Ospreys down but not out
The Ospreys are down by eight points on Pool Two leaders Toulouse – but insist they are not out of the running for a European Cup quarterfinal spot.
A 30-14 bonus point victory at Stade Ernest Wallon swept four-times champions Toulouse to 13 points from three straight victories while the Ospreys know their destiny is firmly in others' hands.
"We have got another go back at our place where we'll have another crack at them," said never-say-die Ryan Jones after his 38th tournament appearance.
"Toulouse up next week, Leicester home and then Treviso away.
"Three difficult fixtures, but you know that with any Ospreys team you will get nothing less than 100 percent and there'll be nothing left out on the field.
"It's going to be tough to progress now but we will give everything for the cause," he said.
Jones said that the Welsh side's passion would have to play a big role if they are to mount a revival.
"It may have been a young team out there but this is an incredibly proud bunch of players, we know what we are about and are proud to pull on the jersey. It means everything to the team, to our supporters, and we want to represent the shirt properly in these last three games.
"We went to one of the toughest places in European rugby, to play against a team that have shown themselves to be real contenders once again, and we gave a performance that we can be proud of.
"We are a relatively inexperienced team but we've had a damn good go though. We didn't have the best of starts and that meant we were on the back foot from very early on but we dug in and kept on going.
"We had a really good spell at the end of the first half but it was the only real possession we had all game. We knew we could be dangerous with the ball in the right areas, but we've come out in the second half and failed to get that territory and possession.
"Playing against a team like this, who made the changes at the right time, you can't live on the edge all the way through, you are going to concede eventually. They wore us down, you can't defend for 40 minutes," added Jones.
