London Irish chief Brian Smith insisted his side's inexperience proved to be their downfall in the 51-16 defeat to the Ospreys.
Exiles chief sees side come unstuck against the Ospreys
London Irish director of rugby Brian Smith insisted his side's inexperience proved to be their downfall in the 51-16 defeat to the Ospreys.
The Exiles had lead 16-13 after 29 minutes, only for the Ospreys to cut loose, scoring five unanswered tries in the second half.
With the rigours for the Guinness Premiership and the Heineken Cup coming up, Smith had opted to rotate his squad for the match - and he admitted this was to prove to be their downfall.
He said: "Up to half-time was a good effort by our blokes, but in the second half it was a little bit disappointing because under pressure we made a lot of mistakes.
"And the second half turned into a bit of a training run for them. It was good for the home spectators but not if you are an opposition coach.
"But we knew we took a risk bringing this squad down to Swansea. But when you lose the first game (in the EDF Cup) and you have a squad the size of ours we have got to look forward to the Heineken Cup and the Guinness Premiership.
Rotate
"We felt it was important to rotate our squad and give some guys a chance who have been chomping at the bit. But at the end of the day there was a difference in class that took its toll over 80 minutes.
"We got away with it for 40 minutes but that second 40 minutes the Ospreys were on fire."
Ospreys coach Lyn Jones was left with a selection dilemma for the Heineken Cup after seeing his side romp to victory.
"London Irish gave us the challenge we hoped for in the first half, but unfortunately in the second half there was only one side in it," said Jones.
"We are pleased to have come through strongly in the EDF. There was a lot of pressure but we played well in big patches. The boys played well with a lot of spirit and imagination, which is great.
"We now have some big selection issues ahead of Saturday and there are going to be a lot of disappointed people.
"We expect a completely different challenge from Bourgoin next week. They are an unknown quantity in Europe but what we have to do is understand the fine line that the European Cup brings to a game of rugby.
"We scored 40 points last week, 50 points this week and next week there could be one score in it."
