Buoyed from their opening round EPCR 43-34 victory against Benetton last weekend, the Ospreys will be once again the underdogs going in the match against the French side but will be full of confidence after an impressive bonus-point win over the Italians at the Swansea.com Stadium.
Despite a sizeable difference in the resources of the two regions, the Ospreys will have plenty of hope that a similar result can be achieved against Patrice Collazo’s Montpellier side as last season. Against all the odds, the Booth’s side were triumphant with a memorable home and away European double in the Heineken Cup.
Whilst things are much different on the field for both regions, the French have been through a mini-crisis with a catastrophic start to the Top 14 season.
Seven defeats in eight games saw the end of Englishman Richard Cockerill as head-coach as mass upheaval has transpired in the board room, providing just as many problems off the pitch as it has on with Montpellier lying bottom of the French League.
A confidence-boosting 24-19 victory for the French against Newcastle Falcons in their opening fixture however, showed the qualities that Montpellier have in their ranks with Booth feeling the French will be once again a tough but good test for his side.
“For us, it’s an exciting opportunity to go abroad and test ourselves against a French powerhouse team with a new coach and group,” said Booth.
“There will be obviously a new coach bounce which is always a difficult thing to work out and fathom because things will be changing on a weekly basis to what you preview.
“We will focus on ourselves and make sure we bring the right energy that we invariably do, and we will enjoy the competition and hopefully build on what we started last week.
“We are very happy with the outcome [of the bonus point win against Benetton]. Like any performance, it is good to celebrate when you do well. Obviously, maul-wise we were exceptional, and it was good to see that function as well as it did.
“They [Montpellier] are a quality team. If you look at the names on the sheet irrespective of how they are performing and what the results are, they are very good. Very expensive, but a very good team.
“The pressure is on them. Their budget is x and ours is y. Everyone will be talking about how they are not going well in the Top 14, but it doesn’t matter.
“We expect them to be at their best and if we underestimate them, we will come second. From that point of view, we see it as an opportunity.
“They will be buoyed by last week no doubt as will we be. You are going to get two teams where it will be almost like a cup final atmosphere. In that respect, the form book goes out the window and it is about who executes on the day.
“They are at home so it will give them an advantage. Their crowd will be behind them, and they will have pretty good support.
“From that point of view, we know the hostility that is going to come in our way. It will be a great opportunity to embrace that challenge. For a lot of young players, it will be a chance to see how they can stand up to those sorts of pressures.
“There’s lots of positives in it but for us, Challenge Cup round two is trying to build on a good result from last week, a good performance, and produce the same level of effort and then we’ll see where it takes us.”
Whilst Sunday’s match may come too soon for dynamic centre Keiran Williams, Booth revealed that it will be more or less the same set of players to choose his selection from this weekend, with one or two knocks set to be assessed as the week goes on.
“There will be a little bit of change but predominantly it will be the same,” continued Booth.
“There is still a little bit of collateral damage from last week, so we are waiting on a little bit to finalise completely, but we’ve worked on contingencies if not.
“Kieran Williams is close, but I don’t think he will make it, everyone else is pretty much there. We are waiting on a few. No doubt when you see the team the omissions will be obvious because they will normally be starters.
“It’s a Sunday game so we are blessed with an extra days preparation to get better and it gives the boys who need recovery time to do so.
“As everyone knows with smaller squads, putting loads on people week after week is not ideal, especially with the injuries we have got. We will use the extra day to energise ourselves in preparation ready for Sunday.
“We will go with what we have got and try and find a way.”
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
