It is a desperately uneasy time in Welsh rugby.
The doors of the advent calendar keep getting peeled back as we hurtle through December, but no news one way or the other has yet been offered on how four becomes three.
From the sounds of it, unsurprisingly, we find ourselves at an impasse.
The control the Welsh Rugby Union want over the three teams remains at the heart of it.
Sorting out the bidders for Cardiff’s takeover is also crucial.
And so, we find ourselves watching and waiting for some white smoke from Westgate Street.
Within that void of information, panic is setting in.
Ospreys fans have, understandably, been begging for any sort of communication amongst the uncertainty and speculation.
Beyond head coach Mark Jones confirming this week that there’s no real guarantees still on offer for his players and staff, there’s been little reassurance forthcoming, unsurprisingly.
The speculation around a number of their frontline players doesn’t help either.
A number of Wales internationals are all being linked with moves away.
Kieran Hardy has been linked with Gloucester, while Gareth Thomas is understood to be attracting interest from English clubs.
Leicester Tigers are interested in Dan Edwards, while Gloucester are closing in on Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake.
It’s hard to describe that as anything other than a seismic blow, losing all that talent if they all go through.
Hardy, Lake and Thomas all have more than 25-caps, so continuing to play for Wales isn’t a concern for them.
Edwards, though, has considerably fewer than that number, meaning he either expects something to change with the law or he’s willing to give up Test rugby to play elsewhere.
The suggestion is it’s the former, but there doesn’t seem to be any willingness from the governing body just yet to scrap the rule – even if that looks inevitable in the long-term.
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