OSPREYS: ‘As long as you get the balance right’: Jones on Welsh talent and the Australians

Mark Jones says he is passionate about bringing Welsh players through at the Ospreys, and believes the right balance between homegrown talent and overseas experience is already lifting the level in training.

The region signed four Australians over the summer, three of whom start Saturday’s United Rugby Championship opener in Durban, a policy that has divided opinion at a time when Welsh rugby is arguing about how to develop its own.

“There’s been a lot made of the Australian boys coming in, rightly so. I think it has definitely caused a bit of a stir around the recruitment side of it,” Jones said.

“But I would say I’m really passionate about bringing as many Welsh boys through as I can. I’m a Welsh guy myself. I would love the opportunity as a young man to be able to play. I wouldn’t want a non-Welsh person sort of blocking my route.”

‘I learned so much from the non-Welsh players’

The head coach’s answer is that the right balance lifts everyone, drawing on what he took from imports during his own playing career.

“I have to say, I learned so much from the non-Welsh players that I played with around how to be a professional on and off the field, not just the on-field stuff technically and tactically,” he said.

“I learned a lot from playing with players that had played in different competitions and come from different cultures. So as long as you get the balance right, I think there’s a real bonus with mixing in high-quality proven professionals with young talented guys.”

Raising the level in training

Jones said the effect was already visible on the training field, with young players measuring themselves against the new arrivals.

“I’d hope that it’s going to accelerate some of the development of players like Lewis Edwards, and then you’ve got a young Jack Hoskins in the 20s who’s running around with Keiran Williams, Owen Watkin, Evardi Boshoff and now Lalakai Foketi,” he said.

“Just having those guys and training against them, we’ve already seen in the last training session how much the competitive edge has gone up, just because we’ve got more depth in a couple of positions.

“You can just see the quality has gone up, so you’d hope that’s going to translate into some more wins. That’s what we hope, and that’s the whole idea, isn’t it, to win games.”

He framed it as a chain: better competition, better group, more depth across a long season.

“If you improve the competition, you improve the quality of your group, and therefore you’ve got more depth and a better chance over an eight or nine-month competition,” he said.

‘A legacy, like Jerry Collins and Justin Marshall’

Jones hopes the current intake will be remembered the way earlier overseas signings are in Swansea.

“I would just hope, being around Marika Koroibete and around Liam Wright, that these guys are going to help the development, and we won’t just be a good Ospreys team for the next couple of seasons,” he said.

“We’re hoping that these boys will have left a bit of a legacy for the next four or five years, which some overseas players have done for the Ospreys, like Jerry Collins, Justin Marshall and all these guys.”

The head coach was also keen to stress what the region held on to, with the future of the region still unresolved and players free to look elsewhere.

“Firstly, I was just so delighted with the Welsh talent we retained, with everything that was going on. We put a big focus on retaining our Welsh talent, that was always our focus,” he said.

“We did our absolute best with Dewi and Jac, and a lot of the other guys that left. We fully understand that what we were offering wasn’t secure for them as professionals, and fully respected some of their decisions.”

Author

Richard Bond

Swansea-based sports journalist.
Twitter: @RichBond00
Email: RichardBond@swanseabaynews.com