There’s some much needed good news for Ospreys fans
The Ospreys look well-placed to keep hold of Wales outside-half Dan Edwards as head coach Mark Jones expressed confidence the club will not lose any more players they want to keep.
WalesOnline reported earlier this month that Edwards was a prime target for English giants Leicester Tigers, who were prepared to offer Wales’ first-choice number 10 a three-year contract worth £250,000 a season.
But this afternoon RugbyPass reported Edwards would not be heading to the East Midlands and is instead expected to remain at the Ospreys.
This will come as a significant boost to the Ospreys who were dealt a hammer blow earlier this month when Wales captains Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake signed for Gloucester.
“There’s a few things bubbling in the background where we are happy they are heading in the right direction,” said Jones.
“Hopefully there will be a time where we can share some good news with our fans but nothing that I can report at this moment in time.
“There’s lots of players we are chatting to that we want to keep in the Ospreys shirt and hopefully we will have some exciting news about quite a few players moving forward with a bit of luck.
“We’ll save all of the good news for the new year, how about that.”
Edwards was outstanding in the Ospreys’ Boxing Day victory over arch-rivals the Scarlets in Llanelli and has made the Wales number 10 shirt his own in recent times.
“I love working with Dan,” said Jones.
“I got my first exposure to him with the U20s a couple of years ago and we’ve got a very similar view on how the game should be played.
“I like the way he plays the game. He’s a real running threat but what people do underestimate with him is the quality of his kicking game and the length of his kicking game.
“As a young player he’s very mature. He understands the momentum of the game really well.
“I think you saw that in that third quarter, just not getting bored with trying to turn the Scarlets around, dealing with the yellow cards and how to manage that scenario.
“As a 22-year-old 10 that’s time in the saddle and you haven’t got a time machine but he’s ahead of his years around that sort of stuff.
“I think he’s got a great mix to his game.”
The Ospreys have a number of key players out of contract and there have been concerns many would leave due to the ongoing uncertainty in the Welsh game.
But the Welsh Rugby Union have said they will honour existing contracts and they will also guarantee new contracts signed by players of national interest such as Edwards.
Despite the uncertainty Jones is confident the Ospreys will have a strong squad next season.
“Yeah, I’m pretty confident that the players we want to retain we’ll retain them but ultimately I can’t think for a player,” said Jones.
“Ultimately I can just look at it through my lens at how we are communicating to the players, the type of environment we want to set here and then ultimately the types of packages we are trying to put forward to the players.
“I’m confident we’ll make it very difficult for players to move on with those things on the table.
“But for me to think for somebody else or to try to think into a player’s mind is a difficult thing to do so I can’t think for them.
“But I am pretty confident that there’ll be a very, very strong Ospreys squad here moving forward in the years to come.”
The WRU are still intent on following through with their plan to reduce the number of professional clubs from four to three.
WRU chair Richard Collier-Keywood has previously said it is a possibility the Ospreys’ majority shareholders Y11 Sports & Media could buy Cardiff.
“I don’t deal in rumours mate, I can only deal in facts,” said Jones when asked if there was any update on the Ospreys’ future.
“I’ve got no facts that I’ve been spoken to about or heard internally that suggests there’ll be anything other than the four teams we’ve got at the moment.
“We are working off that at the moment. I’m sure the powers that be will come forward and update everybody.
“I’ve got nothing new to add to what I’ve already answered.”
