ahead, given the right funding.
So how is the uncertainty being handled? RugbyPass spent time with the Ospreys to try to find how they are coping.
THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE – ‘It will be a relief when there’s certainty’
‘Good Days Ahead’ ran a message emblazoned across the back of a black hoodie a supporter sported at the Ospreys’ game with Zebre in Bridgend.
Optimism, it is said, can make a person feel better. Credit that man, then, for staying positive at a time when few in Welsh rugby are of a similar mind.
But it is a bright morning with autumn sunshine warming St Helen’s in Swansea as Ospreys chief executive Lance Bradley makes his way down the famous steps, greeting RugbyPass warmly. He has been in the job for 18 months and has not just a plan but a vision that he hopes will see the region thrive at a redeveloped St Helen’s.
I come to work in the morning and I look around and think of the people who’ve walked through this place over the years… it’s so full of history.
The elephant in the room? It’s there, undoubtedly, and has been for several months, but the WRU are set to make a final call on their plans by the end of the month, a day Bradley reckons can’t come quickly enough.
“It will be a relief when there’s certainty for all,” he says. “It will be good for Welsh rugby. We should be trying to attract new sponsors into the game. But it’s tough when they are not sure what’s happening. We have all the funding in place to redevelop St Helen’s and it will be amazing when it’s done.
“I come to work in the morning and I pull up inside the ground, look around and think of the people who’ve walked through this place over the years. I know that sounds dramatic, but it’s so full of history. If you go downstairs to the lounge where some of the memorabilia is, you look at the shirts that are there and it’s incredible. What we want to do is carry out an upgrade while respecting and cherishing all that history.
“We also have a squad of quite young players with a captain in Jac Morgan who is only 25. Potentially, he could have another 10 years to play. If we can bring in a bit more stardust and add depth in a couple of positions, we can be a really strong team.”
Before moving to Wales, Bradley held the chief executive role at Gloucester Rugby and prior to that had been managing director of Mitsubishi Motors. In all, he worked in the motor industry for 30 years.
Really, he could be forgiven for pondering the wisdom of his call to pitch up in Welsh rugby, but he has tackled the job and indeed life in Wales with relish, engaging with fans on social media and liaising with clubs and the rugby community generally via meetings and social engagements. He is even learning Welsh.
“Challenging,” he laughs about his efforts to pick up another tongue. “But it’s worth the effort. I’m in Wales and I want to at least be able to speak a bit of the language.
“On the rugby front, there’s been a lot to do, especially of late. I’ve been careful to keep people informed as best I can during the consultation process, with regular chats to the staff and players. It’s tough because often you don’t have much to tell them, but I never wanted anyone to say: ‘We’ve never heard from Lance’.”
“I would say this, but I do think it’s really important the Ospreys brand continues to exist.
“We have a long track record of developing players and winning teams, while I also think identity matters for every team. Supporters under 30 have known only the Ospreys as a professional side around here and the same applies to our young players, the majority of whom say they only ever wanted to play for the Ospreys.
“We’ve had a level of success that helps with our identity. Kids have grown up watching our teams succeed and that has made a difference.”
The problem isn’t the number of regions. That’s almost a symptom of the problem. There’s been a massive lack of investment in the pathway.
Unsurprisingly, Bradley disagrees with those who contend the regions haven’t worked and counsels caution when it comes to potentially halving the number of sides.
“It slightly annoys me when I see people online suggesting the regions have failed,” he says.
“Performances may have declined since Covid, but the period in question has coincided with the pro teams being loaded with Covid debt and funding being reduced. If any organisation were loaded with debt that they found hard to pay and at the same time had their funding cut, it would have an impact, whether you are making buttons or running a rugby team.
“So the regions absolutely haven’t failed. It’s one of the things we have said to the WRU: ‘Don’t think that just cutting a region or two fixes the problem, because it doesn’t.’
“The problem isn’t the number of regions. That’s almost a symptom of the problem. There’s been a massive lack of investment in the pathway. My background was in automotives, and however successful the car you are currently selling is, if you haven’t got its replacement under development, you will get left behind.
“It isn’t good enough to have a car that everybody wants to buy. At the same time, you have to be developing the next car which is even better. That lack of investment over a period of quite a few years is what is coming home to roost. It’s not an impossible situation, but nor is it one that gets fixed overnight.“If you went down to two regions, it would concentrate talent, but would it leave enough opportunities for youngsters coming through? Would Dan Edwards have had the chances he’s had if there were only two teams? You’d have to say no.
“And if you look at the player pool that’s available to Steve Tandy as national coach with two teams, then you’d probably say it wouldn’t be enough.
“If you go to three teams it concentrates the talent a bit but still leaves some opportunities, but not as many as keeping four.”
Let’s talk about the redevelopment plans.
Close your eyes at a deserted St Helen’s and what pictures appear on the reel of your mind’s eye? Gary Sobers blasting the last of his famous six sixes clean out of the ground? Scott Gibbs diving across for the first Swansea try in the historic win over world champions Australia in 1992? A young Gavin Henson taking a high pass, pirouetting and planting over a sumptuously struck dropped goal from 40 metres?
All of those for this writer, one after another.
If we only do rugby and beer, well, you can see the rugby on your TV and there may be beer in your fridge, so we are not going to win that one. The challenge for us is to do what TV can’t do.
But perhaps you’re a forward thinker who allows himself or herself to imagine what might be in the years ahead. You might envisage the Ospreys running out at a stadium by the seaside that has been upgraded for the modern age, with a 4G pitch and state-of-the-art facilities complete with fan zone, sheltered terracing, a new main stand, potentially even coming with an exclusive tunnel club facility, along the lines of the one at Tottenham Hotspur football club, to cater for those who are prepared to pay for an up-close experience that allows them to view the players from behind one-way glass as they prepare to take the pitch.
Maybe you can flick from the past to the future. It’s just that the present right now is in the way.
“We want to offer people an experience,” says Bradley. “If we only do rugby and beer, well, you can see the rugby on your TV and there may be beer in your fridge, so we are not going to win that one. The challenge for us is to do what TV can’t do. We can get a coach or a player into the fan zone after the game to talk about the match. You can’t get that on TV. There’s potential for so much interaction via social media inside the stadium.
“We plan to have a big fan zone, hospitality boxes and potentially a tunnel club and an area for young people that could have a music vibe and much more. We want to involve supporters all the while they are with us. It’s incredibly exciting.”
THE YOUNG PLAYER – ‘We just hope the right decisions are made’
It is the day before Ospreys play Zebre and Dan Edwards has been at the Brewery Field for goal-kicking practice before heading home to Port Talbot.
He came into this world in the spring of 2003, five weeks after David Moffett announced that Welsh rugby would be changing to a regional structure. From a young age, Edwards wanted to play for the Ospreys, watching on as the likes of Dan Biggar and James Hook ran on-pitch matters for the region.
Press the fast-forward button and Edwards himself is the orchestrator-in-chief for the south-west Wales region. The former Aberavon and Swansea player is also the incumbent Wales No.10, but he is grounded and sharply aware of what has come before him at his home region.
“We have a board in the team room with the names of all the Ospreys players,” he says. “When you look at who went on to become Wales internationals and British and Irish Lions, you realise what a special place it is. You look at that board every now and then, see the names and you think to yourself, ‘Jeez, I’m in the right place’.
“I loved my time starting out with Aberavon. Their ground is literally a two-minute walk from my house, albeit I am a Cwmavon boy and live there some of the time with my dad. Playing for Aberavon was a great stepping stone.
“But I wanted to play for the Ospreys, as well. When you first put the jersey on and your friends and family are in the stand, you realise how much it means to you as a local boy. The supporters generally have been great to me.”
Edwards carried the water while he waited for his chance as a teenager at Aberavon, the way of the world for a new boy trying to break through. When his opportunity came he took it with both hands, his spirit of adventure backed up by searing speed off the mark, before graduating to the Ospreys first team via a stint with Swansea.
We do these appearances out in the clubs and you can see the ambition kids have to play rugby in this area – it’s huge. If we lost that it would be ridiculous.
At 22, he is about playing rather than focusing too much on off-field developments. “As players we just try to concentrate on the team,” he says, while acknowledging how difficult it is to sidestep the debate over the way ahead for Welsh rugby.
“You can’t hide away from it – it’s there. You have the players’ consultation and you are told how it’s gone. We just hope the right decisions are made.
“We speak about it and it’s there in the back of your head, but you have to try to keep your mind on the games we are playing, and what we can do to win.
“I just think without the Ospreys region, there wouldn’t be that many kids playing the game around here. We do these appearances out in the clubs and you can see the ambition kids have to play rugby in this area – it’s huge. If we lost that it would be ridiculous.”
For sure, homegrown talent can be a special thing.
THE ONE-REGION MAN – ‘Rugby a big part of everyone’s lives around here’
Justin Tipuric is that rarity as a rugby player who spent his entire professional career with one club. It wasn’t because the man in the blue hat was shy of offers to move. At one point in 2019, media reports suggested Bristol were ready to pay £500,000 a year for his services, with some of France’s biggest clubs also interested.
But Tipuric stuck by his local team. “He could have picked anywhere on the planet but he opted to stay here and serve the Ospreys, and we are so lucky with that,” says team manager Dai Davies. “It just goes to show it’s not about the money. He is a family man who just enjoys being part of the Ospreys and likes life around here.”
The Ospreys have meant a huge amount to Tipuric since his schooldays. “They are my home region and I always used to go and watch as a boy,” says the 36-year-old, who retired at the end of last season and is transitioning into coaching these days.
“One of my earliest and best memories was when the Ospreys beat Australia in the Liberty Stadium. It was packed out that night, and the Ospreys turned them over. I remember thinking how cool it would be to play for the Ospreys in front of crowds like that. So to pull on their jersey was always a dream and, yeah, I was very lucky to do it over many years.”
Memories of his time as a player are still fresh. “I remember my first game, starting in the back row with Jerry Collins and Jerry putting his arm over my shoulder and saying: ‘Go out there and do what you do, I’ve got your back’.
“I was fortunate. There were some unbelievably talented players at the club, especially in the back row, with the likes of Jerry, Marty Holah, Filo Tiatia. Just being on the pitch with them and training day-to-day and seeing how professional they were, you would pick things up. It was such good experience.
To not have professional rugby in our region would be a real shame. Rugby is a big part of everyone’s lives around here, it’s all around you.
“I always enjoyed coming to work as a player and being involved with the people in the club. There are a lot of people involved from the area, and that played an important part in keeping me here, and I’m lucky enough now to step into the coaching side of it.”
But the clouds hanging over Welsh rugby are a concern. Jac Morgan has reportedly told the union he will leave Welsh rugby if the Ospreys cease to exist and Tipuric himself finds it hard to countenance a future without the region. “Of course it would be a big loss,” he says. “We have built a good few years of history and it would be gutting to lose that and lose our supporter base as a result.
“Maybe most importantly, to not have professional rugby in our region would be a real shame. Rugby is a big part of everyone’s lives around here, it’s all around you. The knock-on effect of losing the Ospreys would be detrimental to Swansea and the wider region.”
Other past players would doubtless say much the same for regions they represented.
Is anyone listening? It would hurt plenty if they weren’t.
THE SUPPORTERS – ‘Anglo-Welsh league would solve a lot of problems’
It is 12.40pm on game day in Bridgend and Ospreys jerseys are being worn proudly in the local Wetherspoons, aka The Wyndham Arms, with glasses clinking and the different hues of shirts over the years very much to the fore, among them the black and gold from the title-winning campaign of 2009-10, the white and blue sported in the sun-kissed Pro12 final win over Leinster in Dublin in 2012 and – a collector’s item this – a jet-black job, with four thin white stripes down each arm, from the first regional campaign, of 2003-04.
Glory days, indeed, but what of now? What of the future for the Ospreys and, indeed, regional rugby as a whole? Gareth Vincent and Colin Davies are lifelong rugby followers, hailing from Maesteg and now living in Bridgend. In common with many in the room, they are anxious about the state of Welsh rugby. “You have to ask questions about how we have come to this,” says Gareth, “with the national team struggling, the regions not knowing where they are going and too many matches being played in front of relatively small crowds.
Llanelli and Swansea, Scarlets and Ospreys, are arch-rivals and in sport fans don’t go down the road to watch their old rivals play – it doesn’t work like that.
“For me, a big step forward would be to play in a competition with English clubs. Supporters like the Anglo-Welsh rivalries and my guess is crowds would improve hugely if Welsh teams joined in a league with the English. Sorry to say it, but the URC doesn’t have the same appeal, especially for casual supporters. An Anglo-Welsh league would solve a lot of problems.”
For his mate, the Ospreys need to play a prominent part in whatever model the WRU come up with. “It would be a body blow if the Ospreys no longer existed,” Colin says. “People might argue supporters could watch other teams, but it wouldn’t work. Llanelli and Swansea, Scarlets and Ospreys, are arch-rivals and in sport fans don’t go down the road to watch their old rivals play – it doesn’t work like that.
“I can’t think of many in Swansea or further east across to Bridgend who would go to Llanelli to cheer on a side, and likewise I’m not sure how many Scarlets fans would want to head to Swansea every fortnight.
“If you took away the Ospreys, it would leave a really important area of Welsh rugby disenfranchised.”
The afternoon at the Ospreys’ temporary base at the Brewery Field proves a success, with the stadium looking in fine shape, those behind the scenes having clearly worked hard beforehand and the hosts running out 24-0 winners against Zebre.
Among the crowd are Wynne Edwards, Cheryl Dunnett and Gary John, who have followed the Ospreys over land and sea for multiple years. Wynne and Cheryl have been to 51 different away grounds supporting the region – “it will be 52 when we go to Montauban for a European match in December,” says Wynne – and they have missed just two home matches since 2009. Gary boasts a similar attendance record.
For them and others, at the Ospreys and at all the other Welsh professional teams, following their local region has become a way of life. Supporters bought into the changes that were made in Welsh rugby in 2003 and have invested in their teams despite the politics, the lack of serious funding and the sometimes indifferent results.
It shouldn’t be asking too much to have their views respected.
THE TEAM MANAGER – ‘We’ll all be glad when there’s some clarity’
Dai Davies is one of the people with his finger on the pulse at the Ospreys, along with popular kit man Shaun McAuliffe. Anyone who wants to sample the mood at the region would be advised to track down either of the two as a first port of call.
The amiable Davies prefers to do his work without fuss. Media interviews are largely done by others. But the former British Army recruiter knows what’s going on.
So how are the players and backroom staff handling the latest and arguably most serious bout of Welsh rugby turbulence? “You can’t think about it all the time because it’s out of our control and we have games to focus on,” says Dai.
“But of course it’s there, not just at the Ospreys but at the other regions, as well. We’re all feeling it and all of us will be glad when there’s some clarity.
My right-hand man, Shaun, has a mortgage and a young family and all this has been with him now for five months.
“The players have been great but all this is still going to be in the back of their minds. They want to do well for the club and deserve a lot of praise for the way they’ve been, but it will be good to know where we’re going.
“There’s the supporters to think of, too, who are vital to every region. Fair play to the people who marched in Llanelli. Ospreys people are speaking out as well and all the regions’ supporters clubs are getting together. Hopefully, their voices will be heard.”
And there’s the region’s backroom staff. “My right-hand man, Shaun, is a case in point,” says Dai. “He has a mortgage and a young family and all this has been with him now for five months. There’s a couple more like him, too, youngsters in the same boat. What we want more than anything is for something to be announced.”
We’ll assume those words apply at every region.
THE FORMER COACH – ‘Massive blow if Ospreys were no longer around’
The Ospreys have shown in the past they can make regional rugby work. For their 2012-13 campaign, they came close to averaging five-figure crowds, while they sold more than 40,000 shirts for five consecutive seasons, with their jersey at one point the best-selling top in British rugby.
But those years coincided with silverware regularly being placed on shelves in the region’s trophy room.
Sean Holley worked under Lyn Jones as coach from 2003 to 2008 before taking over the senior coach role for close on four years. He believes the union should leave in place four regions.
“There have been some grounds for encouragement in the early weeks of this season,” he says. “Cardiff have been picking up points and so have the Ospreys, while the Dragons drew with the Sharks. Given our resources, those are not bad efforts and definitely something to build on.
“Focusing just on the Ospreys, I don’t think you need to enlarge the region, not least because they have a record of nurturing outstanding homegrown players – guys like Lee Byrne, Rhys Webb, Matthew Morgan from the Bridgend area, Dan Biggar from Swansea, Justin Tipuric from the Swansea valleys, James Hook from Port Talbot, Andrew Bishop and his brother David from Treorchy, as well as Ian Evans from that neck of the woods.
“I coached there for close on nine years and the place means a hell of a lot to me as a Cwmavon boy who played for Maesteg and Aberavon, two clubs with rich histories. In the area there’s also the likes of Swansea, who’ve beaten all the southern hemisphere nations, and Neath, with all they’ve achieved, as well as Bridgend, another club with massive tradition.
“I’m immensely proud to have been involved as a very young coach at the Ospreys when we started and see the team then go on to win trophies.
“I keep saying to people to look at our first Ospreys squad and how we developed it the following year with just a couple of bits of stardust. Young players like Duncan Jones, Adam Jones and Jonathan Thomas grew as players and became Grand Slam winners.
“I’d like to think the Ospreys helped that. Who’s to say we can’t do that now, by focusing a lot on coaching and bringing young players through. It’s starting to happen. Results aren’t there yet, but developing a team and players doesn’t happen overnight.”
No-one is certain if the sense of dread these past few months will be followed by something not quite so bad or by something every bit as drastic as was feared.
Holley adds: “It would be a massive blow if the Ospreys were no longer around. The kids in the area wear Ospreys shirts and aspire to play for the region. Take Dan Edwards, for example. He played with my son all the way through the junior ranks and is now the Ospreys and Wales No. 10. He’s a classic example of a local boy who’s come through the system to play for his local region. I think it would be a crying shame to lose that brand, that stamp, if you like, that we’ve put on the region.”
Hitchcock used to say there’s no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it, meaning the lingering sense of dread often proves scarier than what actually happens. The trouble is no-one can be sure that line will apply to Welsh rugby in the coming weeks. No-one is certain if the sense of dread these past few months will be followed by something not quite so bad or by something every bit as drastic as was feared.
And that makes for a lot of worried people.
Every region will hope for good news in the coming weeks, for these things matter.
A lot.
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