The Ospreys say they have already lost one player they wanted to keep amid the turbulence running through the professional game in Wales.
Head coach Toby Booth revealed the news as he addressed suggestions from former Welsh Rugby Union chief executive David Moffett that the game in Wales should deal with rugby’s financial crunch by cutting to three pro teams, with the Ospreys the region to go.
Booth countered by insisting insisted he was optimistic about the Ospreys’ future. He declined to name the player who had told him he was departing.
READ MORE: Former WRU boss David Moffett urges Wales to cut a region quickly or whole game will implode
But he pointed the finger at Welsh rugby’s contract mess for the impending exit.
“There’s a significant percentage being taken off your budget, so the ratio of depth to quality is always going to be the difficult thing to manage and there are going to be some departures — some of them forced upon us, some of them by choice because it’s taken too long,” he said.
“I’ve already lost one player, who I’m not going to name but who would have been nice to keep around. He’s had an option and gone elsewhere. That’s unfortunate. That’s a casualty of this whole scenario.”
The Ospreys have started to offer contracts to certain players with one of their priorities being to hold onto some of their emerging youngsters. They plan to run with a squad of between 36 and 38 players next season, reducing from around 50, meaning departures are inevitable.
But they are hopeful of retaining others they would want to keep. “We’ll end up with a squad of around 36,” said Booth.
“We can have up to 44 and of course I’d like 44 for the depth issue, but we’re looking at 36 to 38, maximum. I can’t see us being able to afford any more than that. I think all regions are around that from a maximum point of view. I can’t see how the numbers fit otherwise.
“And you are going to have a massive reliance on that next group of academy players, which in some cases can pose greater problems because you may be putting people in who are not quite ready, but the flip side of that is the ones who are ready will get game time.”
Running with a squad of 36 would pose significant challenges, with figures suggesting professional teams have 23 percent of their players out injured on average at any point in the season. Factor in Wales call-ups and the scope for problems is obvious.
“We are going to have to be very creative around preparation, let alone the team. So it’s going to be extremely challenging, for sure." said Booth.
He spoke in the week when Moffett outlined what he personally believes should be the way forward for the Welsh game.
Moffett, of course, oversaw the introduction of regional rugby in Wales in 2003 with five teams initially involved, reduced to four after one season when Celtic Warriors were controversially wiped off the board.
Now he feels the number should be further slimmed down, reasoning that the Ospreys should be the fall guys because they don’t own their ground.
But Booth doesn’t buy it, saying: “People are entitled to their opinions. This region has produced more international players in the last two years and they’re the only team from Wales in the Champions Cup.
“So I’m probably going to not agree with that. Whatever happens, we need competitive regions and we need a competitive Wales.
“Everyone would agree with that, because people follow success. What that looks like in these challenging times, we have to understand what expectation is.
“However, people are entitled to their opinions. The money is the money."
Booth raised the possibility that people could look into trying to generate more revenue “because if you can do that you can increase your squad competitiveness”.
But Moffett’s suggestion this week wasn’t the first time for it to be mooted that professional rugby be taken away from Swansea and one of the most fertile rugby areas in Wales, while barely a week goes by without a call to look again at the number of regions in Wales.
“I find it distracting,” said Booth. “I’m a bit older than most, so I’ve seen a lot of this distraction stuff, not quite to this degree and not quite as vociferous as this.
“There are distractions going on in the English Premiership with two clubs going into liquidation, so these things are always around and there’s always a solution in there somewhere.
“My biggest frustration is that this situation, some would argue, has been 10 years in the making. It’s certainly been around during my tenure, for sure.”
But he remained optimistic about the future of the Ospreys, having spoken with their owners, Y11. “Yeah, I am, absolutely, I am, until I know otherwise. I have had great conversations with the Y11 owners, for example. They’re committed to us and the Ospreys. Until I hear differently, we’ll continue to do what we need to do.”
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