Ospreys boss Toby Booth has set his sights on the URC play-offs this season, after his side earned a place in the Heineken Champions Cup as the top-ranked Welsh team last term.
Joining in 2020, the season after the Swansea-based team had finished bottom of Conference A, with the second worst points total in the whole Pro14, he guided them to a third-placed finish in the same conference in his first season.
And a ninth-placed finish in the expanded, single-table of the URC was enough to see them into the Champions Cup for a second-year running, as they were the highest ranked Welsh team in the league last season so earned automatic qualification.
With the improvement his players have shown year on year, Booth was confident his troops could push into the top eight in the next campaign, giving them a chance to compete for the title.
When asked on The Rugby Paper Podcast by host Ollie Little whether the goal was indeed to reach the play-offs, Booth said: “Yeah for sure.”
“I took over two seasons ago, with a team at the bottom who had won two games, so there was a massive rebuild not just on the pitch but off it.
“So that's been part of the journey: establishing an understanding, developing parts of your game, and obviously recruiting to that identity that you want to instil.
“Finishing the highest-placed Welsh Region is a big thing in Wales, especially now there's a shield that represents something.
“People will go ‘oh you're celebrating coming ninth,' but for a young group where some haven't been in a position to win something tangible, it got our 20-23 year olds playing for something and in high pressure games.
“It represents a good milestone in the journey, but as you say what we're trying to get to is the promised lands of play-offs and knockout rugby with a view to winning silverware for sure.”
To bridge the gap, it would appear the Ospreys would need to focus on their try-scoring game after only four try bonus points, with two coming in the final two games.
The lowest among those who reached the play-offs was seven try bonus points, and Ospreys points difference was a stark 85 behind Glasgow, who snuck into the final spot in eighth.
But Booth was not worried, emphasising his team had put focus on the basics last year to maximise their league position, and lay the foundations for future play-off challenges.
“I think we were building other fundamentals of our game for sure. With the South African teams coming in your set-piece has to be good, your exits, your skillsets, and the attack is often around what you create from different situations, so comes as a natural progression.
“Bonus points, both attacking and losing, are absolutely vital. If you look at the table from last year, our ability to get into the play-offs was negated by bonus-points, not by wins.
“So from that point of view there's a necessity to grow our game for sure and we're very aware of that.”
Another foundation Booth felt it was key to lay was to empower the players and build the team's identity.
Fellow guest Nick Cain suggested that the merger of Neath and Swansea had always made Ospreys the product of an uncomfortable partnership, but one Booth feels can be overcome with performances on the pitch.
“It's certainly something I was made aware of, but that's what makes its interesting.
“The player base is very mixed, we have different factions, but they're very keyed into the Ospreys way and the identity we're trying to implement.
“If you're performing well on the field and a strong direction and belief towards where you're going, then that starts to take care of itself, and fans become more united.”
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