After returning to his home region the beginning of the week, we caught up with our Captain, Justin Tipuric, to hear his thoughts on being back in an Ospreys jersey!
“It’s really good to get back with the boys this week and get straight back into it. I’ve had the usual stick off the boys asking how my holiday has been! As you can imagine there’s been next to no sympathy off the lot of them!”
“It’s been really tough watching the boys from the sidelines during the start of the season. You’d much rather be out there on the field with the boys putting in the effort as oppose to sitting at home, watching on the TV. I’ve probably screamed at the television a few times the last couple of weeks, so it will be really good to get back out there with the boys on the pitch.”
“Having a break this past few weeks after the World Cup has been really refreshing for some of the boys, especially us older ones that’s for sure. It’s been a long time to be away, when you consider the training camps before heading out to Japan it has been a really long time. The mental break for the boys was needed.”
Talking about being back in an Ospreys jersey, our captain told us what the jersey meant to him:
“I love being back at the region, the Ospreys to me is where I come from. I’ve grown up here as a supporter, my local club is part of the region and growing up that was always my aim as a kid, to play for my region one day! Every time I put on that shirt you realise the importance of it and you realise that you’re representing the Ospreys, its really special.
Looking ahead to this weekend's first of the festive Welsh derbies, Tipuric said:
“Cardiff Blues will be a tough game, they’re going to want to throw the ball around and get their backs playing. They play some fancy rugby and it’s going to be tough for us to try and stop them.”