Wales trio back to boost Ospreys for west Wales derby

Jac Morgan captained Wales in all their 2025 Six Nations games

United Rugby Championship: Scarlets v Ospreys

Venue: Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli Date: Saturday, 29 March Kick off: 15:00 GMT

Coverage: Watch Y Clwb Rygbi on S4C, iPlayer and BBC Sport website & app; live text on the BBC Sport website & app; highlights on the BBC Sport website & app

Wales captain Jac Morgan and fellow internationals Dewi Lake and Gareth Thomas are set to boost Ospreys by returning for the first time since the Six Nations.

Ospreys skipper Morgan and front-row pair Lake and Thomas are all available for Saturday's United Rugby Championship derby at Scarlets.

Head coach Mark Jones said Morgan needed a break after Wales' disastrous winless Six Nations campaign, but the 25-year-old back row is now ready to return.

"He had a good down week, got some sun and mentally switched off from all things rugby," said Jones.

"He's come back in with a huge amount of energy. He tells me it (the break) was just what he needed and he feels good off the back of it.

"That's awesome. It's one thing having a player's name on the team-sheet, but you want the player feeling at their best.

"You've got to have a lot of energy around derbies. He's one of the guys that feeds the rest of the group, and gives a lot of other players energy as well as himself."

Can Ospreys hold onto Wales lock Adam Beard?

Adam Beard is out of contract at the end of the 2024-25 season

While Morgan, Lake and Thomas missed Ospreys' 43-40 win over Connacht after their Six Nations commitments, British and Irish Lions lock Adam Beard played 80 minutes in his first game back in four months after recovering from injury.

Beard's future is up in the air with his contract expiring at the end of the 2024-25 season.

He has long been linked with a move to Montpellier with former Ospreys boss Toby Booth saying in October he was "unsurprised" by those reports.

But Jones says Ospreys are keen to offer the 29-year-old lock a new deal.

"With someone like Beardy - a British and Irish Lion and multi-cap international - his contract is one that many teams are trying to get their hands on," said Jones.

"We're trying to work that through with him, and he's going to let us know in the not-too-distant future what his decision is.

"We'd love to keep Beardy...I definitely think he'd like to stay in and around the Ospreys. He's an Ospreys man through and through.

"But he's also got to consider his options and make a big decision because whatever decision he makes is going to tie him in for the foreseeable future.

"We are chatting to him, and we're hoping we'll have some certainty over the next couple of weeks."

The player himself wouldn't be drawn on his future when asked whether he'd like to stay with Ospreys or about reports linking him with moves elsewhere.

"I've been injured and my main focus was about getting back fit, playing again and enjoying my rugby as much as I can," said Beard, who made his Ospreys debut in 2014.

"I'll think about that (the future) towards the end of the season where I'm actually playing good rugby and I can talk about those things."