Ospreys must fulfil European promise, says Jones

THE Ospreys may boast an embarrassment of riches but Adam Jones admits there is growing sense of frustration within the Liberty Stadium at their under-achieving in Europe.

The star-studded Welsh outfit have a squad that reads like a who’s who of rugby. Mike Phillips is the highest paid player in British & Irish rugby after Brian O’Driscoll, Jones is widely regarded as perhaps the best tight-head in Europe while James Hook can currently name his price to an array of French suitors.

Add that trio to four more Lions in Ryan Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, Shane Williams and Lee Byrne, two former All Blacks in Marty Holah and Jerry Collins, and Irish Grand Slam winner Tommy Bowe, and it remains a mystery of European rugby that the Ospreys have yet to progress past the last eight.

Knockout rugby has arrived early in Swansea following Toulon’s victory at London Irish, with the Ospreys acknowledging they must win their three remaining games to reach a fourth successive quarter-final.

Jones admits: “It’s very frustrating. I look at our squad and people look at the players we have and think we should be doing better. I’m sure it’s frustrating for the fans but it’s very frustrating for us as players. Look at our pack, it’s full of world-class players and our backs as well.

“We know how hard the pool is and it has become that much harder with Toulon winning at London Irish. We’re going to have to win our three remaining games to go through but we’re good enough to do it. Two of those games are at home and we haven’t lost a European game at home for a while. It’s about time we reached a final, or won it, and there’s the extra carrot at the end with this season’s final at the Millennium Stadium.”

Jones provides the cornerstone of a scrum that the Ospreys will look to capitalise upon today, despite the yellow card for fellow prop Paul James that was described as “bulls**t” by the Lions star.

He said: “We’re very frustrated as we almost beat Munster again but we always seem to have a funny five minutes. That’s something we have to look at and address. We had a bad 15 minutes around Paul’s yellow card. The referee penalised us for driving in but if their tight-head rolls his shoulder in, that’s a sign he’s under pressure.

“But Munster are a wily bunch who have been around for a while. They will come here and try to spoil the game.”

Bowe has been shifted in-field from the wing to partner Hook in midfield as the Ospreys look for a new dynamic at centre. Nikki Walker has shaken off a bout of flu that has done the rounds of the camp this week to start on the wing.

Bowe said: “It’s only half-time in this tie and there’s a huge opportunity for us in front of our own fans. We’ll try to put things straight and look to play a bit of rugby. We’ve got a proud record in Europe at the Liberty Stadium and we want to keep that going. It will be our biggest crowd of the season and another fantastic game of rugby, you can’t help but be excited about it.”