Dragons head coach Filo Tiatia is an Ospreys legend after winning two league titles and the Anglo-Welsh Cup with the club. He also played in the 2006 win against the touring Australians in Swansea.
“I still have a strong affiliation with the Ospreys,” said Tiatia, who cut his coaching teeth with Swansea.
“I’m on the Ospreys old boys chat group and we connect, we talk, we check in.
“I have empathy with what everyone’s going through, not just the Ospreys but every region. It’s tough.”
Tiatia returned to Wales in the summer of 2024, initially as Dragons’ defence coach, and believes that the four-team model is the strongest.
“I don’t agree with a lot of things that are going on but there needs to be change. I agree with that,” he said.
“I’ve spoken around identity of the Dragons, the Ospreys, the Scarlets and Cardiff. Four teams are really important and I’ve spoken to [Wales head coach Steve] Tandy to give my thoughts.
“Let’s find the best solution for the group moving forward,” he continued.
“Three or two teams, I don’t think will work, but that’s an opinion.
“What I do emphasise at the moment is what everyone’s going through, and it’s not a nice place to be in.”
The WRU’s plans for only one side in the west pits Ospreys against Scarlets, yet the Llanelli club feel for their counterparts.
“It’s terribly sad, we have a lot of empathy for anyone who’s going through this right now,” said interim director of rugby Nigel Davies, whose son Sam previously played for Ospreys.
“There’s a huge amount of uncertainty, there’s a lot of connections within Wales, with the players, the coaches and the supporters.
“We’ve spoken about it very briefly as a group and the boys here have a lot of empathy and compassion for what’s going on.
“We don’t really know a clear way forward at the moment. There are a lot of uncertainties, a lot of unknowns which are causing a lot of this grief, and we all feel that pain here.”