Tandy hails “tired group”

Huge effort after five-day turnaround sees Ospreys bag second win of the week to please Tandy ahead of final push for the play-offs.

After Glasgow were defeated 26-15 at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday, the Ospreys regathered to battle their way to a narrow win in the Edinburgh rain on Friday night.

With a three week gap now until the side are next in action, away to Benetton Treviso on Saturday 25th March, Ospreys Head Coach, Tandy, sent the boys off to get some sun on their backs and a much needed rest after picking up three PRO12 wins from four during the Six Nations window.

“There’s a real tired group in the changing room tonight” said Tandy. 

“You could see towards the back end, with a five day turnaround, you’re asking a lot of these boys and they are barring up.

“Through this period we’ve done really well. We’ve set ourselves up, we’re in a really positive position and, hopefully, we’ll go to Treviso next and pick up points.

“Last year we were chasing people down which is really difficult, but this puts us in a good position with five games to go. Touch wood, the boys who play the last two internationals come back fit and healthy, and give us a bit more fire power, which will be more than welcome given where we are on numbers at the moment.

“We’ll get back home tomorrow (Saturday) and then these boys will be off until a week Monday. We’ve asked a lot of this group, 28 people not available to us at this moment in time so there’s been high demand on certain players. It’ll be good to get some of those recharged.

“I should imagine a lot of them will go and get some sun then, when they come back into work, we’ll have a two-week prep into Treviso before a busy run-in and, hopefully, a lot of games into the back end of the season.”

On a shocking night in Edinburgh, the Ospreys found themselves on the back foot for long period, putting in a huge defensive shift that showed great spirit and discipline that delighted Tandy and his coaches.

“Defensively, we looked in control for the majority of it” he continued. 

“The boys worked very hard, I thought our systems held up. The conditions were pretty bad, the wind, the rain, it was a heavy pitch even before the rain came in. The boys battled hard and I thought, apart from maybe a drive, Edinburgh didn’t look like scoring.

“At 10-3, we would have liked the next score. If we’d gone two scores clear we’d have been more comfortable. In fairness to Edinburgh, they kept coming at us, they started to build up a head of steam and we couldn’t exit. We didn’t get any field position and with the weather we tightened up a bit. We’d have liked to play with a little bit more width.

“We tried to do that first half but, ultimately, it was hard. At the end of the day it’s pleasing, it’s a really good four points away from home in a tough place.”