After steering the Ospreys to victory on Friday night with 15 second half points off the bench, Sam Davies deflected the praise on to the forwards who gave him “ a great platform to play off”.
The 22-year old fly-half replaced dead-leg victim, Dan Biggar, eight minutes into the second half with the Ospreys trailing French giants Clermont Auvergne by seven points. His four penalties and drop goal, along with an excellent display of tactical kicking out of hand, helped to ensure the Ospreys overturned the half-time deficit and went on to secure a crucial win that puts them in the Pool 2 driving seat with one game to go.
With the plaudits coming his way post-match, Davies was typically modest.
“That’s part of my job as an outside half” he said.
“The boys gave me a great platform to play off, we won a few turnovers in front of the sticks for me to slot the kicks over, and when we did get into the 22 we kept hold of the ball to give me a chance to put the drop goal over. I can’t fault the boys’ effort and heart.
“The boys dug deep at the end, there was some unreal defensive sets going in. To come out there and deliver on what was a really big occasion for us, we’ve struggled in years gone by to get out of our European groups, but we’ve put ourselves into a very good position to do so this time.
“We speak a lot about attitude within the group. I think a lot people wrote us off going into this group at the start of the season but the boys, right from day one, we’ve believed in ourselves, and it’s coming through and showing. It’s going to be a really tough game next week in Exeter.”
Davies was asked had been aware of the significance of his final penalty with under two minutes remaining, which took away even the consolation of a losing bonus point for the visitors.
“We train to know our roles, know them inside out” Davies answered.
“We spoke in training earlier in the week, Tandy brought up a couple of different scenarios, and he did mention the prospect of them getting a losing bonus point. Putting the ball on the tee at the end I was well aware that not only would it make sure we won the game, it would take that bonus point away from them. In Europe, that one point could be massive.”
