After three tough away trips, two being in South Africa and one against Leinster, the Ospreys return to their last home action of the season with their play-off hopes now out of their own hands.
Until mathematically out of reach, however, you wouldn’t dare bet against Toby Booth’s plucky side ‘finding a way’ as the former Harlequins and London Irish coach regularly quotes.
Sitting in 11th position and eight points behind eighth-placed Benetton it will take a scenario of events going the Ospreys way along with two bonus point victories in their remaining fixtures to produce an unlikely passage to the end-of-season knockout phase.
Whilst heavy defeats against the Bulls and Leinster have been tough to take for Ospreys fans on the scoreboard, it is a sign of the work done in the background that Booth’s side had got themselves in a position to compete and challenge Irish, Scottish and South African regions with far superior budgets.
That has been the way since day one for Booth who has transformed the fortunes of the region since moving to the club in 2020, delivering in this season alone a series of firsts for the Ospreys. Wins on South African soil raised eyebrows, whilst progressing in the knock-out phase of Europe have more than met expectations.
That is it though, a quiet breeding of a winning mentality amongst a group of hungry fearless young players that are on an exciting learning journey with their pragmatic coach.
Performances at times have been that good that expectations have risen something that has breathed new hope and direction to the club and the other three Welsh regions that the future may not be quite as bad as first thought, despite the adversities that lie ahead.
It is all down to a carefully planned pathway development system within the region which has taken time but has started to bear fruits for all to see. However, it can’t be relied upon to carry the backdrop of resources says Booth with mentorship from experienced seasoned players needed to help youth develop.
“The challenge that we have got is getting enough people at the top end of the pyramid to get the on-field mentorship,” said Booth in his pre-match conference.
“You can imagine the role that Justin Tipuric and Adam Beard play in this team.
“We need the infrastructure and people, and they need the raw materials, talent and the effort.
“Development players need different things and frequency. We think we have a program that can get the best out of people.”
Rightly so Booth champions the work his background team have put in to establish a first crop of home-grown players in his tenure at the Ospreys but is not one to rest on his laurels and feels having the structural pyramid in place is important to keep bringing through talent.
“In relation to the group themselves, people talk about Morgan Morris and Reuben [Morgan-Williams] and Rhys Davies as old ones,” continued Booth.
“We are now on to the next band where we have Morgan Morse for example who has a lot of potential. He is athletic and is very good but has some rough edges that need ironing out. We are excited by him.
“I think Dan Edwards is a class player but again like all young players, he has things that he needs to work on.
“Luke Davies at nine has shown some competitive edge in his first hit out this year as has James Fender.
“We have a decent tight five contingent in the under-20s which we are excited about.
“Off the backdrop of the resources, however, you don’t want to be dependent on those people.
“The challenge is to keep filling the bottom of the pyramid, develop them and then get them into a situation where they can take over from the incumbent people.
“It is a bit like the Nicky Smith scenario. He is obviously a very good player and for us, we are disappointed to lose him, but Garwyn Phillips has international potential without a doubt.
“Lew Lloyd is another one to show that too. 12-months ago he wasn’t ready and has gone away and worked on things. Now he is ready to be in and around it and has performed well for us.
“Everyone talks about the doom and gloom of it but from a pathway point-of-view I am quite excited by what we are doing.”
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
