BOOTH: IT WAS A PRESENT TO IFAN
OSPREYS coach Toby Booth says victory over league leaders Edinburgh meant that much more coming on the birthday of Ifan Phillips. Hooker Phillips, who turned 25 on Saturday, had to have a leg amputated after a motorbike accident last month, ending his hugely promising rugby career.
Booth admitted it had been a very emotional time for the squad after what happened to the popular son of ex-Wales international Kevin Phillips.
So the 23-19 win over the United Rugby Championship table-toppers was even sweeter as thoughts turned to their former team-mate.
“It means a lot because as a group we’ve gone through quite a lot in the last couple of months,” said Booth.
“I think that’s a great sign-off for what has been a very, very difficult and emotional block for everyone involved with the club.
“It’s great that it’s on Ifan’s birthday, which is a lovely thing for him.
“That sort of performance represented him, I thought.”
The Ospreys trailed 14-3 at halftime but turned things around in stirring fashion after the break to end a five-match losing run.
“The one thing I would say about this group is they never back down, they always keep going,” said Booth.
“What has happened in a lot of the games where we have come second is we haven’t won the key moments and today we did that.”
Booth said having the likes of Gareth Anscombe, Stephen Myler and man of the match Rhys Webb on the pitch in the tense closing stages was a big factor.
“There is no substitute for that level of experience,” he said.
“When your leaders step up and give you confidence, the confidence grows around the group.
“The fans made a massive difference as well and the cheer at the end said it all.”
Skipper Webb added: “It’s a huge win, especially here in front of our home fans.
“It’s great to get back on track, so it’s a good day in the office.
“We didn’t really have the ball in the first half, but you saw in the second half when we did keep hold of the ball we can cause some damage and we did that.”
It was veteran fly-half Myler who secured victory with two nerveless penalties in the closing stages after tries from Mat Protheroe and Sam
Parry had sparked the comeback.
He echoed Booth and Webb in stressing how good it was to have fans back inside the Swansea.com Stadium.
“It does make such a difference,” said the 37-year-old.
“We didn’t really give them much to shout about in the first half, we were down obviously on the scoreboard.
“But when we started picking our ideas up and looking after the ball a bit better, you really felt that difference they made.
“It’s a good feeling to win with them behind us.
“There have been a few results we’ve not been proud of recently, but we did some much better stuff today and hopefully we can take that forward in the next few weeks.”