OSPREYS: ‘We have to give these guys an opportunity’: Jones hails man of the match Gwilym Evans as young Ospreys step up in Tbilisi

Mark Jones says he was “really impressed” with the Ospreys’ seven-try win over Black Lion, and that giving young players a chance was part of the plan.

Openside Gwilym Evans was named man of the match in Tbilisi, as the Ospreys won 39-14 to open their Challenge Cup campaign.

“Gwilym had man of the match today, and rightly so, and it was great to see him make that next step at this level,” Jones said.

Gwilym Evans and the young Ospreys who stepped up in Tbilisi

Jones made 14 changes for the trip to Georgia, after saying following the derby win that his side would look different.

“Same with Ben Roberts and Kian Hire and all these guys, Lewis Edwards starting,” he said.

Edwards made his debut at full-back, and replacement prop Hire scored from a yard out.

“Most importantly, we’ve got to build some development into our group as well. We have to give these guys an opportunity to play at this level. So, it was great to see some of those guys.”

“So, we’ve got development in our head as well as performance, but we felt that the team we picked today was good enough to win the game, whilst helping those boys develop in their journey as well.”

“I’m really pleased with how it all came together, the experience and development.”

A tough travel schedule forced the Ospreys to rotate

Jones said the travel had forced his hand. “I think we’ve had a tough travel schedule for the start of the season, which has forced us a little bit to rotate and bring some freshness and we’ve got some big derbies when we go back,” he said.

The Ospreys started the season with trips to Durban, Johannesburg, Newport and Tbilisi.

‘Kicking ourselves’ over the tries that were ruled out

Jones said his side were “a bit disappointed that some of those tries were chalked off in the second half”.

“We probably felt like a couple of them were harsh, particularly in the offload off the floor,” he said. Jones said the offside call was “very close, if not flat”.

Replacement Harri Wilde thought he had scored an eighth try, but the TMO ruled it out for offside.

“So, I think we’re probably kicking ourselves that we didn’t execute a little bit more in the second half, which I think is always a good thing to have something to work on for the next game.”

Set-piece work before the Dragons come to St Helen’s

Jones says the line-out and scrum will be the focus this week. “I think execution from our set-piece will be really important this week, so that’s where we’ll spend our time there,” he said.

“I think just sharpening that, making sure the winning is good, making sure the strike is good, and then obviously we get on the front foot.”

He praised his coaches for preparing the forwards. “I thought the forwards, coaches, Duncan [Jones] and Rich [Kelly], did a great job this week preparing for what is a very physical Georgian pack, a Black Lion pack,” he said.

“I thought we did really well there throughout the game to provide some ball for the backs, which ultimately is a challenge when you play Georgian teams.”

The Dragons visit on 24 October in the United Rugby Championship, for the Ospreys’ first game at the rebuilt St Helen’s.