Ospreys coach Sean Holley expressed satisfaction with his injury-hit side after their 15-9 Heineken Cup victory over Perpignan.
Coach satisfied after injury-hit side deliver
Ospreys coach Sean Holley expressed satisfaction with his injury-hit side after their 15-9 Heineken Cup victory over Perpignan at the Liberty Stadium.
The win came despite the Welsh region now having failed to score a try in their last two matches - they lost 12-6 at Leicester last week - and allowing Perpignan a losing bonus point.
Holley was keen to highlight Ospreys' injury concerns - the home side being forced to play Wales Under-20 pair Dan Biggar and Rhys Webb at half-back.
Biggar kicked five penalties, with the home side's depleted numbers also causing a two-match ban on Gavin Henson - disciplined for missing a training session - to be lifted.
"The dominant emotion in the dressing room is satisfaction. There is a little bit of relief," Holley said.
"We have played a top French side here. We came in this morning and we had nine registered backs standing and that included one (Gavin Henson) who was suspended.
"So we had to use him (Henson) in our 22."
He added: "There were some huge individual performances out there and collectively. I don't know what people expect but that was a bloody good win for us. We did everything apart from score a try."
Praise
Holley aimed particular praise in the direction of full-back Lee Byrne, saying: "I thought we saw a British Lions full-back there today.
"He owns his own half at the Liberty Stadium and is secure under the high ball. He hits the line hard and his kicking is well balanced."
Of the situation in Pool Three, Holley added: "It's all to play for. I think we are all going to take points off each other and it's going down to the wire."
Perpignan prop Perry Freshwater blamed his side's indiscipline for their defeat after three players - Adrien Plante, Jean-Pierre Perez and Guillaume Vilaceca were sin-binned.
"We need to adapt to the referees in Europe. There is no doubting our heart and ambition but we have just got to look at our discipline," the former England prop said.
"We played a lot of the game with 13 or 14 men and we need to adapt to certain situations.
"We don't get penalised for things at home we get penalised for here. There comes a time when we stop learning and put these things into practice.
"But we are proud. Not many sides go toe-to-toe with the Ospreys at home and come away with a bonus point. We wanted to win the game, but we didn't because of our discipline."
