The Ospreys hope Alun Wyn Jones will return for Saturday’s derby against Cardiff Blues at the Principality Stadium and that the lock, who has not played since leading Wales to the grand slam last month, will by then have signed a contract that will keep him at the region for the rest of his career.

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The Scarlets’ coach, Wayne Pivac, who takes charge of Wales after the World Cup in the autumn, missed a media conference on Tuesday that was held to promote the two regional showdowns in Cardiff on Saturday – the Scarlets take on the Dragons in the other – because he was at a Professional Rugby Board meeting discussing player contracts, including Jones’s, which ends after the World Cup.

The Ospreys offered Jones a two-year deal last month but it is contingent on the Welsh Rugby Union being a part of it, so that the second-row is able to maximise his earnings. Players in Wales will be on a new banding system from next season with leading international players, which would include the 33-year-old who has been on three Lions tours, at the top level.

If the game board decides Jones is no longer an automatic selection, Ospreys would not be able to afford to keep him on. “There is still a lot of rugby left in Alun Wyn and I am a big fan of his,” said the Ospreys coach, Allen Clarke. “He has been with the region for so long that it would be a sad indictment on Welsh rugby if he were not with us next season.

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“Alun can go on the next Lions tour [to South Africa in 2021]. He is fit in body and mind and as he has shown this season he is a big fixture on the international stage. He still wants to play at the top level and I hope there is a resolution to this very soon.”

Jones suffered a knee ligament injury 10 minutes into the victory over Ireland that gave Wales, and the second-row, a third slam in 11 years. He has returned to training, along with the Wales wing George North, who suffered an injured hand against Ireland. Clarke said there was a reasonable chance the forward would be involved against the Blues, a match both sides need to win to keep alive their hope of playing in the European Champions Cup next season.

“Alun has come through training in the last two days and I would say there is a 50-50 chance he will be involved,” Clarke said. “We will check on the two of them on Thursday and Friday and it would be great if they both came through to feature in what is a big game for us.”

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The winner will go through into a play-off for the Pro14’s final place in next season’s European Champions Cup. The Blues will consider Gareth Anscombe for selection, even though the Wales fly-half has agreed to join the Ospreys next season.

“Gareth is a professional who will want to end his time with us on a high,” said the Blues coach, John Mulvihill. “It is unfortunate we have reached this stage of the season when contracts are still up in the air and the regions are still finalising retention and recruitment. We have to make sure it is sorted out far earlier next season, because what is happening now is unacceptable.”

The WRU is still talking to Shaun Edwards about continuing as the Wales defence coach. Edwards, who has been part of the backroom team since the beginning of 2008, has been offered a four-year contract to work with Pivac through to the 2023 World Cup but is unhappy that it contains a break clause after two years, something the other coaches have agreed to.