Tommy Bowe was a happy man after seeing the Ospreys pick up a bonus point 38-27 victory at his former stomping ground.
The Irish winger was one of the try-scorers in the victory at Ravenhill which saw the Ospreys move to second place in the Magners League table just three days after bowing out of the Heineken Cup with their controversial defeat to Biarritz.
Bowe said: “It was the perfect response from the boys after what happened at the weekend. It took a big team effort to pick ourselves up, particularly as we all know that it is a difficult place to come at the best of times.
“We’re delighted in the dressing room to come here and pick up a bonus point, it’s definitely got us over the weekend.
“We were very disappointed boys on Saturday, but with two big matches this week, Ulster first and Leinster next we couldn’t mope. We’re obviously delighted with this win which puts us in a good position to achieve our goal, which is a place in the knock-out stages. That’s what we are gunning for, that’s what we want, and with that win tonight it’s looking positive at the moment. We can’t take anything for granted though as we have plenty of work to do if we are going to get there.
“I suppose it’s a case of mixed emotions for me, coming back here and scoring at the end. I had a great five or six years here. It’s my first time coming back to play, my first game here for the Ospreys, and it was nice not to be booed off the pitch at the end after my try!”
Ospreys skipper Ryan Jones praised the Ospreys, commenting,”It’s a great start to a difficult week for us. The guys put in a superb performance tonight. To produce rugby like that after the weekend we’ve had is testament to the team spirit we’ve got. The contribution from everybody, not just the 22 but the 30 odd guys we’ve got with us this week, and the manner in which we approached the game has been excellent. To show that composure towards the end to win the game was very pleasing.
“It’s great for Tommy to come back here, he’s still a favourite with the crowd and Adam’s kick at the end was a perfectly weighted grubber for him to score the clincher!
“It’s a great win. We believe that we are a top of the table team, and tonight we played some good stuff. It’s important for us to finish the season on a high after the disappointment we had on Saturday.
“I think there’ll be some changes again for Friday, you saw the impetus today that some fresh legs can have. I thought Ian Gough did superb tonight as did Sonny Parker and Ryan Bevington. We then used our subs well to bring some fresh energy as some of the boys tired towards the end.
“It’s important to keep that momentum going, so there’ll be some fresh legs again I’d expect. We’ve got three big games to finish the season with, and we are just trying to do ourselves, our coaches and our fans proud. It doesn’t get much tougher than Leinster at their place, but we’ve approached things slightly differently, we are over here for the week which is a bit unusual. We’ll enjoy tonight then take a look tomorrow to see how we are looking, who is fit and ready for Leinster, but it’s nice to have a smile on the face tonight.”
