Skipper Alun Wyn Jones was proud in defeat as the Ospreys fell short against Racing Metro despite, in his view, doing enough to deserve what would have been a memorable win in Le Mans.
The back-to-back games against Racing Metro were both on a knife-edge until the final whistle, but the Ospreys had to settle for a draw last weekend and a losing bonus point this week.
Nevertheless, Alun Wyn spoke with pride post-match as he reflected on the performance on Saturday evening, urging the Ospreys youngsters to learn from the disappointment.
“The immediate summation would be that we were probably a bit naïve with some of the line breaks that we had” said Jones
“We did have opportunities in the first half but we didn’t take them.
“We got to 60 minutes and it was pretty similar to last week and we were in the ascendancy. It’s just disappointing that we felt we deserved more, but you’ve got to convert when you get those opportunities and line breaks.
“I am proud of that effort to be honest with you. I was last week as well, off the back of that to come out here and perform like we have I do feel we deserve more. People will say you’ve got to capitalise on the territory and possession you have and we probably didn’t do that.
“We’ve come out here with a side that’s been written off again, and I don’t want to say that as it’s not fuel for us, but we’ve got guys going out there taking pride, playing for the full 80 and that’s all you can ask for.
“We’re developing strength in depth. We wouldn’t have competed today if we didn’t have that and I think it’s irrelevant who we haven’t got due to injury. The guys are still putting their hands up, they’re a credit to themselves and a credit to the Ospreys.
“Northampton have to come to us and then we go to Treviso so we’ve got to keep going and see what happens. I think, personally, the frustrating thing for me is we are learning, we are growing, but at some point the learning has got to stop. We’ve got to convert that into results.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time now, I might not get silverware out of it, that’s yet to be seen, but I’m really proud of what we are doing here and what we are creating.”