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Toby Booth: 'If they believe in it, I’ve got to believe it, so why not?'
Ask Ospreys boss Toby Booth whether they can make the BKT URC play-offs and he delivers a succinct, but emphatic reply: “Why not?”.
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Booth’s young team are currently on target to achieve that goal of a top-eight finish.
They are in seventh spot, with eight rounds of league matches to come, starting with Friday’s crucial trip to fifth-placed Edinburgh.
No Welsh team has made the BKT URC play-offs since the Scarlets back in 2018.
But the Ospreys are firmly in the mix and on a real run of form following five successive wins in all competitions.
“We are not going to get carried away,” said Booth.
“I worry about the mindset, the nuts and bolts and bits and pieces, but what we are saying is ‘Why not? Why not?’
“Instead of going ‘Umm, no’, it’s ‘Yeah, why not?’
“If these youngsters are going to give me energy as an old man, then I have got to back what they believe.
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“If they believe in it, I’ve got to believe it, so why not?”
The Ospreys have won nine of their 14 matches in the BKT URC and the EPCR Challenge Cup so far this season.
It’s a record that’s all the more impressive given their reduced squad numbers and crippling injury list.
“Everyone knows with the 20-plus injuries how difficult it has been, but we will just keep going, we are not going to use it as an excuse,” said Booth.
“Whoever is on that pitch, it comes with an expectation of standard and effort. We talk about that a lot and these boys are delivering that.”
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The long list of absentees has seen a number of youngsters thrown in at the deep end, but they have been swimming rather than sinking.
That was again evident from the dramatic 19-17 BKT URC victory over Ulster in Swansea last time out.
It was 20-year-old Player of the Match Dan Edwards who landed the nerveless last-gasp drop goal to snatch the spoils, while the fly-half also took a key role in the breakaway try for centre Keiran Williams.
Flanker Harri Deaves, 22, was another rookie to shine brightly, while much-talked about teenager Morgan Morse was a force of nature alongside him in the back row.
Prop Ben Warren, 23, came off the bench to hold his own in the scrum against World Cup winner Steven Kitshoff, while another front row sub Lewis Lloyd, 20, also played his part, nailing the pressure lineout throw which paved the way for Edwards’ winning drop goal.
With lock James Fender, scrum-half Luke Davies and back three duo Max Nagy and Iestyn Hopkins having also demonstrated much youthful promise this season, the future looks bright for the region.
“The beauty of working with young players is they don’t know any different,” said Booth.
“That blind faith and that effort – if they are coached well and developed well – brings around performances like we have seen.
“You are not always going to be perfect, but you move on very quickly because these guys haven’t got the scar tissue.
“What they lack in experience and knowledge, they make up for in different ways.
“As they transition further down the line, they will be smarter, they will be cleverer, they will be more skilled and if they can maintain their hunger and desire they become very special players.
“We have got the first lot through, the likes of Morgan Morris, Dewi Lake and Jac Morgan. It’s then a case of what’s the next lot?
“We develop the people, develop the understanding and the core of the Ospreys squad then grows.
“It’s about having an environment where the young players feel they can step up and they are doing just that.”
Reflecting on the win over Ulster, Booth added: “It wasn’t our cleanest performance by far, but we found a way and the boys should take massive credit. I am really pleased for them.
“It was very similar to the Challenge Cup game against the Lions in Johannesburg. This team doesn’t know when it’s beaten. The character they have shown repeatedly is very impressive.”
There is also light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the injury list.
Seasoned Wales internationals Justin Tipuric and Alex Cuthbert returned against Ulster, while Morgan Morris, Owen Williams and Rhys Davies could be back available for the Edinburgh game.
“Come the end of the Six Nations, we will hopefully have a lot of people to choose from and that will be a refreshing change,” said Booth.
“You never know, we might have some selection dilemmas!”
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments