Skipper Tom Smith says that the players involved in the PRO12 wins over Connacht and Munster over the last two weekends have "put the work in and taken the opportunity that's been given to them with both hands".
Smith was in impressive form on Saturday evening as he led the Ospreys to a memorable win over Munster at the Liberty Stadium, and understandably, he was delighted with the effort and endeavour shown by his team-mates.
Asked post-match whether preparations for the game had been hindered by international absentees, Smith was insistent that wasn’t the case.
“It doesn’t really affect the boys who are left here” he said.
“It’s our time to step up and the boys are happy taking that responsibility. Over the last two weeks, and the six games at the start of the season, the boys have been impeccable. They’ve put the work in and taken the opportunity that’s been given to them with both hands.
“The performance tonight was a good one. We showed in patches what we can do. It wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination but our attacking play was generally very good. The game went off the boil the last quarter, but we showed great resolve in defence to keep Munster out at the end. We can be really happy with certain aspects of the performance.
“It’s great to be able to get such an important win, so that we can create the sort of reputation of place where it’s hard for any team to come and win. Thanks to all the supporters who were here tonight, in the circumstances with the international, they were brilliant. It does make a difference when we go out on the field and they are with us. The part they played in lifting the team in the last 10 minutes when we were up against it can’t be underestimated.
“This group of boys got us on a roll at the start of the season and we’ve had two good performances in the last two weeks so it’s given us a bit of momentum going into the Heineken Cup next week.”
Meanwhile, Man of the Match Jonathan Thomas felt that referee Peter Allan made the right call to eventually award the Ospreys a penalty following a series of scrums on their line as Munster looked to force their way over in the closing minutes.
“I think the ref got it right at the end” said Thomas.
“It’s always a tough decision for the referee. I don’t think you can say that Munster were dominant there, it was just a series of collapsed scrums and we felt that we deserved the call there at the end having matched them in that area.”