Steve Tandy plans to reward his table-topping Ospreys with a week off in the sunshine after their hard-earned victory at Edinburgh.
The region went top of the Pro 12 table after grinding out a 13-9 triumph in awful conditions in Scotland on Friday night.
The Ospreys now have a three-week gap until their next game against Treviso on March 25 and head coach Tandy has told his squad to get away for a week to soak up some rays.
“We’ll get back home and then these boys will be off until a week Monday,” said Tandy after a moment of genuine artistry from Sam Davies set up the only try of the game for Josh Matavesi.
Fly-half Davies sliced through the home defence after a clever feint and then flicked a classy reverse pass to Matavesi in a moment that perfectly summed up why he is putting pressure on Dan Biggar for a starting spot for Wales against Ireland next week.
Tandy added: “We’ve asked a lot of this group with 28 people not available to us at this moment in time so there’s been high demand on certain players. It’ll be good to get some of those re-charged.
“I should imagine a lot of them will go and get some sun. Then, when they come back into work, we’ll have a two-week prep into Treviso before a busy run-in and, hopefully, a lot of games into the back end of the season.”
The Ospreys – who were without 11 players on international duty and 17 more out injured – are now three points clear of Leinster at the top of the Pro12 table, having played one game more.
Tandy’s team have won 15 of their last 16 matches in all competitions and looked well-placed to make the play-offs with a crucial home tie in the semi-final.
Once again, their defence was disciplined and determined as Edinburgh were locked out in the final stages as they went for the match-winning try.
“There’s a real tired group in the changing room tonight” said Tandy.
“You could see towards the back end, with a five day turnaround, you’re asking a lot of these boys and they are barring up.
“Through this period we’ve done really well. We’ve set ourselves up, we’re in a really positive position and, hopefully, we’ll go to Treviso next and pick up points.
“Last year we were chasing people down which is really difficult, but this puts us in a good position with five games to go. Touch wood, the boys who play the last two internationals come back fit and healthy, and give us a bit more fire power, which will be more than welcome given where we are on numbers at the moment. Defensively, we looked in control for the majority of it.
“The boys worked very hard, I thought our systems held up. The conditions were pretty bad, the wind, the rain, it was a heavy pitch even before the rain came in. The boys battled hard and I thought, apart from maybe a drive, Edinburgh didn’t look like scoring.
“At 10-3, we would have liked the next score. If we’d gone two scores clear we’d have been more comfortable. In fairness to Edinburgh, they kept coming at us, they started to build up a head of steam and we couldn’t exit. We didn’t get any field position and with the weather we tightened up a bit. We’d have liked to play with a little bit more width.
“We tried to do that first half but, ultimately, it was hard. At the end of the day it’s pleasing, it’s a really good four points away from home in a tough place.”
