-Credit:Geraint Nicholas/Huw Evans Agency
New Ospreys head coach Mark Jones admitted he was “really surprised” by being thrust into the new role after a frantic week.
The plan, as announced back in September, had always been for Jones to replace head coach Toby Booth at the end of the current season.
But this week saw the succession plan hastily brought forward to just days before the Ospreys face their fiercest rivals and Jones’ former club, Scarlets, in a west Wales derby.
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Just days after the Ospreys’ record European defeat to Montpellier in France, the club announced the change on Tuesday – seven months earlier than scheduled. As well as marking the end of a successful era for Booth in charge of the Ospreys, this hectic week also saw Jones ascend to a high-level head coaching role after building a varied CV.
And while it wasn’t a total shock, given the announcement at the start of the season, the 47-cap Wales international was still taken aback to be handed the main job mid-season.
“It’s been a mixed week for sure,” said the mid Walian dryly at his first press conference as head coach. “It started off with fairly long travel back from France, then with the developments in the early part of the week, the mood has changed as the week has gone on.
“I was really surprised when I got the call to have a discussion about what it would look like if I needed to take the role on. The first thing that comes into your head is Toby, where he sits in it and his emotions.
“It’s tough because he’s given a lot to the region. I don’t need to speak about his record. It speaks for itself. He’s done a really good job.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time working with him. Immediate thoughts were there. But as soon as those thoughts passed through your brain, you think about the people in front of you and the job you’ve got in your hands, the responsibility you’ve got to the badge.
“We’ve slowly tried to turn our focus to the game, from Tuesday lunchtime onwards.”
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He added: “It’s not a shock in that respect, because there was a handover period. There was a transition that was brought forward.
“These things happen in sport. Without giving it too much disrespect, these things are always in the back of your mind.
“Things can get taken away from you as a player or coach very quickly. We know this is in our line of work.”
If Jones was surprised this week, then the same could likely be said of the playing group.
“Certainly, in my time sharing the pitch with them and sharing some quiet moments, they’ve reacted how you’d expect,” said Jones of the players’ reaction.
“There’s been a little moment of contemplation of what it might mean for them in the short-term, what it might mean for the team and then, actually, what they might need to pick up between now and the end of the year with us not having Toby in the room. Having left the building, what skillsets he’s left and how that gets picked up by the group, because we need to replace a body at the end of the day.”
On his former boss, Jones spoke highly of Booth – insisting their relationship was still a “strong one”. “I know he’ll want us to do well this weekend and then he’ll want the Ospreys to thrive,” he added.
“At the end of the day, there’s a piece of him within the history of the club. I know he’ll be behind the boys on the weekend. He’ll be disappointed he’s not there, prowling the terraces.
“All we can do as a playing group is represent his effort and time he’s given to the badge. We’ll do our very best on the weekend. Then my job is to try and grow the environment to the next level, hopefully.”
Jones has been working as the Ospreys’ defence coach for over a year, bringing about an improvement in the number of tries conceded. When it comes to switching his focus from the defence to the whole operation, he doesn’t expect his workload to change too much – beyond more “press conferences” and “dealing with players on selection and feedback”.