Pulling the Tigers’ tail? Great, lads!

Apr 13 2008 Barry John, Wales On Sunday

IT was fitting that the Ospreys gained revenge for last year’s EDF final defeat to Leicester Tigers in such fine fashion.

But they will know in the cold light of day, and certainly this morning, that it was no less than the squad’s rich talents deserved.

Despite beating the Tigers to this consolation target, the Ospreys will wonder why they did not produce this sort of performance against Saracens in the Heineken Cup last week.

There will still be angry grievance in the Ospreys’ camp that they could not go all the way in that competition.

When you consider that the bulk of the team experienced the magic and wonderment of the Grand Slam, you feel that the adrenaline-high, and the taste of winning the Six Nations, would have carried the Ospreys through in Europe.

The Heineken Cup remains the Holy Grail for our regions and, as the best team in Wales, the Ospreys are our best hope to win the tournament over the next few years.

After winning at Twickenham it will be interesting to see over the next few weeks what happens to them and their Liberty Stadium cohabitants Swansea City. Will they share an open-top bus parade around the city? I’d like to see that happen but it should be remembered that the EDF Energy Cup is the equivalent of the Carling Cup in the football world.

As it is often said, a week is a long time in politics – so too in sport.

While the deep disappointment at Vicarage Road will not be forgotten, the Ospreys turned up trumps yesterday and that was very impressive.

They owed a great deal in particular to their three foreign players – Filo Tiatia, Marty Holah and Justin Marshall.

They bring discipline and total commitment – the basics of the game – and without that any side is in trouble.

Having said that, the front five were excellent and Alun Wyn Jones, in particular, was once again outstanding.

I was also thrilled to see James Hook back to his best after the Saracens defeat. He imposed himself on the game and the way he broke past defenders, showing the ball to them and then making the cut, was wonderful to watch.

While Shane Williams might be the man of the moment – and deserving of any individual award which comes his way – I must state my admiration for Lee Byrne. His performances have run Williams close this season; he is calm under the high ball, he has a lethal left foot and he makes breaks from deep.

Now that the Ospreys have shown they can win the big games it would be a shame if there was a kneejerk reaction regarding personnel. Everything there has the makings of a Heineken Cup-winning team and to break it up now would be disastrous.

It would put them back a couple of years and the same thing applies to the coaching set-up – Lyn Jones has done superbly well.

Stick together lads – even greater success is not too far away.