Come Friday, the bottom two sides of the URC meet in what promises to be a derby packed with added punch with both sides embroiled in the ongoing uncertainty surrounding their regional futures.
On the field, bragging rights will be at stake with Jones locking horns against his old Scarlets and Wales teammate Dwayne Peel having spent seven seasons as a player with the West Wallians from 2003-2010.
These days, however, Jones’ loyalties are firmly with the old rivals from across the Loughor estuary after arriving in 2023 first as a defence coach at the Ospreys, before then succeeding Toby Booth early into the 2024/25 campaign as head coach.
Having experienced the derby from both sides of the pitch the former Wales wing believes it’s a match like no other and believes the side that both controls their emotions and shows temperament in execution on the pitch will be the victor.
“Looking at the landscape at the moment, there’s no doubt that that [emotion] will be some sort of driver in certain segments of the media and from the supporting teams,” said Jones.
“From my perspective, it can’t be about that. You have to have the emotion and desire, that’s a giver.
“For me, though, it’s often around who controls it the most, who is the most accurate and the most disciplined on the day and we will look to get that balance right.
“I love it, I think it is great, but our job is to keep the calm and accuracy peace at the forefront of our mind.
“It’s never nice when you are at the bottom end, who wants to be down there? When you look at how competitive the league is and the difference between ninth and sixteenth is you are talking only a couple of wins, and it looks different.
“It’s still early in the season and a lot of teams have had runs of fixtures and have been playing overseas in South Africa, which is a difficult place to go.
“But I’m not focused on where we are at the moment, I’m more interested in the areas of our game and how we are playing.
Having dramatically edged out their rivals with Iestyn Morgan’s last gasp try for Ospreys in the lead up to Christmas last year, the two sides have shared the spoils in the fixture.
Scarlets triumphant in the return URC fixture Llanelli in March, whilst Ospreys avenged that defeat in Europe a week later with both entertaining contests sharing 50 points.
Come Friday, over 10,000 are expected to see the latest instalment with Jones calling on the Ospreys support to come and make a great environment that both sets of players can thrive off.
“They are great occasions [derbies], and I hope our supporters do what they have done all year and get behind the team, travel down in their numbers,” continued Jones.
“It’s the opportunity to go up against your closest rivals both from a community perspective but also from a positional rivalry in Welsh rugby.
“What’s been good recently is both teams have got stuck into each other at both venues and they have been really competitive games. This one will be no different.
“Both teams are playing pretty well but are a bit short in the victory column.
“Scarlets have grown and have got better and better as the season has gone on and had more of their experienced players back.
“Our form has been pretty consistent, and we’ve competed hard in some really tough fixtures against some of the best teams in the league.
“We know that we haven’t been accurate enough though in key moments in games and that’s resulted in us losing a bit of momentum.
“We know there is moments in all games, but we need to be better at handling them. There’s not a huge amount wrong with our game.
“Hopefully we can put a great spectacle on and sell Welsh Rugby for what it is – passionate and of high quality.”
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
