Le Hair Bear off to France?

British & Irish Lions prop Adam Jones could be the next high-profile Welsh player to take up a lucrative contract in France, with a number of Top 14 sides courting the Ospreys star.

The big tighthead’s contract with the Ospreys expires at the end of the season, which could open the door for him to join James Hook, Mike Phillips, Lee Byrne and Luke Charteris in the exodus from Wales to France.

Ospreys coach Sean Holley has admitted that there were fears that Jones would be lost at the end of the season, telling the BBC: “You can’t blame players for taking up offers.

“We’ve experienced it already but we want Adam to be at the region.

“He is a local boy, I taught him when he was 17 so he has been here a long time and he loves playing at this region.”

A lack of funding means that Ospreys won’t be able to match any salary offers that come Jones’s way, and as one of the premier tighthead props in world rugby he won’t be short of suitors.

“We don’t compete on a level playing field [with the rich French sides] and it is very difficult,” bemoaned Holley.

“It’s a predicament for people higher than myself to sort out because my job here is to coach Adam. And I hope I get the chance to coach him for a few more years.”

The 30-year-old, with 76 Test caps to his name, has been with the Ospreys since the formation of the four regional Welsh sides.

Jones will have to decided between loyally finishing his career with the same team or chasing a final payday in France before his playing career comes to an end.

“I am out of contract in June and I have decisions to make,” Jones explained.

“I would consider playing in France. I have a young family and have to look after them. I have had no offers set in stone, but I would be happy to go there.”

There could be further departures from Wales at the end of the season, as impressive Welsh loosehead prop Gethin Jenkins’s contract with Cardiff Blues is also due to expire.

Jenkins has hinted that he, too, could make a move to France.