Adam Jones will play for the Cardiff Blues this term © Getty Images

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Cardiff Blues prop Adam Jones has thanked his former side the Ospreys in an open letter saying he simply could not wait any longer to join a club as he spent the summer in a rugby wilderness.

Jones' Ospreys contract expired at the end of last season and he was hopeful of staying at the region. But that contract was reliant on the regions and the Welsh Rugby Union finding some compromise as they attempt to get a new Participation Agreement struck which governs funding, contracts and international release.

That impasse meant the Ospreys' contract offer for Jones had to wait until some agreement was struck, leaving Jones in limbo. He was linked with moves both to France and England - as recent as Monday he was rumoured to be on Lyon's radar - but on Tuesday he struck a deal with the Cardiff Blues.

The move disappointed the Ospreys, who outlined their position in a statement of their own, but Jones has written an open letter to the region in the South Wales Evening Post where he outlined his position.

"As pretty much the whole world and his wife will know by now, I had been waiting for a deal to be struck between the regions and the Welsh Rugby Union, over a new participation agreement, so the Ospreys could conclude a fresh contract with me," Jones wrote. "I haven't been getting any money, but I was just hoping that the row that has blighted Welsh rugby for so long could be finally settled and I could pull on the black shirt again.

"Then on Sunday morning I received a call from the Blues asking whether I fancied a move there. I had to think long and hard about their proposal because I know all about regional rivalry and how much it matters in Wales. But my circumstances were such that I didn't feel I could turn Cardiff down. I haven't been paid for two months and the season is barely a fortnight away. I need to be properly attached to a team and training with a group of players in readiness for the new campaign.

"I couldn't wait forever. The contract with the Ospreys has been on the table since January but without signatures it meant only so much. No-one is to blame. Andrew Hore and Steve Tandy have been straight down the line with me throughout the negotiations. They haven't messed me about and I don't think I have messed anyone about, either."