Dewi

Former head coach Holley was part of the Ospreys coaching staff who between 2003 and 2012 won four league titles and an Anglo-Welsh Cup .

The 55-year-old former full-back, who hails from Aberavon, says the region’s faithful would not support losing their side.

“To Ospreys fans, it probably confirms to them what is going on behind the scenes that is not being made public,” said Holley.

“There is an air of sadness, anger, disbelief. Your average fan takes things on face value.

“Let’s talk hard facts. Who has been the most successful region?”

Holley highlights anger among Ospreys fans who he says “won’t entertain” a potential 40-mile trip to watch rugby in Cardiff.

“They are die-hard fans who have gone through the hardships of the 2000s, established a brand and have two generations of supporters who have only known Ospreys,” he said.

“Ospreys are doing good things in the community and on the field are still reasonably competitive because they have that culture.

“Ospreys people will say they are one true region. That must count for something as well as the success.

“It is a hot-bed of Welsh rugby. Swansea, Neath, Aberavon or Bridgend. But there has always been the feeling the Ospreys have been the target, the ones to go and that creates the anger.”

And Holley, who also coached Bristol to English rugby’s top-flight warns Welsh rugby has reached a critical juncture.

“We are on the precipice, we don’t realise how close we are to losing our game,” he said.

Should Morgan and Lake depart, the uncertainty in crisis-stricken Welsh rugby will have been a major factor in their decisions.

Ospreys have said publicly they want to keep the pair, who are close friends, but the two players are unsure what the future holds in their homeland.

Ospreys supporters were told in September Morgan had warned the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) he would leave professional domestic rugby in Wales if Ospreys ceased to exist.

The WRU announced in October that it planned to reduce the number of professional men’s sides in Wales from four to three.

Welsh rugby’s governing body confirmed it proposes to grant three licences for men’s clubs.

There will be one in Cardiff, one in the east and one in the west, which is expected to result in a straight survival fight between Swansea-based Ospreys and Scarlets in Llanelli.

Another option that has now emerged is Ospreys owners, Y11 Sport & Media, taking over WRU-owned Cardiff, which could produce the desired number of three professional sides.

One of the main purposes of the planned reduction in sides in Welsh rugby is to concentrate Welsh talent into three squads.

But if Lake and Morgan leave, they will be joining top Welsh players like Williams, Louis Rees-Zammit and Dafydd Jenkins who play in England.

Wales head coach Steve Tandy selected 13 players in the autumn series who plied their club trade in England or France.