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It is a fire that has engulfed Welsh rugby at exactly the wrong time, with Wales striving for a Grand Slam and facing a testing game against Scotland at Murrayfield this weekend.

Instead of answering match-related questions in press conferences, players have been put on the spot over the politics that is scarring Welsh rugby.

We have had Wales squad members briefing anxious regional team-mates about developments in social media chat groups; one player reportedly quizzed a WRU big wig about the Dragons’ finances before asking: “Who owns the Dragons?”; others spent much of Monday evening worriedly sending texts.

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Had Scotland coach Gregor Townsend been told he could oversee Wales’ build-up for the game on Saturday, he would have come up with the one they’ve had.

And the rumblings continue, with claims and counter-claims flying across cyberspace in the form of press statements.

The truth is out there somewhere, as someone once said.

MARK ORDERS tries to locate it via a number of key questions...

You can read a round-up of today's latest developments here.

Question: The Scarlets say the Ospreys approached them (and Cardiff Blues) about a merger. Why did they do that if they were so against a merger?

The Scarlets actually said in their statement: “The Scarlets received a high-level approach from the Ospreys to explore the option of a merger as they had come to the conclusion that their position as tenants at the Liberty Stadium was proving to be challenging.”

The Ospreys dispute that they approached the Scarlets.

They contend that Nigel Short asked to get together with Mike James and the pair subsequently met in the Marriott Hotel in Swansea.

There was a further meeting between Short and James and his fellow Ospreys power-broker Rob Davies at the Ospreys-Scarlets game at the Liberty Stadium on December 22. Several parties have confirmed this episode.

But no agreement could thereafter be reached.

The Welsh Rugby Union are then said to have ‘encouraged’ the issue to be revisited last week, according to Ospreys sources. The Scarlets statement simply says the Ospreys approached them again last week. You can read it in full here.

The Ospreys further say they haven’t ever said they were against mergers.

(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)

Q: Why did the Ospreys sign a heads of terms agreement if they didn’t want to merge?

This is one that might trouble Liberty Stadium supporters. After all, surely signing a heads of terms agreement is a clear statement of intent?

Er, not so, apparently.

All it indicates, according to the Ospreys, is that the Welsh region were committed to investigating the possibility of a merger.

They reckon that Project Reset was supposed to be about blue-sky thinking to find a way forward for Welsh rugby, with all options on the table. Parties were supposed to examine them and see if they were viable.

A proposed deal with Cardiff Blues was explored and came to nothing, and, when push came to shove, so did the one with the Scarlets.

Q: Was the merger plan the Ospreys’ idea, as the Scarlets claim?

The merger plan emerged from the Project Reset process.

The Scarlets have been prepared to go on record as saying they “received a high-level approach from the Ospreys to explore the option of a merger”.

The Ospreys say it’s unimportant who initiated what if it contributed to a solution that would have improved Welsh rugby. But they maintain the suggestion of talks came from the Scarlets.

Q: Why did the merger proposal fail?

The thinking is the Ospreys had second thoughts when they came to the conclusion it wasn’t so much a merger as a takeover. It’s been suggested a lion’s share of games would take place in Llanelli; the first-team kit would either be red and white or red, with the away kit black; and the Scarlets would have a majority shareholding. Whatever, the terms were unpalatable to the Ospreys.

Q: What is the Ospreys financial situation?

There has been repeated speculation about the Ospreys’ finances over the past year.

On social media some have pondered the idea that they are in a ghastly situation.

But Welsh rugby generally is in a difficult place and one source at the Ospreys felt the region were in marginally better shape than any other region. This conflicts with some of the private assessments at other regions.

Another Ospreys contact said: “We are doing as well as any of the other regions financially.”

According to Companies House, the Ospreys' next accounts are due for publication within the next month.

Their last accounts, which covered the year ending May 31, 2017, showed the company reported a loss of more than £500,000 that year.

The filed accounts said the company had net current liabilities of £1.5m at the time and £3.1m of net liabilities on the overall balance sheet.

A note in the accounts warned the Ospreys were likely to encounter significant cash flow problems, with a significant loss expected in the next accounts.

Q: What is the issue with the Liberty Stadium mentioned in the Scarlets statement that supposedly sparked the merger proposal?

The Scarlets say the Ospreys prompted the merger talks “as they had come to the conclusion that their position as tenants at the Liberty Stadium was proving to be challenging”.

Crowds haven’t been great in Swansea this term.

But the Ospreys are not unhappy with their arrangements at the Liberty.

They don’t have primacy of matches if there’s a fixture clash with Swansea City, but such an issue is unlikely to have prompted them to ‘investigate the possibility of a merger’ on its own.

Q: The Scarlets say north Wales only came onto the table AFTER the Ospreys had proposed the merger. Is that true?

The Scarlets statement reads: “(The merger proposal) was discussed at the two-day strategy meeting of PRB on January 8th and 9th. The loss of a region would have put Welsh rugby in breach of its commitment to having four regions playing in the major competitions. As a result, the option of a team playing out of north Wales was raised.”

The Ospreys insist the plan for north Wales was a Welsh Rugby Union initiative. No mergers had been discussed or considered, they say, when it first surfaced.

There are veiled suggestions the Professional Rugby Board (PRB) might have backed it, too, as a means of wiping a costly-to-run southern region off the map.

In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, Ospreys chairman Rob Davies claimed: “The PRB cynically left it to the regions to have a shoot-out for survival with the clear direction that a region in the west should go and make room for a fourth in the north. We are now where we are as a result.

“It’s hard to look at this situation and not conclude that a stitch-up of convenience has just unravelled before us all. There isn’t a ‘plan B’, because there was never a ‘plan A’. Even the PRB has said a western merger was central to their planning, which is frankly mind-boggling. Wishful thinking is not an acceptable replacement for responsible decision-making.”

PRB minutes, anyone?

Q: Will the Ospreys now have anything to do with the Professional Rugby Board?

It seems they will. Mind you, the next meeting of that particular gathering is unlikely to see those present wearing party hats and reminding each other what a great time it is to be alive.

Robert Davies, a combative sort ( evidence here ), is their new representative and he intends to fight their corner.

They continue as a region and have signed up to the PRB process.

Q: What will happen to the Ospreys’ budget, player contracts and new signings?

The budgets of all the regions are set to stay the same, there seemingly being no cash available for an upgrade.

It is unclear how it will affect the large number of out-of-contract players, including Alun Wyn Jones and Nicky Smith, at the Ospreys.

But they are set to announce details of re-contracted personnel sooner rather than later.

There is said to be some money available for squad strengthening.

Q: The Ospreys say they will undertake a legal and financial forensic review of the Welsh Rugby Union’s actions and look at potential conflicts of interest. What are they referring to? What are the potential conflicts of interest?

We would probably need the Ospreys to say themselves.

But they don’t appear comfortable with the PRB as it stands.

Steve Phillips is the union’s finance director and also on the board of the Dragons, who are owned by the WRU; David Buttress is chairman of the Dragons, who are owned by the WRU; Alun Jones is chairman of Cardiff Blues and has been operating as managing director of Hugh James solicitors, who advised the WRU during the Dragons takeover.

The panel also contains Martyn Phillips, the WRU’s group chief executive; Nigel Short, Scarlets’ chairman; David Lovett, the independent chairman.

Those names were all put on the statement released this week as voting PRB members.

Rob Davies has also joined group as the Ospreys’ representative following Mike James' resignation.

There is absolutely no suggestion or evidence of any wrongdoing but, rightly or wrongly, the Ospreys feel the cards are often stacked against them on the body.

(Image: Ben Evans/Huw Evans Agency)

Q: How has all this exploded in the middle of a Six Nations campaign? Could it not have been managed better?

Could it have been managed any worse?

It has been an absolute shambles that reflects dismally on those involved.

Before this week’s developments, statements had been few and far between.

Everyone was supposedly bound by confidentiality.

But nothing is confidential in Welsh rugby.

So we have had a drip of often partial information being fed into the public domain; anxious players have sought psychological help amid uncertainty over contracts; Grand Slam-chasing players have had their focus blurred.

Is it all the Welsh Rugby Union’s fault? Not all of it, and certain figures have been at pains to point out behind the scenes that there is a serious regional dimension to the PRB.

But, ultimately, the union are guardians of the game in Wales and that is why people have taken aim at the leadership of Martyn Phillips.

In an important week for the national team, Welsh rugby is once again a laughing stock and the focus has been on politics instead of on Warren Gatland’s team.

That is unforgiveable.

Q: If there’s no merger, and no north Wales team, what does the future look like for the Ospreys and Welsh rugby?

It’s not easy to say, because with the PRB the game in Wales seems only a meeting away from a fresh explosion.

But the assumption is the four regions will carry on as they have been for the time being.

The Ospreys’ future is likely to be pretty much the same as those of the other regions. There won’t be much spare cash, but that’s probably the same for every other professional entity in Wales.

The challenge is for someone to change the narrative.

The game in Wales needs more money.

But there seems a dearth of ideas about how to correct the situation.

And this week’s claim and counter-claim, soaked in bitterness, won’t help the situation a jot.