The Ospreys : The Threatened Factory Closure Of Sport?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I have recently chatted about the threat to disband the Ospreys and instead create a regional rugby franchise in North Wales. Now whatever your views on Welsh regonal rugby (and I've made my position clear on this) I think nobody can deny that if we assume that the rumours are true they have been treated shabbily by the WRU given that 1) They are the best performing of the current four Welsh regional clubs 2) There seems to be an obvious candidate for the chop in the financially problematic Dragons and 3) There is no guarantee a Welsh regional rugby club in North Wales would be successful, especially if you consider that the clubs in South and West Wales haven't been in the traditional heartlands of the sport

Well yesterday they played and lost to Connacht 46 -5. I haven't seen the game (I was going to watch a recording out of curiosity but now I'm not going to bother given I know the result). It was also their sixth straight defeat.

Now Twitter seemed to have taken two views on this. One is basically that the off the field headlines have permeated to the team's performance and that in essence the WRU are responsible and should guarantee it's future as soon as possible.

The other view basically was that as their future is secured for at least one more season (as the Ospreys have confirmed) they are professional players and should not have been slaughtered by the Irish club.

I think you can work out where I stand on this.

But as the title of the post implies almost uniquely what the Ospreys I would argue have become is the threatened factory closure of sport. You get situations in factories where the head office (somewhere else, swanky and far away) says that there are contracts for a year but there are no guantees beyond that. Thus the future of the factory is called into question. This uncertainty seeps across the factory. Morale lowers which consequently lowers productivity. With this threat to the factory's future no one wants applies for a job there. Inevitable decline.

The Ospreys long term future is under threat. They have a disasterous run of losses. The players, professionals don't forget with wives and families, will unless the WRU commits to the team's future want to get out as soon as possible. There would probably be an exodus as and when contracts come up for renewal. And who can blame them? Few players would want to join them under these circumstances either. Those who do will not be of the quality that would normally be expected of a team in the top tier of Welsh club rugby. Inevitable decline.

I have not hidden my dislike of the Welsh regional club structure and I won't be a hypocrite by implying I've changed my mind. But I think that  most people feel that if the rumours are true then the Ospreys have been badly let down by the WRU and that they should make amends by guaranteeing the long term future of the club.

Or else they may be announcing the Ospreys' closure in the future.

Until the next time.