The Ospreys would put on a performance of grit and determination led from the front by captain Justin Tipuric and man of the match Morgan Morris to pick up an invaluable bonus-point victory.
It would be five tries in total for Booth’s side. First-half scores from front-row pairing Tom Botha and Sam Parry would put them into the early ascendancy before PJ Botha had reduced the scoreline at the break to keep the visitors in touch.
It would though for the best part be one-way traffic as the home side would punish their error-strewn opposition in the second-half.
Morris and Lewis Lloyd both going over before late tries from South African backs Quan Horn and Richard Kriel threatened a comeback.
That was soon extinguished as the Lions would be tamed one more time with Kieran Williams scoring with the game’s final play to round off a dominant showing that sees the Ospreys move to seventh in the URC standings tonight.
Booth would be pleased with the win but admitted finishing in the top eight will be a stiff task.
The Ospreys, after a European break next week, will next play three testing matches against three of the top five teams in the league.
Away dates in South Africa against the Stormers and Bulls will be a tricky test for his young side followed by a trip to Ireland to face leaders Leinster. All of which are games the former Harlequins and London Irish coach admits his side will need to be at their best if they are to produce a shock.
“That was an important win because we know how tight things are in the table,” said Booth.
“They are a good side, we saw last week what they did to Connacht. It’s just great that we’re right in the mix for the play-offs.
“We prepared well because we knew they would have a big set-piece, but we were disciplined and showed real game management to not allow them to use that.
“We showed real desire and effort in defence and the exciting thing is that there’s still plenty of growth in this team.
“It’s going to be extremely difficult though [to reach the play-offs].
“We’re going to South Africa, away to Leinster and Welsh derbies – we know how hard this is going to be, but no one gave us a chance when we went to South Africa last time.
“We know we have to get things right; we are aware of what we are as a team, and we need to get things to go our way because there is a lot of talent stacked in a lot of teams.
“You know what you get with us – effort, team spirit and cohesiveness. As a group, we are really strong with that, and it can get you a long way.
“We know we are in the hunt and will go toe-to-toe. To be fair no one at the start of the year would have said that.
“They are enjoying themselves at the moment and are a tight group and that gets you some way. We are though here to be the best we can be and see where that gets us. I am delighted for them today.
“We can now focus on our European experience knowing that we are coming back into a competitive position in the league, which is great.”
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
