It is probably best for Ospreys supporters to consume the following few words sitting down and with a glass of water.
Saturday may be the last time Alun Wyn Jones plays a regional rugby match.
Gulp?
Many could be forgiven for swallowing hard more than once.
It’s a day that has crept up without many noticing or commenting. Jones is in contract, after all, through to the World Cup in the autumn. There is plenty of time for negotiating, according to this view, no doubt held by those who subscribe to the Dennis Norden take on life, namely that it’ll be alright on the night.
That may prove the case this time, with agreement reached late in the day, caps thrown in the air and Jones carrying on playing for the region he made his debut for 14 seasons ago.
But there’s a reasonable chance it may not turn out that way.
New twist in Rob Howley for Munster tale as Irish province talk to Wallabies legend - reports
As things stand, the greatest player in the Ospreys’ history will take part in the captain’s run on Friday morning and play against the Scarlets on Saturday evening, and that could be the end of his active service with the region. His stint in a back jersey will stop at 238 games, unless agreement can be reached over a new deal to keep him going into his mid-30s.
He isn’t without options...
STAYING AT THE OSPREYS
The assumption is this would be his preferred option.
Cut to a press conference at the Madejski Stadium in January 2011 after an Ospreys team littered with big names had just bowed out of that season’s Heineken Cup with a dismal performance against London Irish.
Jones was asked what sort of crowd he felt there would be in Swansea the following Saturday.
The then 25-year-old became too choked to answer, with Sean Holley needing to step in and do the honours.
It showed how much the then youngster cared about his home region.
This wasn’t a player who was going to sleep well that night. Indeed, the assumption was the boy from Mumbles would not rest soundly until he had taken the field again and helped the Ospreys produce a performance befitting of the quality in their squad at the time.
The following term he went an entire season unbeaten at regional level, leading his team to the league title.
The story of the 1990s Welsh rugby grudge match when Scott Gibbs caused uproar
The Ospreys have a social-media hashtag, declaring: 'Our blood is black'.
No one has checked, but with Jones the suspicion is that really is the case. No one has given more for the cause on the field in the region’s 16-year existence.
Wales rugby star Nicky Smith ends months of uncertainty by signing big deal
So what’s the problem?
The problem is to give himself the best chance of extending his Wales career and making the 2021 Lions tour, Jones will probably favour a customised training and playing regime of the sort he has worked to this season, when his form has never been better.
He is going to be a player who commands significant wages.
The question is can the Ospreys afford to pay him accordingly when he might not play more than 10 games a season for them?
The word is that money from Wales’ Grand Slam campaign is being directed to the Professional Rugby Board and the same applies to certain commercial revenues. “It’s at their discretion how they spend it,” a source told WalesOnline.
Would it not be for the betterment of Welsh rugby to work out packages that might help keep certain individuals in Wales as they come out of contract? Individuals deemed so important that it would be hugely damaging to the Welsh game were they lost, perhaps?
There is a case for arguing, too, that if Wales want Jones to be on a tailored training and playing regime, and remaining on the regional scene, they ought to be doing something to help out his week-to-week employers.
It’s the same for certain other players.
Scarlets approach England Under-20s and Gloucester coach to join them for next season
PLAYING FOR ANOTHER REGION
Jones has given no indication he wants to play for another region.
Again, rewind the clock, back to 2014, just after the Ospreys had lost half their pack with Richard Hibbard, Ian Evans, Ryan Jones and Adam Jones leaving.
But AWJ stayed.
Someone wrote that he resembled a sixth former who had been put back a year and seen all his friends and peers head for university. Whatever, it didn’t matter to him.
He undoubtedly would have improved the Scarlets, Cardiff Blues and the Dragons. But there was never a suggestion that he wanted to go anywhere. At the Ospreys’ launch for the 2014-15 season, he took serious exception to criticisms of the region’s then squad.
In Wales, you would think, he is either an Osprey or nothing.
LEAVING WALES
There is a Wayne Pivac dimension to consider.
Does the Wales coach-elect see Jones as part of his plans?
If he doesn’t then there might be a temptation to consider offers from outside the regions.
Many would argue Pivac would be mad not to want Jones at the very centre of everything Wales do in the coming seasons, particularly given the way the former Swansea RFC man performed for Wales during the recent Six Nations. In at least three games he could have been named as man of the match. Against England he was monumental.
It’s an understatement to suggest the Welsh public might need some persuading that Jones’ time was anywhere near up as an international player.
But a new team boss can sometimes want a fresh start. It happened with Steve Hansen, when he reshaped Wales after Graham Henry departed. Will Pivac want to make key changes, too? Will he want to start planning for the next World Cup immediately and shed those who might not be around in four years' time? Or will he opt for a transitional phase, squeezing the best out of senior players and hoping others develop and take on extra responsibility?
The signs are that common sense will prevail, with the New Zealander saying only this week it was about “making sure we are not going in there and ripping things apart because it is not broken".
If good sense does leave the building, then an offer from England, France or Japan could prove attractive.
VERDICT
Not even Jones will know whether the game with the Scarlets will be his Ospreys swansong.
His region are anxious to keep him.
"He is a talisman of what we are about, along with other senior players," said head coach Allen Clarke this week.
"I hope he is here for the foreseeable future."
But they and Jones need to thrash out a contract that suits all parties.
Will the length of deal be right for both sides? Will the wages suit? Will PRB come to the view that right now Jones is a special case and needs to stay in Wales at all costs?
One question for those particular gents: How good would it look for professional rugby in this part of the world to lose the Six Nations player of the tournament and a man operating at the very peak of his powers?
It’s a prospect that doesn’t bear thinking about.
Somehow, Welsh rugby needs to make sure it doesn’t happen.
In the meantime, it will be worth savouring Jones’ effort in Swansea on Saturday evening.
Players of his stature don’t come along often.
They are worth going the extra mile to retain.
