The Ospreys will be judged more on how they respond to their poor start to the season than they were by the highs of last May when they clinched the league title in Dublin says Dan Biggar.
Biggar cut a frustrated figure at the post-match press conference at the Liberty Stadium following Friday night’s defeat at the hands of Glasgow, clearly upset by what he had just experienced out in the middle, and the Gorseinon product was pulling no punches with his analysis.
“There’s no point hiding behind anything because the fact is we are not playing well enough” was his verdict.
“We’re not doing the coaches justice when we’re going on the field. We’re turning the ball over far too cheaply, gifting teams soft points and it’s disappointing.”
“It’s well documented that we’re going through a big change here. There’s a lot of players have moved on and we’ve got a lot of exciting young talent to blend in at the moment, but that takes time. I think everybody associated with the Ospreys has got to realise it’s not going to happen overnight, but it’s not good enough from the boys who are going on the field at the minute and it’s extremely disappointing.”
With comments from the media present deep inside the Liberty about the commitment levels clearly being there even if the application was below par, Biggar typically refused to accept being second best, saying:
“It certainly means a lot to me to play for this region and I’m sure the rest of the boys are of similar thoughts as me, but passion and determination will only take you so far. At the end of the day, like Steve has said, we’ve got to put our own house in order. We’ve got to get things right on the field because at the moment it’s not good enough and we’ve got to get out of it quickly.”
Biggar agreed that the contrast between Friday night and last May was stark but was quick to highlight the need to bounce back as a group:
“It was such a shame the season ended when it did, I think we could probably have gone on another eight or ten game winning streak after the Dublin game, but that’s the way it is. Sport is all about highs and lows. I’ve only been involved for four, four and a half years, and I’ve already experienced some highs and lows in this game. It’s about that and it’s about how you deal with the low points. I think you’re judged on that a lot more than how you deal with the high points.
“Yes, last season was superb, outstanding, there’s not enough superlatives for it, but now it’s all in the past and it matters for very little. We’re not the only team ever to have gone through a difficult start to a season. We’ve had some pretty good seasons over the last three years with two league wins and a semi-final. No other Welsh team can boast of that, but it doesn’t count for anything when you’re in the doldrums like we seem to be at the moment and we have to work hard to climb out of it before we go to the Scarlets.”