Rugby legend Alun Wyn Jones has dropped a huge hint that his Ospreys career is over.
The 37-year-old, who was named in the club's XV for their clash with Cardiff at Judgement Day, waved to the crowd at the Principality Stadium on Saturday as he departed the field in the second half.
He did the same in his last appearance at the Swansea.com Stadium last month in the 37-18 win over the Dragons, saluting supporters in what had the hallmarks of a fond farewell.
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Jones is now out of contract at the end of his 18th season with the Ospreys. He is expected to go to the World Cup with Wales in the autumn, but beyond that his future appears uncertain.
On Sunday night he posted a poignant black and white photo of him holding hands with his daughters heading down the tunnel with the caption "#53. 22/04/23. Diolch" complete with a black heart emoji.
If it is goodbye to domestic rugby, former Ospreys coach Sean Holley says Jones has been "an ambassador" for the game.
"Maybe, it looks like it, with a little wave at the end," Holley said on Scrum V on Sunday night.
"An unfortunate way to go out, if it is. Let's forget that. What a legend. What an ambassador for the game, he's of an age now where he's looking a bit grumpy because maybe the standards we've come to expect aren't quite there, not just from him but his team.
"But what a servant to Welsh rugby."
His coach Toby Booth said of him last month after that telling exit against the Dragons: "Everybody was probably making their own assumptions about Al.
“He was very good today. If that ends up being his last game he certainly has signed off at the Swansea.com Stadium in style because I thought he was outstanding.
"He was physical in the loose. The thing with Al, he brings the mentality of the team to a different level because he leads by example. He is epitomised by how he defends and he turned over two maul-defence situations on his own, the unseen stuff. He has made a career out of doing the unseen work really well and we treasure that.”
Jones is set to be named in Warren Gatland's World Cup camp squad imminently and is surely nailed on to make the plane to France for the tournament in the autumn.
If his departure from the Ospreys is rubberstamped, he would follow Dan Lydiate and Gareth Anscombe out of the exit door at the Swansea.com Stadium, with the Wales pair confirming their own departures on Sunday.
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