OSPREYS: ‘Hopefully this is the start of careers’ — Jones on the teenagers who impressed at Coventry

Mark Jones said he hopes Friday night marks the start of careers for several young Ospreys after the 52-12 pre-season win at Coventry.

The head coach used 30 players across two teams, with a number of academy graduates given their first taste of senior rugby.

“It was great for the lads. You never know quite where you are until you play an opposition,” Jones said.

“Fair play to Coventry, they were physical, well organised, a lot of commitment in the collision, and it was a great first attempt for us.”

The selection was deliberate.

“We picked a mixed group, trying to set the young guys up to succeed, and I thought some had really flourished in there and delivered well beyond their years,” he said.

“There were three or four 18-year-olds running around out there that have just come out of the academy, so it was a first game of senior rugby for a lot of the guys.

“I thought they did really well, but the experienced guys looked after them. Hopefully this is the start of careers for them, and hopefully the start of a good season for us.”

‘We probably switched off a little bit’

Coventry’s two first-half tries both came on the counter, and Jones was not inclined to gloss over them, nor was defence coach Justin Tipuric at the interval.

“I thought there was more defensive line speed in us in the first half, and Justin Tipuric made the point at half-time around that,” he said.

“We were probably looking to steal the ball a little bit too early and didn’t win the collision to buy enough time to set our defence.

“To be fair to Coventry, they created some unstructured stuff, playing out of quarters, interceptions, those little moments where we probably switched off a little bit.”

The response pleased him more than the scoreline.

“I liked the way we started the game, and I liked the way the second team learned their lessons going into the second half and the way they executed it,” he said.

‘We want to develop our own’

Only two of the summer’s Australian arrivals featured, with Liam Wright scoring and Lawson Creighton at fly-half.

“We only had two of them out there tonight. We’ve got a few boys to come in, but we’ve also got our international guys that were away in the summer to come back into the group,” Jones said.

The head coach was clear that recruitment and development have to run together.

“One of the jobs for myself and the coaches is that we’ve got to create depth, and it’s one of the things I’m really passionate about,” he said.

“We do want to bring great overseas talent into the Ospreys, but we want to develop our own, and we want to make sure we develop them at the right speed and with the right support around them.”

The value of the new arrivals, he said, is not measured only on the pitch.

“These guys have already added massively around the changing room, the cultural environment. The coach spends three and a half, four hours a week with them on the field, but they’re around these guys a lot more than that, and what you pick up in those moments is huge,” Jones said.

“They’ve been great so far, but look, it’s the first game. It couldn’t have been any better from our perspective.”

The Ospreys, who named Sam Parry and Owen Watkin as co-captains this week, continue their pre-season at Ulster next weekend before opening the United Rugby Championship away to the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban on 26 September.