By Simon Thomas
Toby Booth insists it will be business as usual for him as he embarks on his fifth and final season as head coach at the Ospreys on Saturday.
The Englishman will be leaving at the end of the campaign with Mark Jones stepping up from defence coach, a role which will in turn be filled by club legend Justin Tipuric.
Asked about his emotions ahead of a first weekend URC derby against the Dragons at Rodney Parade,, Booth said: “They are no different to before the announcement, no different to every year that comes.
“Being in sport is an emotive business and coaches feel that and have that just as much as the players.
“You have a sense of excitement, a bit of trepidation, because that’s what keeps you honest.
“With all the best planning and pre-seasons in the world, you don’t know until the first game kicks off where you actually are. It’s always a bit of suck it and see.”
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The Ospreys exceeded expectations last season, reaching the quarter-finals of both the URC and EPCR Challenge Cup.
“We moved a step closer last year which was great,” said Booth.
“Our intent is to keep improving. We have got to try and maintain top eight performances, top eight standards and look up, not down.
“The group is very ambitious to continue the progress.”
Looking at the trip to Rodney Parade, he said: “It’s not been a great ground for us the last couple of years. We’ve not gone well there. So we are very mindful of the challenge.
“If you want to win a Welsh derby, you’ve got to keep your players on the pitch and in the games against the Dragons in the time I have been here, there have been 13 cards and three of them red.
“So we have spoken about discipline a lot.”
Dragons coach Dai Flanagan said: “We get to play in front of our people on day one and you can’t ask for anything more than that.
“Rodney Parade is a fantastic place to play, our supporters have been through a lot with us and they are awesome. They are with us come rain or shine.
“We are looking forward to playing in front of them and it’s a great chance to make a statement early on.”
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Meanwhile, Scarlets coach Dwayne Peel is targeting a much improved start to the season as his team heads out to Treviso to play Benetton on Saturday night.
Last term, they won only two of their opening nine BKT URC matches, after claiming just one victory during the same opening block the year before.
“There’s no hiding from the fact that we started the last two seasons slowly,” said Peel.
“It’s important you begin the season well in any competition and this first block of six games is really important for us. We have got a good number at home.”
The former Wales scrum-half acknowledges it will be a stiff opening challenge away to Benetton who only lost one of their nine home games in the league last season.
“It’s always a tough place to go, They are a very combative side,” said Peel.
“They have grown a lot over the last couple of years and have some real quality in their group, both Italian players and foreign imports as well.
“So it’s going to be a tough challenge for us. It’s always a niggly game out there, but we have prepared well and it’s a good one for us to get off the mark with.”
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Benetton finished seventh in the URC last season to reach the play-offs, a significant step up from eleventh the year before.
Coach Marco Bortolami said: “I am obviously very pleased with the progression of the team, but the challenge is to keep improving and keep the ambition to beat the biggest teams on the biggest stages.
“You learn how to be good in the play-offs the more often you are there. It is not an overnight process, it takes years.
“There’s still a lot of hard work to be done to be there every year. We always keep challenging the group, which is not always nice, but is the only way we can grow.
“We are still building our winning mentality and I feel the players are in the right mindset. The underdog tag we had in previous years is going to be smaller and smaller.”
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