Jones opted to make 13 personnel changes to his lineup, having qualified for the competition’s knockout stages last weekend. Youngsters Lewis Lloyd and Gwilym Evans were handed chances from the start, with the former putting in an impressive performance in the absence of injured captain Dewi Lake.
Despite a slow start, where the Ospreys were off point and lacking accuracy, Jones’ side showed good spirit and commitment to the cause, almost causing a shock against the French Top 14 star-studded outfit.
Montpellier built up a 21-7 lead through two tries from flanker Alex Masibaka, and wing Jules Ducros , in between an Owen Watkin score, before Ospreys rallied and stormed back into the contest.
Hooker Lloyd grabbed a double, while replacement Ross Moriarty put the home side ahead with a potential shock on the cards.
It was not to be as replacement prop Wilfrid Hounkpatin punished ill-discipline, whilst a late penalty from Leo Coly sealed the win for Montpellier.
The result see Ospreys drop to fourth place in Pool 1 and will see them travel to Benetton or Ulster in the last-16 in April.
For Jones, the minute’s gained for some of the more youthful players of the squad will be invaluable come the latter stages of the season.
“It was a decent all-round performance, and the boys can be pleased with their effort,” said Jones post-match.
“But we put ourselves on the back foot [after the slow start] in terms of momentum.
“I thought the character we showed at the end of the half though to get the try to go in one score down [was good].
“I felt there was better rugby to come from us, and I think we showed that in the first 25 minutes of the second half.
“We had pretty much full control of the game around the momentum and red zone entries we created and took.
“Obviously, then we gave a silly penalty away in the melee in middle of the pitch and after that we didn’t really get back into Montpellier’s half.
“There were some lessons there in general about our accuracy, losing the ball on the edge of a ruck and the penalty count. Basic stuff that we would expect ourselves to be more polished at.
“But there is a lot of young guys out there coming off the bench onto the field and its good minutes and learning for them.
“We are going to need these players if called upon at the end of the year.
“With the fixture list as it is over the next couple of weeks and short turnaround to Montpellier, it was important that these guys had a chance.
“A lot of them have been training well and they need opportunities. My job is to win rugby games, but I have also got to develop players as well to make sure we can continue to grow the Ospreys.
“We now have a decent bit to get into in training before we face the Lions.”
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
