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Welsh fans expect Alun Wyn Jones to make lucrative move as speculation mounts
By Josh Raisey
With Wales’ Grand Slam winning captain Alun Wyn Jones’ dual contract with the Welsh Rugby Union and the Ospreys set to expire at the end of the season, fans are speculating his next move on social media.
The 33-year-old has been with the Ospreys for the entirety of his career so far, and has not opted for a more lucrative contract in France or England that some of him compatriots have done over the years. However, many Welsh fans feel that the 125-cap lock deserves a move away in the final years of his career.
With Warren Gatland set to coach the British and Irish Lions in 2021 in South Africa, Jones is the favourite to lead the team in what would be his fourth tour, which is why some feel he may stay in Wales. However, as he has over 60 caps for his country, that would not rule him out of national selection if he were to move after the World Cup.
A rugby career is only a finite amount of time, and the Welsh fans understand that it is in his interests financially to make a move away from the Liberty Stadium, as many of Europe’s elite clubs will be after the Six Nations Player of the Championship.
Furthermore, fans of various clubs across England have started speculating a move for Jones across the Severn.
This is what the fans are saying:
After losing former Wallabies skipper James Horwill this season, Harlequins fans are calling for Jones to make the move to south west London after the World Cup, as he could be one of the two players outside of the salary cap.
Ultimately, being the servant that he is to Welsh rugby, Jones would only make the move away if he was offered a significant salary rise. Unfortunately for the Ospreys, the majority of clubs in Europe, or even Japan, would be willing to meet the demands of one of the best players on the planet currently.
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Latest Comments
The boy needs to bulk up if wants to play 10 or 11 to handle those hits, otherwise he could always make a brilliant reserve for the wings if he stays away from the stretcher.
Go to commentsIn another recent article I tried to argue for a few key concept changes for EPCR which I think could light the game up in the North.
First, I can't remember who pointed out the obvious elephant in the room (a SA'n poster?), it's a terrible time to play rugby in the NH, and especially your pinnacle tournament. It's been terrible watching with seemingly all the games I wanted to watch being in the dark, hardly able to see what was going on. The Aviva was the only stadium I saw that had lights that could handle the miserable rain. If the global appeal is there, they could do a lot better having day games.
They other primary idea I thuoght would benefit EPCR most, was more content. The Prem could do with it and the Top14 could do with something more important than their own league, so they aren't under so much pressure to sell games. The quality over quantity approach.
Trim it down to two 16 team EPCR competitions, and introduce a third for playing amongst the T2 sides, or the bottom clubs in each league should simply be working on being better during the EPCR.
Champions Cup is made up of league best 15 teams, + 1, the Challenge Cup winner. Without a reason not to, I'd distribute it evenly based on each leauge, dividing into thirds and rounded up, 6 URC 5 Top14 4 English. Each winner (all four) is #1 rank and I'd have a seeding round or two for the other 12 to determine their own brackets for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. I'd then hold a 6 game pool, home and away, with consecutive of each for those games that involve SA'n teams. Preferrably I'd have a regional thing were all SA'n teams were in the same pool but that's a bit complex for this simple idea.
That pool round further finalises the seeding for knockout round of 16. So #1 pool has essentially duked it out for finals seeding already (better venue planning), and to see who they go up against 16, 15,etc etc. Actually I think I might prefer a single pool round for seeding, and introduce the home and away for Ro16, quarters, and semis (stuffs up venue hire). General idea to produce the most competitive matches possible until the random knockout phase, and fix the random lottery of which two teams get ranked higher after pool play, and also keep the system identical for the Challenge Cup so everthing is succinct. Top T2 side promoted from last year to make 16 in Challenge Cup
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