Having matched the South African Provinces physically for long periods to lead throughout the contest, Jones’ side overcame the adversity of injury and being reduced to 14 men for a quarter of the match to grind out a crucial victory.
Ospreys led 14-12 at the break thanks to tries by Wales internationals Dan Edwards and captain Jac Morgan.
Sharks wing Ethan Hooker broke away with the final play of the half to add to flanker Phepsi Buthelezi’s effort.
The visitors started the second half strongly, but it would be the Ospreys who would strike next through replacement loose-head prop Garyn Phillips – his first professional try – before his injury meant the hosts played the last quarter with 14 men due to uncontested scrums.
Buthelezi cut the gap, but Sharks could not find a winner and drop below 10th-place Ospreys, with both teams 11 points off the top eight.
“I’m really pleased, it was a very physical game with lots of big moments around the transition side of it,” said Ospreys head coach Mark Jones post-match.
“The Sharks we know kick the ball a lot and are really good in the air. It’s a strong part of our game as well, but you know the ball is going to come loose sometimes, and you have to capitalise on it.
“I thought we competed well in that area of the game and took our chances when they came, and also dealt well with the adversity.
“I’m proud of the boys for their effort and composure shown at the end of the game.
“I thought the whole pack set the tone, to put that defensive effort in the second half was pretty crucial, as they had scored pretty much right on half-time.
“If they had scored straight away, momentum can shift pretty quickly. That was a big passage of play in that first 15 minutes of the second-half, we had to show some serious care for each other.
“The medical room was pretty full.. Gar [Thomas] went off with a bump to the head, and he had a little problem with his shoulder, so we made a tactical substitution to alleviate that.
“Then, Garwyn [Phillips] is too fast for his own good and pulled his own hamstring when he was scoring the try. To be fair to him, he dug in as long as he could, but clearly, he couldn’t pack down at scrum time or move up the field. It was unsafe for him to be out there.
“Unfortunately, we had to go down to 14 then, and that poses problems. We had to deal with it and thankfully we managed to deal with that scenario for 20 minutes.
“It was tough because you are going down to 14 against a really good team with loads of great athletes out there trying to fill more space, and they were chasing the game pretty hard.
“I thought the way we managed that defensively, from a discipline perspective, given they had easy entries, was excellent, and the boys can be really proud of that.”
Jones also had special praise for captain Jac Morgan, who led from the front to see his side home with a man-of-the-match performance.
“He’s quite good, isn’t he. I often think that the team replicates the captain, and if you look at the effort and care the players show for each other from the physical and effort stuff, Jac epitomises that.
“He obviously then brings the quality around the defense and attack side of things. His ball carrying was very impressive tonight in terms of gaining metres in contact against some big bodies. Also, when he sends them the other way, he is an absolute pain at the breakdown.
“He led from the front tonight after a very tough week, and the players got behind him. What a way to perform in such a big game – absolutely tremendous!”
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
