Positive response pleases skipper Tips

Justin Tipuric says that the way the team responded to going behind early on in Sunday's win over Ulster was a positive indication of the spirit in the squad at the moment.

The Ospreys captain spoke positively about the attitude of the team following the win at the Liberty Stadium, adding that the group is continuing to grow week on week.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Tipuric said:

“The result was exactly what we wanted really. Ulster are a great team, they’ve showed that in their last few results, they hadn’t lost a game. We had to dig really deep. The boys are playing for the jersey and we played really well as a team.

“At half-time we spoke about playing a bit more territory, and that they were having problems with discipline. We knew that if we played in the right areas that they’d get frustrated and give away penalties, and when you’ve got someone like Dan kicking the way he is that gives you a big advantage.

“The scrum is an area of the game that we work hard on at the Ospreys. Front-rowers are out there hitting scrums every day more or less and we saw today that it does pay off. We’ve got to keep working hard though.

“After conceding so early it was a great response. We came together under the posts and just said, ‘keep your heads up and let’s get back up there’. There was a mistake, everyone has them, we just responded in the right way, which was exactly what we wanted.

“It’s a team performance, the boys have been great and hopefully we can keep that going into Friday night’s game. Connacht are also playing really well and not being on TV hopefully fans will come down and support us. The crowd were great again today and hopefully we’ll get a bigger attendance next week.

“They’ll be tough, they always are. They’ve had a lot of new signings this year. They are always a tough team to breakdown, they make life difficult at the contact area and try to slow the ball down. It’s always a big fight up front against a big pack.

“We are always growing every week, we are getting tighter as a team. Hopefully now we can keep improving our performances and attract a bigger audience, so that we can grow as a region.”