Henson and the Ospreys can become the biggest club in the UK

Heineken Cup / Paul Moon / 04 April 2008 / Leave a Comment

Pablo Luna - Moonlighting for Betfair. Pablo meets the Ospreys team and tells us why he thinks they are truly on the up ahead of their Heineken Cup clash against Saracens

The Ospreys travel to Vicarage Road on Sunday 6 April 2008 for a Heineken Cup quarter-final against Saracens. The stadium is a fantastic facility with 20,000 covered seats and a fabulous pitch. Ospreys have the marvellous incentive of a semi-final trip to the Millenium Stadium should they win while the Sarries will have to make do with a visit to Coventry's Ricoh Arena.

Saracens enjoyed an orgy of scoring against Leeds last week to reignite their play-off hopes. They will hope that the result is the perfect preparation for this game but the reality is the Yorkshire club are plunging back to the National League One. Leeds also had 12 squad members missing so the value of the win was hollow and insignificant - so I would argue the word 'preparation'. I do understand that the Sarries must look for scraps of comfort wherever they can.

Looking for encouraging words to give to Alan Gaffney's side is almost impossible. Yes, they have home advantage but England had home advantage at Twickenham against the Ospreys and lost! Sarries will also miss lock Chris Jack more than Ospreys miss Mike Phillips, both out for the season.

You could say that Saracens are a wounded animal and eager to compete after getting walloped by the Ospreys 30-3 in the semi-final of the EDF Energy Cup semi-final at The Millennium Stadium on the 22 March 2008. You could say that but I will not! In that game Saracens never looked like scoring a try and this detail will not be lost on either side. Unfortunately Saracens are playing for pride and pride only!

Teams now fear the Ospreys but I was astonished with their reduced discipline against Ulster last week. After the Grand Slam-winning campaign I did not think that possible with that group of players! There were mistakes and silly penalties given away and it was something that we thought under Gatland had been addressed. Could it be complacency? It must have been! I spoke to Gavin Henson after training on Thursday (pictured) and he confirmed that discipline was an issue and they were taking nothing for granted!

You can be assured this week's training sessions contained reinforcing what they learned during the Six Nations Championship. This would count against Sarries because now there has been renewed emphasis on this side of the game.

Jeremy Guscott is the latest to have gone full circle regarding the Ospreys, after first damning them he is now their biggest fan and says " I believe they are on the verge of a huge breakthrough - something absolutely magical - that could lead to them becoming the biggest and best club in the UK". I agree with him. For this to happen they must brush aside the Sarries first!

Watching them training I sense that the Ospreys are in no mood to relax and the coming week represents club success or failure. The players have been living in a pressure cooker all season and have improved for it. They now have the pedigree to win! Current odds with Betfair show: Ospreys [1.59] with Saracens [2.8] and the draw [25]. The Ospreys win represents real value because the Sarries cannot win this match!

On 12 April 2008 Ospreys play Leicester Tigers in the EDF Energy Cup Final at Twickenham and this match will be a lot closer. There might be a little bit of needle in this game that should interest the neutral. I am curious to see how close Welsh club rugby is to the English scene at this moment in time. What do you think? Latest odds from Betfair show the Tigers favourite at [1.8] with the Ospreys [2.1] for Outright Winners. I think it will be very close indeed and would not like to call it! The result on Sunday might help me make up my mind...