OSPREYS MAY not have the same 40,000-plus drawing power of Leinster rugby but Munster’s visit to Liberty Stadium on Saturday for their Heineken Cup round-four return leg should see them play in front of and, if Ospreys have their way, against their biggest crowd of the year.
Already the Welsh club have sold more than 15,000 tickets for the match as they try to create their own sea of colour in Swansea, which they are calling a “black out”. Faced with a swathe of red last week at Thomond Park, Ospreys are urging their fans to arrive in black and shout their side towards their 15th straight win in the competition.
While the notion of the “citadel” or “fortress” has been broken in recent years with teams winning away or at least not falling by the same heavy margins that they did in the past, Ospreys have won their last 14 matches at the Swansea venue. They have suffered only one defeat against Leicester in December 2005 in the 16 matches they have played at home.
Munster has never played against Ospreys in Swansea in the Heineken Cup over the seven years the Welsh team have been participants but the club's Australian director of rugby Scott Johnson, speaking to the Western Mailnewspaper, believes Ospreys will use everything at their disposal to out-Munster their visitors.
“People talk about impressive European records, and places being a fortress, but I don’t think we sometimes get the credit we deserve for our record here,” said Johnson. “There’s been some bloody good teams here and not got the win.”
Leicester twice, Stade Francais twice, Perpignan, Sale, Gloucester, Clermont Auvergne, none of them are pushovers.
“It’s going to be real toughie on Saturday, as tough as any of the games before have been, but we’ve got belief in ourselves to do a job. We’ll need everyone to pull together if we are going to get the performance right and get the result, and I mean everyone. We need this place packed, and we want it rocking.”
Light snow is forecast for Wales but Ospreys remain unconcerned about the weather and have made no contingency plans. “We were able to play in minus eight degrees a couple of weeks ago,” said an Ospreys club official.
“Maybe one in 25 to 30 years do I recall snow bringing rugby to a halt in Swansea. We are expecting 17,500 to the match, the biggest crowd of the season so far although our match against Scarlets on Boxing Day will probably get 20,000,” he added.
Not nearly as enthusiastic travellers as Irish fans, French side Clermont are expecting just 1,200 fans at the Aviva Stadium for their return Pool Two match against Leinster on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the 2005 British and Irish Lions centre Gavin Henson, who has been out of the game since suffering an ankle injury playing for the Ospreys against Gloucester in March 2009, is set to return for Saracens on St Stephen’s Day against Wasps.
The 28-year-old, who has been on a sabbatical for more than 18 months, has made no secret of his hope to force his way back into the Wales squad in time for the Six Nations now that his television commitments have ended. “The way I look at it, they have used me for promotion for that game so they’re going to have to play me now I’m hoping!” joked Henson.
