It’s better, but more to come from Ospreys says Booth
TOBY Booth says the Ospreys are yet to scratch the surface of their potential after he got his team and Wales wing George North back firing on all cylinders.
Booth took charge in the summer after the Swansea-based region had endured an awful two years of substandard performances and poor results.
The former Bath and London Irish coach has guided the Ospreys to five wins from their last six matches while Wales prop Tomas Francis has signed for next season from Exeter.
Added to that, Booth has got North – who was dropped at Test level for the first time at the end of last year – back to somewhere near his best.
“This has been a tough year,” Booth told The Rugby Paper. “I won’t judge what happened before me, but the facts are the facts and I was tasked to drag the Ospreys back on to an even keel and see what happened from there.
“It bodes well and the boys should take the credit. They’ve taken on our ideas. From a performance point of view I don’t think we’re even scratching the surface. We’ve got so much growing still to do.
“The output, effort and want to push ourselves each day will help us improve. It sounds a basic formula, but it takes a lot of time to implement and we are making great strides off the field.”
North won his 100th Test
cap in 2020, but a lack of regular game time saw him fall out of the picture for Wales head coach Wayne Pivac.
The good news for Pivac ahead of the Six Nations is North has been a lively presence in the Ospreys team for the last month.
“George has been on fire and he’s playing with a smile on his face,” said Ospreys back row Dan Lydiate. “He’s had his fair share of criticism, but you don’t get 90 odd Test caps for Wales or go on two Lions tours if you’re a rubbish player.
“You can see he’s very hungry and he’s helping the younger guys as well.
“He’s been at the top of his game for ten years now and is trying to pass that knowledge on. He’s tearing up at the minute and we want to get him on the ball as much as possible.
“He’s going looking for it and is such a threat.”