Head Coach pleased with improvement in derby performance, but he warns that Ospreys need to "go up another notch" before Biarritz challenge.
Speaking to the media after the 27-19 win over the Scarlets at the Liberty Stadium, he said:
"I thought it was a good game, for different reasons. Tactically, it was obviously determined by the conditions. There was a lot of kicking and in the end we probably just edged that, looking at the territory. It was nip and tuck, but all credit to the Scarlets, they came with a game plan and it nearly paid off or them. In the end, I think we just about deserved it. I think it was an improvement on last for week for us.
"We were very individual last week, it was much more of a team effort tonight. We got a bit more cohesive. We’re another week down the line and the Scarlets have been a pretty tight group right through the season, even in the Six Nations, and they’ve been gradually getting better and better. It was an improvement from us, which is important. We’ve got another week before Biarritz and we should see further improvement.
"The commitment shown right through the team was fantastic. We were very disjointed last week in terms of our defensive structure so we spent a bit of time on it this week and we looked quite solid in that department, apart from the turnover for the first try, which they took well. I was particularly pleased with our organisation, but we know that will have to improve again this week as Biarritz are quite a potent team. These are probably givens, that we expect, but they weren’t there last week, but this week, certainly it was better.
"For us, it’s just about being together, and getting back to where we were before the Six Nations. We were a very potent attacking force back then, and it’s taking us just a little while to get that cohesion back. It’s coming, day by day, we showed good cohesion and even though it was a big kicking battle we had some good moments, the first half particularly. But, it’s an area we need to keep working on.
"The set-piece was very good again tonight. We went up a notch in our lineout defence and stole four or five balls in the second half which was crucial to winning the game in the end. It’s a tough part of the season for us, we’ve experienced it the last couple of years. We lose so many players, it’s hard to gel them back so quickly. We’re particularly pleased that we’ve seen some team improvements tonight, but again, we have to go up another notch next week, make no bones about that. At least now we can take some confidence, we’re heading in the right direction.”