Despite having the edge in the fixture in recent times with seven victories in the last eight meetings and 11 of the last 13 in the capital, the Ospreys will come into the contest as underdogs after Cardiff’s impressive start to the season.
Matt Sherratt’s high-flying Blues side have raced into third place in the standings after a hard-fought comeback bonus point victory against Dragons on Boxing Day would be a fifth win in eight league matches, having picked up just four in the previous campaign.
In contrasting fortunes, the Ospreys have struggled and languish at the wrong end of the table but after Jones’ first victory at the helm against Scarlets, the clash brings about an opportunity to build momentum to turn around the regions fortunes going into two crucial European clashes in the next few weeks before the Six Nations break.
Whilst the Blues’ new-found resilience will make Cardiff a difficult proposition to face, Jones feels that the form book will go out the window on the day. The former Wales wing believing that it will be the side that can execute their own game plan and deal with the emotions of the derby and conditions of the day better that will come out on top.
“It’s a different fixture and scenario. The fact that they are third and we are 14th doesn’t look good on paper, but it doesn’t make a difference to this fixture,” said Jones prior to the match.
“The league position is irrelevant it will have no bearing on this fixture. It represents our results to this point clearly and our performances, more importantly, the table doesn’t lie.
“We are approaching it as a one-off game and know if we get our performance right, we have a chance of winning it. All you can ask is to be in the fight like we were in the Scarlets game.
“We’re coming in off the back of a performance we can be very proud of. We are very pleased as the Scarlets are going very well. It was a good win for us.
“We were within a score with a few minutes to go, we don’t want it to be as close as that, but it may do, and we will have to do the same.
“We weren’t happy that it came down to the 81st minute to decide the game but we felt we had enough opportunities to put some daylight between us and the Scarlets with the amount of entries we had into the twenty-two.
“It is not how many times you get in there though. It is what you do when you are there.
“We have put a big focus around executing more clinically and that area of the field in particular and for me that is the growth of this team to be more ruthless.
“They [Cardiff] are going really well and picked up some really good wins and have turned some of those narrow losses last year into victories.
“They have gone to Rodney Parade and got a very good win on a difficult night against a Dragons team that were very up for it and passionate.
“They are a good side that are very well coached, the team will be well prepared.”
One threat Jones feels his side will have to neutralise on the day will be the explosive running of Wales wing Josh Adams, who since returning from a series of injuries in the last six months has been in fine form with four tries in his last three matches.
“He is a good player; his strike rate speaks for itself,” continued Jones.
“The tries that he has been scoring and the impact that he has been having with ball in hand have been synonymous with what we remember of him before he got injured.
“He is a very strong carrier and a big man. He doesn’t look it, but he is a powerful guy and is very difficult to stop.
“He has good feet which manipulate defenders and is actually very good in the air, so we are treating him with a lot of respect as we are with all their backs.
“He is though not going to score any tries if they can’t get the ball to him. That is the key, either to have the ball yourself or prevent him from getting the ball with the time and space he utalises.
“We are focusing on what that looks like for us as a gameplan point-of-view.
“There will be moments where Gileo [Keelen Giles] will put himself up against Josh in attack or defence, and hopefully we can switch it around and have him on the ball to use his strengths.
“It looks like it will be a wet and windy affair, which doesn’t mean it won’t be entertaining but it will lend itself to a certain type of game for sure.
“Whatever plan each team tries to execute under the conditions it’ll be the one that is most accurate that spends the most time in the opposition twenty-two that will be the biggest factor.
“It will be the collective effort that will be the decider though not the individuals.”
Ospreys XV to face Cardiff:
15. Max Nagy, 14. Iestyn Hopkins, 13. Owen Watkin, 12. Keiran Williams, 11. Keelan Giles,
10. Dan Edwards, 9. Reuben Morgan-Williams
1. Gareth Thomas, 2. Sam Parry, 3. Tom Botha, 4. Rhys Davies, 5. James Fender, 6. Jac Morgan (captain), 7. Justin Tipuric, 8. Morgan Morris.
Replacements:
16. Lewis Lloyd, 17. Garyn Phillips, 18. Rhys Henry, 19. James Ratti, 20. Morgan Morse, 21. Kieran Hardy, 22. Jack Walsh, 23. Evardi Boshoff.
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
