Ospreys skipper Justin Tipuric was refusing to be too downbeat despite the disappointment of having to settle for a draw in Treviso on Saturday, saying that with only two games gone in the Heineken Cup there's still everything to play for.
Talking to the handful of Welsh media present at Stadio Comunale di Monigo after the final whistle, Tipuric was asked whether the Ospreys had underestimated their Italian opponents and if the two points dropped meant that the Ospreys were already out of contention for a place in the knockout stages.
“Saracens and Biarritz have to come here and it isn’t an easy place to come” said the 22-year old from Trebanos.
“Treviso have improved loads over the last couple of years. When we played them in the Pro12, we were lucky to win that game. We knew it was going to be a tough game but we stuck at it right to the end. They are still physical and they still have a good set-piece but we know how good we are and we should have won. You can’t take anything away from Treviso though.
“We lost too much ball. We knocked it on and couldn’t get phases or momentum in our game. We’ll have a look at the video on Monday and then move on to Connacht in the Pro12.”
The Ospreys had seemed to be staring defeat in the face until a penalty decision in the final minute allowed 19-year old replacement fly-half Matthew Morgan to display nerves of steel in slotting over a 40-yarder with just seconds remaining to rescue the draw and what could be two important match points. Tipuric revealed that his decision to go the posts was made for him by the confident teenager:
“He’s a great guy and he’s confident. He said to me he wanted the three points. That makes my decision a lot easier. When you have a guy with that much potential and talent, it helps. We have two great outside-halves. Both of them would have knocked it over, not just Matthew.
“He’s a good guy and we’ve seen how good he is in training, how good his kicking is. Dan is the same. I’d back them both all the way. Matthew has things to work on but he’s been kicking superbly and you saw that again on Saturday. It was pretty nervewracking but he’s a confident guy and I had faith in him.”
With the double-header against Aviva Premiership champs Saracens to come next month, Tipuric insists there’s everything to play for:
“It’s still wide open. We’ll see what Saracens and Biarritz can do over here.
I don’t think we can let many more points slip.
“We have to be physical in the contact area and hold onto the ball. It’s a basic game. If you don’t have the ball you won’t score points. That’s how it is.”
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