The real test - how will Glaws react to defeats?
Rory Lawson - try
By Cherry Jones
January 13 2008
The ref, the weather, gamesmanship, bad luck – they have all been handed some of the blame for Gloucester’s 100 per cent Heineken Cup record going west at Swansea’s Liberty Stadium. But there’s only one real reason for the result – Ospreys were the better team in all aspects of the game.
If fans try to claim Glaws didn’t deserve to lose, they are deluding themselves. If anybody at the club – players, coaches or officials - tries to blame anything else, we could be in trouble.
Now the real test of the Glaws potential this season comes in their next couple of matches – how they bounce back after two defeats is what really counts.
Coming a week after the Guinness Premiership loss at Barff, the 32-15 setback in Wales is difficult to take as Ospreys made it clear from the start they wanted revenge for their earlier defeat at Kingsholm.
But teams don’t go through a whole season unbeaten, and the real test will be how Dean Ryan’s men react when they take on Ulster at Kingsholm in their final Heineken Cup group game next weekend and against Wasps and Leicester in their next two matches, both at home and both in the Prem.
As coach Ryan said: "It was obviously frustrating. We started poorly, we allowed them to build an early lead and we were far too late getting into the physicality of the contest.
"I am frustrated we ended up playing with 13 men. If one of the yellow cards was for swearing, then it is something that needs application across the game.
"The word Narraway used was not personal, as far as I know, and I have not read a law about swearing. I just need some clarity.
"We have got to get a bit angry during the week, become a bit more focused and use this result as motivation." P W D L F A BP Pts Glaws 5 4 0 1 155 98 3 19 Ospreys 5 4 0 1 136 81 1 17 Bourgoin 5 1 0 4 97 146 3 7 Ulster 5 1 0 4 81 144 1 5
Glaws are still favourites to win the group unless there is a real shock at home to Ulster, but as Ryan says, they need to use this result – and the performance – as motivation not just against Ulster, but for the rest of the season.
With scrum-half Justin Marshall outstanding, Ospreys were always in control of the game and although Glaws scored as many tries as the home side – sub Rory Lawson’s great individual score and Ryan Lamb’s consolation - the difference was Marshall’s all-round game and James Hook’s kicking, with two conversions and six penalties.
It was a poor display from Glaws, who failed to respond when the chips were down. The chips are down for the rest of the season now, and everybody will be expecting a lot better than this.