Ospreys’ Justin Tipuric targeting potential play-off return

Tipuric, who is retiring at the end of the season to become the Ospreys defence coach, has remained in Wales to continue with his rehabilitation in an attempt to recover in time for the play-offs.

“The medics have certainly said that (a return) is not out of the question and he’s certainly targeting that,” added Jones.

“He hasn’t stepped over into the coaching world yet and is still behaving like a player and is doing his best to be available should Ospreys require him.”

Ospreys are currently on 38 points, three points adrift of Benetton in eighth and Jones acknowledges they must win in Durban against Sharks and then in Johannesburg against Lions if they are to give themselves a chance of securing a top eight spot.

“When you play the best teams, you probably need to pick up four tries to beat the best teams,” he added.

“We have prepared as well as we can for them, and we’ve put a lot of focus on ourselves for these two games.

“We have to get our own house in order because when we’ve done that this year, we’ve been a tough team to play against.”