Win or go home says Johnson
January 21 2010
Scott Johnson the Ospreys Director of Coaching admitted to the excitement in their camp ahead of Saturday's Heineken Cup Pool 3 must win match against the Leicester Tigers.
The math at the Liberty Stadium will be simple simple; the winner progresses to the quarter-finals, the looser is out.
"We realise what we need to do on Saturday, and that is win, nothing less will do", Johnson told the WRU official website.
"It's a big game for us, a big occasion against one of the giants of European rugby and it's winner takes all. It doesn't get much bigger than that. Win and we are through to the quarter-finals, lose and we are out. It's the same scenario for Leicester. That's the situation laid bare, both sides know what's at stake so you can be sure that it's going to be a real battle. We're all excited about what the afternoon has in store for us, games don't get any bigger than this and we can't wait."
"When we set out at the start of this tournament, we had an idea of where we needed to be in terms of points if we were to progress from this Pool. It was always going to be a difficult task with the quality of teams involved, but we felt that if we could get to 20 points that would be enough. That's where we are right now, a win would take us to that figure.
"It ain't going to be any kind of 'gimme', Leicester Tigers are an excellent side who have been on a bit of a run recently. With their European pedigree, the prospect of them missing out on the quarter-finals is unthinkable really, so you can imagine how they will be approaching this game. They have a very proud record and a history in this competition that stands comparison with anyone, so they won't be relishing a defeat and an early exit. You can bet your house on it that they will be fired up and will come out all guns blazing.
"We can't and won't allow ourselves to be overly concerned with how they are thinking, we have to concentrate on getting it right ourselves. Our attention to detail has to be spot on if we are going to achieve what we need to, we have to make sure that we all get our jobs done properly, players and coaches alike."
After seeing off all opposition the Ospreys tasted defeat last weekend for the first time in the pool rounds. High on the priority list was the refocusing towards a positive, winning attitude.
"It's never difficult to lift your players for a game like this, regardless of the disappointment we were feeling as a group last Saturday. It was a strange one really, there was plenty about the performance in France that we could take satisfaction from. Our defence was excellent, right up until the death when we started throwing it about when we looked for a bonus point and got caught out. Generally, when we had the ball in hand and were able to move it we looked dangerous, and our attitude and effort was first rate.
"What let us down was our discipline, and a penalty count against us that made it very difficult for us to build up any kind of momentum or territory at all. Without that, you will struggle to win any game of footy, never mind when you are up against a team of the quality of Clermont who were outstanding on the day and really made us pay for our indiscipline. But, Saturday is another day. We know what we need to put right, that is what we will work on this week, and make no mistake, that defeat is behind us now, we are only looking forward."