OSPREYS: ‘Very uncharacteristic’: Jones rues second-half set-piece collapse at the Lions

Mark Jones said the Ospreys’ set piece fell apart in a “very uncharacteristic” way as the Lions ran in six tries to win 35-19 at Ellis Park.

The Ospreys head coach was pleased to lead at half-time, but said his side could not get a foothold in the game after the break.

“I was really happy to be going in half-time on the scoreboard,” Jones said. “One of the things that the Lions do really well is they come out of the blocks, a big focus all week was about starting well.

“If we could be up on the scoreboard, then great, but we definitely wanted to be in the game on the big fundamentals, possession, territory, opportunities in opposition half.

“I thought we were there, we were right there and the energy was good.”

‘Some of our fundamentals fell apart’

The second half was a different story, with the Lions scrum winning penalties and their maul producing two tries as the hosts pulled clear.

“The yellow card and some of our fundamentals fell apart in the second half, which is very uncharacteristic around the set-piece in particular, so there’s a bit of work to be done there around that,” Jones said.

“We just couldn’t get a foot up in the game in the second half. It was very hard to get possession, or if we did, it was often on the back foot.”

That made it hard to get over the gain line or play with any speed, he said, and with several players cramping, injuries meant some had to stay on longer than planned.

‘It shows the fight in the guys’

Jones took heart from the way the Ospreys finished.

“There was a lot of adversity in the end, but I love the way, like we did last week, we kept the opposition out in the final play, which showed great character,” he said.

“Today, with very little, we managed to get that third try and finish with a positive moment at the end of the game, which shows the fight in the guys.”

Short turnaround before the Dragons

With the long trip home and only days before the Dragons, Jones said the review would be thorough, with the focus moving quickly to Friday.

“We’ve got to show a bit more of the fight now, and when we get back home, we’ve got to show a bit more quality and consistency in what we’re doing, because there’s lots of good in there as well,” he said.

“We’ll definitely review this hard, like we do with any loss or win. But with the travel now and the short turnaround and lots of bumps and bruises, we’ll make sure we don’t walk past the things we need to make sure are addressed, but it’s very much a forward-looking focus now on the Dragons.”

The Ospreys face the Dragons at Rodney Parade on Friday, kick-off 7.45pm.

Author

Richard Bond

Swansea-based sports journalist.
Twitter: @RichBond00
Email: RichardBond@swanseabaynews.com