Post match reaction from Head Coach Sean Holley following the Ospreys victory over Gloucester
“I enjoyed that, it was a great game, that’s why we’re involved, it’s why we love it. It’s only pre-season mind, we’re not getting carried away but there was much to admire out there today, from both teams I thought, it was a good pre-season match.
“The game swung back and forth, but it happens in games, teams gain periods of possession, and sometimes the referee has something to say about it. Also, both teams used 28 players, so you are going to get ebb and flow aren’t you? The outcome for us will be that the boys have had a good blast against some good, physical opposition, and I think at the end, the win is just the cherry on the top.
“The biggest thing for us is the number of talented youngsters we’ve got coming through at the Ospreys, and to expose them on this stage here at Kingsholm, with a good crowd here, against near full strength opposition is the kind of exposure we wanted. Across the board nobody let us down and it was great to see them make the step up.
“Ryan has come back really invigorated, fresh and looking in good nick. He just wants to get on and play rugby and I think he did really well when he came on. We had four centres that played really well out there today. I thought Andrew Bishop and Sonny Parker defended well in the first half, and then Jonathan Spratt and Gareth Owen showed that we’ve got a lot of strength in depth in that area.
“Jerry Collins gave us some go forward, which is one of the reasons we signed him. He’s a ball carrier and his placement and recycling was good. It was pretty pleasing to see him in action, he’s worked hard in pre-season and we’ve seen two good halves of rugby from him so it augurs well. Tom Isaacs made a big impact on the game, he showed that he’s a threat. We signed him with a view to changing his position and I think he showed he’s a good rugby player against decent opposition so that’s for us to explore. I’ve got to mention Tom Prydie as well, he looked a touch of class.
“We’ve had to work hard in the close season on how we make the players far more accountable, to enable our selection to be right, and to make our selection easy, but it’s not going to be easy after today because they’ve all put their hand up. We’ll have to have a good look at it, and last week, and look at the opposition because that’s important when you’re selecting. We also have to take into account that we need to use our squad throughout the season so there’s lots to think about ahead of Connacht next Friday.”