Skipper Alun Wyn Jones admits there's plenty for the Ospreys to work on as they chase a play-off spot despite running in seven tries on their way to a record win over the Dragons on Friday night.
There was only ever going to be one winner from as early as the seventh minute after early tries from Kahn Fotuali’i and Tom Habberfield, both converted by Dan Biggar saw the men in black build up an early 14 point lead, but Jones insists there’s room for improvement before they head to the Millennium Stadium next weekend for a Judgement Day battle against Cardiff Blues.
Speaking to the BBC straight after the final whistle, Jones was quick to play down praise for the performance.
“It was okay” he said.
“Credit to a couple of boys, Ian and Adam, they played all five games but they didn’t shirk the responsibility to the jersey tonight, that’s testament to the performance in the first half.
“If we’re honest, I think we came off it in the second half so there’s plenty to work on going into next week.
“There’s obviously four games left regular season then we’ll see where we are. I know it sounds a cliché, we always say it this time of the year, we always say it after we come back from Six Nations or in the autumn, there’s work to do after the first game.
“As I said, we came off it. We had a few clear line breaks we should have probably finished first time around and not gone the extra few phases so we’ll look at that, and obviously, I’ll say it again, there’s a bit to work on.”
Jones blanked any questioning about a potential Lions spot in the summer, preferring to highlight the competition for places at the Liberty:
“The Ospreys jersey means a lot to me so hopefully I’ll get selected in the squad next week. I think Lloyd Peers and Ian Evans are playing really well at the minute, there’s a lot of youngsters coming through, so hopefully we can back up this performance next week against the Blues on Judgement Day.
“On the back of what’s been achieved in the Six Nations it’s a showcase, something to give the fans, the rivalry that’s there, off the back of such a successful tournament. We’ve got to back it up but it’s job done tonight.
“We’re conscious that at this time of the season [coming back from Six Nations] there’s only five games left and a lot of the boys want to pull the black jersey on again, as there’s not many games left. We’re conscious that we have got a couple of weekends off so for us it’s a case of digging in for two.”