We’ll do whatever it takes for Ospreys – Williams

Ospreys legend Shane Williams says he and his former team-mates will do everything they can to save their old team.

Ospreys’ owners – Y11 Sport and Media – have been named as the preferred bidder by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) to take over domestic rivals Cardiff, who went into administration in April 2025.

Should the deal go through in the next month, Ospreys and Cardiff will continue for now as separate sides, but be owned by one organisation.

Former Wales wing Williams, along with ex-Ospreys players Alun Wyn Jones, Gavin Henson, Ian Gough and Ryan Jones, have signed a document calling for the Ospreys to remain as a top-tier team.

“We will do whatever it takes to hopefully mean the Ospreys will continue to exist,” Williams told the Scrum V The Warm Up podcast and TV programme.

“We are going to do whatever we can to make sure we get heard and hopefully make a change.”

The Ospreys could continue, but as a semi-professional outfit, beyond the summer of 2027.

Williams says the uncertainty was unsettling with current Ospreys head coach Mark Jones saying the squad had heard nothing from Y11.

“Is there a conclusion, do we know what is happening?” said Williams, who is head of rugby at a west Wales school that plays in Welsh rugby’s schools and colleges premier league.

“The last few weeks have been quite upsetting for someone who has been affiliated with the Ospreys from the start, so I can’t imagine what the current guys are going through.

“It’s difficult and feels very personal for me. I have the boys who I teach coming up to me asking is there a chance the Ospreys will be gone because they can’t believe it.

“I am trying to explain and give the positives of it, but there aren’t any positives.”

Williams described how the past-player movement came about.

“We got together on a Whatsapp group and started speaking about what we can do as coaches and ex-players,” said Williams.

“For me and a lot of the other boys, we started the Ospreys, we were part of that identity.

“When you play rugby with players, even though when you finish and you go on different paths in life, you still stay close… you are always going to have that special bond.”

Williams hopes the players’ intervention has not come too late.

“We felt a bit obsolete, redundant in the fact we have not done much for the Ospreys of late,” said Williams.

“We needed to get our act together and prove how much the Ospreys means to us, the community and the current players and coaches.

“Mark Jones [Ospreys head coach] sent me a voice message in the week.

Williams was part of the first Ospreys squad in 2003 and outlined the region’s credentials with four league titles and their ability to continually produce Wales internationals.

“We are the most successful region,” said Williams.

“You look at the players who have come through, some of the best in the world.

“We have had three players who are nominees for world player of the year at different levels.

“We have had players involved with league titles, Grand Slams and British and Irish Lions tour.”

Williams says he has seen the effect of teams disappearing after the change to regional rugby when nine clubs became five sides 23 years ago.

“I remember being at Neath in 2003 and being told the regions were coming in,” said Williams.

“I thought that means a lot of my mates are going to be without work and staff were going to lose their jobs.

“That was the case. I remember feeling bad for those people who did not have contracts. So it is such a difficult time.”