Toby Booth: 'Emotional' head coach guides Ospreys into Sale knockout tie
- Published
Ospreys head coach Toby Booth has spent coaching stints with London Irish, Bath and Harlequins
Ospreys head coach Toby Booth admitted he was emotional after the win against Lions which set up a Challenge Cup last 16 home tie against Sale Sharks.
A remarkable comeback in Johannesburg saw Ospreys secure a 38-28 victory, the region's first success under Booth in South Africa.
Ospreys are the one Welsh side to seal a spot in the European knockout stages.
"It makes me a little bit emotional thinking about it; character beats talent," said Booth.
Cardiff and Scarlets bowed out of the Investec Champions Cup and Challenge Cup with no victories while Dragons only managed one victory on their way to European elimination.
Ospreys won three out of four games in Europe's second tier tournament and are the only Welsh side in the top half of the United Rugby Championship (URC), where they lie eighth at the halfway stage.
Sunday's victory was especially impressive considering it was achieved at altitude and Ospreys were missing more than 20 injured players.
After eight wins in 13 matches this season, the region now have a four-week break to recover as the Six Nations starts.
"We've always talked about how strong we are and the things we take pride in and how the cultural stuff gets us through," said Booth.
"Richard Fussell (assistant coach) probably said it best at the end of the game, when he commented 'the good thing about this team is it doesn't know when it's beaten'.
"That encapsulates it and something as a group we're proud of. I'm sure our supporters are proud of it, and long may it continue .
"We'll play better and lose, but we'll take it all day long. To get what we got out of this fixture, there's lots of boxes being ticked.
"The nature of it, with who we had, the injury list at the end of 13 weeks, that's a fitting end to what's happened so far."
Booth added: "The connections between the group and what we're doing, the team identity and the connection to its supporters, the club feel we've got is important, and they get you through the hard moments.
"You've got to enjoy moments like this because there's always dark times coming.
"That gives you the energy and buoyancy to deal with the tough stuff, and similarly, the tough stuff gives you resilience to not want to be there again.
"It's a vicious circle you always end up in. We all choose to do it; we strap in for the ride and see where it goes."
That European journey will see Sale come to Swansea on the weekend of 5-7 April.
"That's good, we're delighted and I'm sure our commercial team are absolutely delighted about that," said Booth.
"It all makes a difference when money's tight in Welsh rugby, so every little helps.
"We'll enjoy that when it comes around, there's still a lot of stuff to navigate up until then.
"There's a lot of games to be played before that, people to hopefully come back from injury and people that need freshening up and to enjoy their down time."