The Irish province after a tricky spell in the URC and Europe over the Christmas period have been in imperious form, winning ten of the last eleven games in all competitions including a 27-17 win at the Swansea.com Stadium back in March.
On that day Booth’s side would be their own worst enemy and were punished for a slow start and indecision conceding three tries in the opening quarter of the match, including two interception scores.
To their credit the Ospreys rallied after the break against a side stacked with multiple internationals, run Graham Rowntree’s side close but would come away ultimately with nothing from the match.
In front of an intimidating crowd likely nearing 20,000 in Limerick tomorrow evening, the atmosphere is sure to be electric with the home side clear favourites with the bookmakers to progress to the last-four.
As per usual, however, Booth full of respect for the opposition, is looking at the game as a half-full/half-empty contest. He believes his side can find a way, but must be respectful of the occasion as much as their opponents to stand any chance in the one-off fixture.
“We go to Munster this weekend against a very strong team and one of the very best,” said Booth in his pre-match press conference.
“A team with high Irish representation, current champions and are number one in the league.
“They have come from adversity because some of their season hasn’t always gone results-wise as they would have liked but they have ended up at the top.
“That tells you that they have a tight group with a lot of quality in it, that knows how to win. That makes them a very dangerous opponent.
“We have got ourselves to the window of opportunity and are excited about it.
“It’s about understanding the challenge that awaits from the occasion as much as the rugby itself.
“How we get to show our best is something else we have talked about because against the very best that is not always easy.
“We cannot underestimate how difficult this is going to be, so we have some experience in our team, not just young players [we will be looking to].
“The people you saw last week like Nicky Smith and Justin Tipuric, the older players that have been there are important.
“When it gets to these experiences you want the youngsters to go out and play their normal game and let the experienced guys deal with the rest.
“It is not always about getting your own way. Sometimes you will have to suffer and hang in there a bit.”
Dare to dream
With a similar squad selection to last weekend, the Ospreys boss has named a side with just the one change to the starting XV from the 33-29 win over Cardiff last weekend. Owen Williams returns at fly-half with Dan Edwards not in the match-day squad after picking up a leg injury in training, whilst Morgan Morse replaces Harri Deaves amongst the replacements.
“We are in knock-out rugby and often it is about who does what on the day. There are no second chances. We learned that against Gloucester and Sale in Europe.
“We have experienced that before so that is good for us to remind ourselves so we can enjoy and be as positive and philosophical about the whole situation.
“We have to be robust above anything else because that gives you the very best chance.
“You have to dare to dream. That’s what we are in it for. We set out at the start that our goals were to be to get to the play-offs, get to the knockout stages of Europe and win the Welsh Shield.
“We have achieved all of those and now everything is a stretch target and we have done that. It is a credit to everyone involved in the group – the overriding emotion is pride.
“We are here now so let’s swing for the fence and give it a good go.”
Ospreys starting XV to face Munster
15. Max Nagy, 14. Luke Morgan, 13. Owen Watkin, 12. Kieran Williams, 11. Keelan Giles,
10. Owen Williams, 9. Reuben Morgan-Williams
1. Nicky Smith, 2. Dewi Lake, 3. Tom Botha, 4. James Ratti, 5. Huw Sutton, 6. Jac Morgan,
7. Justin Tipuric (captain), 8. Morgan Morris.
Replacements:
16. Sam Parry, 17. Gareth Thomas,18. Rhys Henry,19. Victor Sekekete, 20. Morgan Morse,
21. Luke Davies, 22. Luke Scully, 23. Harri Houston.
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
