With just four points separating the top three teams in Pool 2 of the Champions Cup the Welsh region are in the hunt for a quarter-final place. They travel to Sandy Park to meet Exeter Chiefs nine days later to complete their pool campaign.
“Everybody knows how important this game is, particularly with the pool being so wide open. While we target a win in every game you have to be pragmatic about it and to get the two points in both matches out in France means we are going into the last two rounds still in contention,” said the Ospreys skipper.
“Let’s be honest about it, that’s probably beyond the expectations of most people outside of the camp when we started. We’ve got an opportunity now to really push ourselves forward and maybe take control at the top of the pool with one more, very difficult, away trip to come the following week.
“We put in some good performances in the last block of European fixtures but everybody realises that we’ve got to lift ourselves several notches above the Leinster game last week. We have to approach it positively.
“It’s a long time since we’ve reached this stage of European competition and still had a realistic opportunity to go through from the pool. The manner of how we’ve gone about our business in Europe this season, some of the performances we’ve put in, is a huge positive, and we’ve got to do the same again this week.
“In recent years we’ve been out of contention by round five. There are probably people who feel that’s the case this year looking at the two fixtures we’ve got coming up, we’re realistic enough to recognise that, but we know and understand what we have to do.”
The game against Clermont will see Wales hooker Scott Baldwin notch his 100th appearance for the Ospreys. The 27-year old will complete his century almost seven years after his debut off the bench against Leinster in March, 2009.
That came two months after earning his first contract thanks to his form in the Principality Premiership with home-town club Bridgend. After finding himself on the fringes of the regional set-up in his first three years, including a loan spell with the Ospreys’ sister club in Italy, ASR Milano, he was handed his opportunity by Steve Tandy in the second half of the 2011/12 season.
He was heavily involved in the run-in to a fourth league title, coming off the bench in the dramatic win over Leinster in the PRO12 Final in Dublin at the end of May that year. He is now firmly established s Wales’ No 1 hooker and he played in every game at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
“Reaching 100 games for the Ospreys is something that I could never imagine I would achieve. I would have been proud and happy to get to 10 appearances for the Ospreys when I signed my first contract.
“But, like anything, once you get a taste you want more and I’m proud to be reaching 100 after working hard to make the most of the opportunity the Ospreys have given me. It’s a nice personal landmark, but it won’t mean anything if we don’t get the performance and outcome we want on the night – that’s the most important thing.”
- Tickets for the big game against Clermont Auvergne are available to buy now from the Liberty Stadium Ticket Office and via the Ticket Hotline on 0844 815 6665. Alternatively, you can buy your tickets online at ospreysrugby.com/buytickets now and opt to print at home, avoiding the matchday queues – and for this game there is no online purchase admin fee when you opt to print at home.
