'There has been a lot of pressure on the boys... it wasn’t just a win'

Head coach Mark Jones paid tribute to “a proper Ospreys performance” as his team celebrated their St Helen’s homecoming with a 31-14 bonus point victory over the Dragons.

It was the Ospreys’ first game back at the newly redeveloped Swansea ground after some 20 years away and they marked the occasion in style, with Wales squad scrum-half Reuben Morgan-Williams scoring two of their five tries.

They were dominant up front and far more clinical than the Dragons who also suffered through indiscipline, having three players yellow carded on a wild, wet and windy night amid Storm Boelo.

“I am just really pleased with the win,” said Jones.

“There has been a lot of pressure on the boys this week, just around the whole occasion of it.

“You only get one chance to make a first impression and there’s a bit of responsibility that comes with that.

“You’re responsible for representing the badge and putting the best performance on the field that we could for our supporters because people have travelled a long way in awful conditions.

“The one thing that will always make them happy is a win, whether it’s by hook or by crook.

“But I actually thought it wasn’t just a win, it was a really good performance. There was some high quality skill in there and some awesome defensive work, while our set piece obviously shone through and we’re proud of that.

“It was a proper Ospreys performance and it needed to be in those conditions.

“It was never going to be a multi-phase, running game. It was always going to be moments of importance and fundamentals being strong and I thought we did a really good job around all of those areas. The effort was class.”

St Helen’s was an original home venue for the Ospreys when the region was launched back in 2003.

They then moved to the Liberty Stadium in late 2005, with that ground – the home of Swansea City football club – being their base for the next two decades.

Now they are back at St Helen’s, with work having gone on around the clock over the past couple of months to get the seafront venue ready in time for the Dragons game.

In the end, a sell-out crowd of 5,592 were able to attend the landmark fixture and they had plenty of reasons to be cheerful despite the challenging weather conditions.

Winger Keelan Giles, who was born and raised in the city, provided his thoughts on the whole occasion.

“I played here growing up in finals and schools and for Swansea RFC as well,” he said.

“This was very different. I have never played in front of a crowd this big down here.

“It was a great night and a great experience. It’s class to be playing down here again.

“They have done an amazing job down here. It looks amazing. The atmosphere from the crowd was top notch.”

Defeated Dragons coach Filo Tiatia said: “The Ospreys deservedly won the game.

“They dominated up front. Their set-piece, their mauling was outstanding.

“There are parts of the game we need to be better at and we know we can do that. So we’ve just got to review, reflect and then we need to learn faster.”