OSPREYS: ‘A good old ding-dong’: Jones hails maturity in Dragons win as Hardy and Koroibete face injury checks

Mark Jones says the Ospreys showed real maturity to come through “a good old ding-dong” with the Dragons, but he is waiting on news of injuries to Kieran Hardy and Marika Koroibete.

His side won 38-31 at Rodney Parade on Friday night for their first win of the season, with a four-try bonus point.

Jones admitted the Ospreys “started the game very poorly discipline-wise, three penalties in five minutes or a bit even four”.

“I think we are that team that fights hard for each other, but sometimes we fight a bit too hard and that can manifest itself in maybe some sloppy execution or discipline issues in key moments,” he said.

By the end, he said, his players were making much better decisions at the breakdown. “I think there’s a bit of a growth to move on for us, I think, around our emotional control of competing hard, being relentless, but also being smart.”

‘Whoever gets into the 22 is going to score’

Jones said the game was decided in the red zone. “At one point in the second half, it was just like, whoever gets into the 22 is going to score. So, the key was, how do you get in there?” he said.

“I thought we were very smart there around that and we carried at the right times and we also kicked and relieved pressure at the right times.”

He rates the Dragons as “brilliant around the contact area”, and said his side picked their moments to attack the ruck. “We waited for the ones when maybe they were a little bit light, we didn’t just go fishing with dynamite, we were a bit more strategic around it.”

Lessons from last season’s 19-19 draw at Rodney Parade

Jones had last season’s visit in mind, which ended 19-19. “I think we were 19-7 up here last year and looking probably way more comfortable than we were tonight,” he said.

“It was a good old ding-dong tonight. But, again, we just learnt the lessons a little bit around that.”

He added: “I’m pleased with the maturity of the team, really, to action what needs to happen under pressure, which doesn’t always happen.”

Kieran Hardy knee worry and Marika Koroibete rib blow

Scrum-half Hardy went off early. “I don’t know on Kieran at the moment. He felt something with his knee, we don’t really know yet,” Jones said.

Koroibete’s debut ended around the half-hour after he landed on the ball in a collision. Jones thinks the Wallaby wing may have damaged rib cartilage or bruised a rib.

“He was struggling a little bit to move. So, obviously, you know, aerially, you have to be so agile out wide. He dug in, in fairness to him, for a big period,” he said.

Lalakai Foketi came on, and Jones decided against the obvious reshuffle. “Probably the tactical change pre-game would have been to move Lawson [Creighton] to full-back and put Tommy [Rogers] to the wing. But I just felt Tommy was going so well in his position, it would be silly to move,” he said.

Two more derbies, and Black Lion in Tbilisi next

Ross Moriarty’s yellow card left the Ospreys with 14 men, and Jones was delighted with how they responded. “I loved the way that we scored a try down to 14, we go up there and still fire home what we needed to, so there was a lot to talk about, but it’s only a start,” he said.

“We’ve got another two derbies in the next three weeks, I think it is, so we’ve got to make sure we build on that because the Dragons will come back to us smart in the next few weeks, I’m sure.”

The Ospreys open their EPCR Challenge Cup campaign against Black Lion at the Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi on Saturday, 17 October (1pm UK time).

The Dragons are back on 24 October for the Ospreys’ first game at the rebuilt St Helen’s.