Having set a benchmark the previous season, expectations were high. At the start of the season, with Rugby World Cup commitments, and the Ospreys supplying the lions share of the party, the squad was severely depleted for the start of the domestic campaign (all domestic competitions continued despite RWC taking place at the same time), and not surprisingly therefore, despite valiant attempts, the Ospreys failed to make an impact in the Magners League.

With the return of our International contingent, the Ospreys gathered some momentum, and despite an early setback against Gloucester at the beginning of the European Cup campaign, they succeeded during the other early rounds which set them up nicely going into the final rounds in January. A highly charged atmosphere at the Liberty Stadium saw us triumph over Gloucester, and give the Ospreys enough match points to reach the quarter finals of the blue ribbon competition for the first time ever.

On the back of some impressive individual & team performances during the European campaign, Warren Gatland, the new Welsh coach, helped the Ospreys set a new record by selecting 13 of the starting line-up for Wales in their game against England at Twickenham during the RBS Six Nations. As if this wasn´t enough, the team only went on to win the Grand Slam and further propel many of the Ospreys players into super-stardom.

Progression through the EDF Energy Cup pool stages saw the Ospreys in their second consecutive semi-final, this time against Saracens. With a comprehensive victory at the Millennium Stadium the stage was set for a repeat of the previous season´s final against Leicester Tigers.

In between, the Ospreys then faced, within a matter of a week, the same opposition (Saracens) on their home turf in the quarter-final of the European Cup. But despite being outright favourites (based on the previous week´s performance and the strength of our squad in general), we came unstuck against a shrewd & clinical opposition, who denied us a semi-final spot.

Having picked themselves up, the Ospreys went on to Twickenham for the EDF Energy Cup Final, again with an impressive 10,000 strong support behind them, and were victorious following an extremely impressive display of 15 man rugby.