Dragons replacement prop Luke Yendle scored a last-minute try to steal a famous victory from the jaws of defeat in Newport.
Ospreys led 21-13 with five minutes remaining before the hosts battled back with Yendle’s try and a conversion from fly-half Lloyd Evans.
It completed a 13-point haul for Evans in his first competitive game since his arrival from Gloucester, while flanker Harrison Keddie also crossed.
Ospreys duo Keiran Williams and Ryan Conbeer on debut scored tries while fly-half Dan Edwards added 11 points. It would not be enough though as the Swansea-based region would suffer a third successive defeat at Rodney Parade.
The Ospreys coach would cut a frustrated figure bemoaning his side’s wastefulness which would ultimately cost them the match after dominating for long periods of the second half.
“This is one of the easiest post-match losses to talk about because we’ve had everything in the palm of our hands for such a long time,” said Booth following the match.
“I thought we were great for a lot of the game coming away from home. We know it is difficult here being the first game in particular.
“There’s going to be pre-season rust, but for a lot of it, we were far superior. It doesn’t matter though because it has to be converted to the scoreboard.
“The usual parts of our game were good. We should have transferred pressure onto the scoreboard, especially in the second-half where I thought Jack Walsh was outstanding.
“We talked all week about discipline and effectively we’ve had them on the canvas and let them get back up and storm across to lay us there.
“So really it’s trust, discipline and not converting the pressure we had [lost the game].
“We got caught by a sucker punch, we didn’t let our guard down. At home, they are going to chase the game eight points behind. If you go dancing down the ring you are going to get clocked like Ali.
“All of a sudden then we think we have to recover and they have back-to-back penalties. That’s what happens.
“For sure we did [lose momentum with changes], but they also became a bit desperate.
“We have players that have come back from international duty that weren’t ready [for a full match]. Adam Beard has done two training sessions.
“Both Adam and Dewi Lake were out on their feet. There is always context to everything and we played them for as long as we could but the game changed when they left the field.
“All that matters now is what you do next. I’m not one for big post-match talks but they knew anyhow.
“We are disappointed with that without a doubt. We aspire to be a top-eight team and have top-eight standards. Today the pressure got the better of us.
“We have the Stormers coming to town next which is going to be tough as we know but there is no reason to panic. We need to kick on now and that is what these first few games are about.
“We have to lick our wounds, take it on the chin, and move on.”
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
