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It’s been a sorry week for Welsh rugby, but one man has shown some integrity amongst the chaos
In a week of unbearable noise, silence can quite simply be deafening.
Those who choose not to put their heads above the parapets become a lot more noticeable than those who do. None more so than in a week like this.
It was always apparent that the last few days were going to be seismic. A decision on the Welsh Rugby Union’s preferred bidder for Cardiff was expected at the start of the week – there was no great surprise in that, despite the lack of seemingly any plan to deal with it suggesting otherwise.
When it was decided unanimously by the WRU board at the Parkgate Hotel on Monday that Ospreys’ owners, Y11, were the preferred bidder, the odds of that staying under wraps for long were slim in Welsh rugby’s ecosystem.
The quickest way for a secret to get out, after all, is to tell someone in Welsh rugby.
Once the genie was out of the bottle, though, there’s little way of getting it back in. Since then, opinions have come in from all angles.
There are helpless parties in this and then there are not.
Players, staff and supporters are innocent bystanders, fed morsels of information little by little. The crucial stakeholders, kept in the dark by those above them.
On Tuesday, the day after it emerged Y11 were the preferred bidders, Ospreys players understandably made their frustration known to CEO Lance Bradley in a meeting over being kept out of the loop.
For someone like Dan Edwards, the Wales fly-half who recently signed a deal to stay at the Ospreys, the thought that those at the top of the hierarchy knew more than they were letting on when it comes to the club’s future would be deeply unpalatable.
Some might try play down the nature of that meeting for whatever reason, but the tone was one largely of anger.
Ospreys head coach Mark Jones confirmed as much on Wednesday, when fulfilling his duties at the weekly press conference.
The former Wales wing took every question thrown his way and answered it honestly and thoughtfully. It isn’t the mid Walians’ fight in many ways, he is not the one who has steered the ship onto the path it is currently on.
Yet he handled it all with dignity and integrity. He had the players’ backs – already, it is clear, that hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Not everyone can be afforded that same level of praise.
Bradley, having bore the brunt of the players’ frustration, broke his silence on Thursday – with a statement issued at the same time as the WRU’s confirmation that Y11 was going ahead with buying Cardiff.
A plan with the WRU was supposedly promised to the players on Tuesday, but details seem scarce. A future until 2027 and playing their games in St Helen’s next season were two details – although Swansea Council have seemingly put paid to the latter after claiming the WRU indicated “there is no viable future for the Ospreys”.
The problem is that Bradley has been vocal in the past. It’s a peril of the job – if you are happy to speak in the good times, then people will expect the same when the tide turns.
But to call one fan’s concern about the Ospreys’ future “utter rubbish” on social media last week, when the tea leaves clearly pointed towards Y11’s interest in Cardiff being genuine, was ill-advised at best.
At the same time Jones was facing the media, WRU CEO Abi Tierney and chair Richard Collier-Keywood were in front of MPs at a Welsh Affairs Committee hearing in London.
Let’s just say they couldn’t have had a more leisurely walk in the park if they’d crossed the Thames for a stroll in Jubilee Gardens.
It was, in essence, politicians speaking to politicians. Anyone hoping for a grilling of the WRU bosses would have been bitterly disappointing.
It was as easy a ride as you could expect, with MPs largely asking localised questions about grassroots rugby.
Important, of course, but in this week of all weeks, it shouldn’t take just 10 minutes for Max Boyce to get a mention, but over an hour for the Ospreys to be raised.
Even then, it was mostly vague, inconsequential stuff – other than the odd piece of questioning around finances which saw the chair’s mask slip a little. The great shame is that fan representatives of the four clubs offered far more, but were made to speak second.
Merely putting them first might have prompted MPs to ask more probing questions than whether the fly-half factory really has shut down.
At the end of the day, just 48 hours before, Collier-Keywood was instrumental in the decision behind Y11 in the Parkgate. To be let off the hook in such a manner by MPs, while not unexpected, was disappointing.
Getting clarity in any means right now is a difficult task.
The WRU say the Ospreys and Cardiff will both be owned by Y11 – a decision that would need approval by the United Rugby Championship, EPCR and World Rugby.
The URC are refusing to confirm whether they have signed off on it, while EPCR and World Rugby are yet to be approached formally by the union.
It’s unlikely either of the three would kick up a fuss, but once again, clarity isn’t exactly forthcoming.
Right now, until a clear future for the Ospreys – one that doesn’t have the asterisk of maybe ending in 18 months time – is laid out, the posturing will continue.
It’s difficult to know where the next turn is in this story. It’s hard to escape the notion that the latest announcement – much like the deadline for the PRA signing last year – is putting pressure on the Dragons and, in particular, Scarlets to agree to the licencing on the WRU’s terms.
But, at the end of the week, perhaps the only thing that can be said with clarity is that Welsh rugby could do with a few more characters like Mark Jones.
