Booth ruing Ospreys slow start in Connacht defeat 

With a host of star names unavailable and a much-changed squad this season for the region, it would always be a tough ask against the Irish side who reached last season’s semi-final placings. 

After struggling early on, the Ospreys found themselves with a mountain to climb with Connacht skipper Caolin Blade bagging a first-half hat-trick to help his side gain a commanding 27-5 lead at the break. Wing Keelin Giles did provide some optimism for the Welsh region, scoring their first points minutes before the whistle but Booth’s side faced a mammoth challenge to come back into the game. 

In a spirited second half performance, the Ospreys would show belief and less fear, furnishing optimism for the season with scrum-half Reuben Morgan-Williams, debutant James Ratti and lock Rhys Davies all going over to claim a valuable bonus point for the away side.  

“We were a bit like a rabbit in the headlights. A new group of young players, lots of bits and pieces,” commented Booth.  

“These are the margins. You come to a place like this, you come to Ireland and South Africa, and they are going to cut you straight. 

“It manifests itself as being a little bit passive, assessing what’s going on. The game is then on top of you. That is what basically happened. I do though think we may rue what might have been here. 

“We then found our feet and had better self-belief thinking we can compete here. 

“The youngster came on and brought a lot of energy, had no respect for anyone, which is great and infectious, and we looked a lot better for it. 

“It’s a sort of a ying and a yang thing. If you start all of those players, you have inexperience. Also, the energy against fresh players is slightly different.  

“I’m delighted with the impact of the youngsters. I thought Lewis Lloyd and Harri Deaves for example were good. It then got people like Morgan Morris, those ‘old boys’ of 23 on the front-foot as well. 

“We were much better in the second half as you’d expect and were delighted to get something from what looked like an impossible task.” 

[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]