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<\/p>\nFormer Ospreys favourite Tommy Bowe and ex-Ireland and Lions lock Donncha O’Callaghan gave their impassioned views<\/p>\n
Former Ireland internationals Tommy Bowe and Donncha O’Callaghan(Image: The Offload\/YouTube)<\/p>\n
Two rugby greats have launched an extraordinary broadside at the WRU amid the growing uncertainty surrounding the future of the Ospreys<\/a>, with Donncha O\u2019Callaghan bluntly declaring: \u201cF*** the Welsh Rugby Union.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking on The Offload <\/a>podcast, former Ospreys favourite Tommy Bowe and ex-Ireland and Lions lock O\u2019Callaghan delivered an emotional and furious response to the prospect of one Welsh region being cut, with the Ospreys widely feared to be the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n Two-time Celtic League winner with the Ospreys Bowe admitted he is \u201cheartbroken\u201d at the situation unfolding in Swansea<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI have an Ospreys jersey up on the wall at home alongside my Ulster and Ireland jerseys,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cTo think that the Ospreys\u2026 nobody knows, and this is the real frustrating thing at the minute. I just feel so bad for the current players, for the current staff, for the current supporters who know that the WRU are looking at probably trying to cut one of the regions.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re going home to their wives, to their girlfriends, to their kids not knowing if they\u2019re going to have a contract next year. Not knowing what\u2019s going to happen in a couple of weeks\u2019 time. Are they going to be told that that\u2019s them finished?\u201d<\/p>\n The uncertainty has been heightened by developments off the field, with Y11 \u2014 the company that owns the Ospreys \u2014 becoming preferential bidders to buy Cardiff<\/a>, prompting fears over the long-term viability of the Swansea-based region.<\/p>\n \u201cIt looks like they\u2019re going to be the ones wrapped up,\u201d Bowe said. \u201cBut it\u2019s the fact that there\u2019s no transparency, there\u2019s no knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n The former Ireland wing, who spent four years at the region during its golden era, reeled off the names that made up what O\u2019Callaghan dubbed \u201cthe Avengers\u201d. JOIN OUR WALES RUGBY FACEBOOK PAGE! Latest news, analysis and much more<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cShane Williams, Gavin Henson, James Hook, Lee Byrne, Mike Phillips, Justin Marshall, Marty Holah, Filo Tiatia, Ian Gough, Adam Jones\u2026 that\u2019s not even naming half of them,\u201d Bowe said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve actually won the URC, the Celtic League, more times than any other team apart from Leinster. They\u2019re one of the most successful teams in Welsh rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n He pointed to the spine of Wales\u2019 Six Nations<\/a> and Grand Slam successes being built around Ospreys players.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve won six Six Nations and four Grand Slams in the last 20-odd years. The spine of that was Ospreys players, wasn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n But it was former Munster enforcer O’Callaghan who went furthest, urging ex-players and supporters to mobilise in defiance.<\/p>\n \u201cI am actually delighted as ex-players that you\u2019re starting to find your voice,\u201d O\u2019Callaghan said. \u201cAnd I\u2019d encourage them, man \u2014 fight the daylight there! F*** the Welsh Union\u2026 they are making rudderless decisions.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t lose the Ospreys, man. It\u2019s unthinkable. Most amount of wins in the league and what, we just rip up the history?\u201d<\/p>\n In a remarkable rallying cry, he added: \u201cConnacht marched to Dublin and said, \u2018No way.\u2019 The Ospreys should be marching into Cardiff going, \u2018No f****** way. No way.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Bowe admitted the situation \u201cwould break my heart\u201d if the region were to close, recalling the fierce derby battles and the bond forged between rival communities in Swansea, Neath and Bridgend<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were always up against it trying to bring supporters from big clubs that used to hate each other together to support this Ospreys brand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSome say it worked, some say it didn\u2019t, but there was a great bond.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Callaghan echoed that sentiment, praising the identity built over two decades.<\/p>\n \u201cTwenty years there of graft, hard work\u2026 all about to be ripped up. Welsh Union, honestly, you need to get your s*** together.\u201d<\/p>\n Bowe revealed plans are already under way for ex-players and supporters to show visible backing at this weekend\u2019s clash with the Dragons.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018The blood is black\u2019 \u2014 that was always the motto,\u201d he said. \u201cAnother big one we had was MFL \u2014 \u2018Mates For Life\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a bit cringy at the time, but it\u2019s times like this when everybody\u2019s coming together to really fight for the Ospreys again.\u201d<\/p>\n Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our free daily newsletter here<\/a> and our WhatsApp channel here<\/a> for all the breaking news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Ospreys favourite Tommy Bowe and ex-Ireland and Lions lock Donncha O’Callaghan gave their impassioned views Former Ireland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[26771,5903,101,56,54,55,9051],"class_list":["post-401723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-ospreys","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-welsh-rugby-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}