Tandy saw his troops battle to a 10-6 victory in the first West Wales derby at Parc-y-Scarlets a week ago as they cemented their position as the country’s highest-placed region at the halfway stage of the regular RaboDirect PRO12 season.
But, while the commitment of his players pleased Tandy no end, the level of performance left him frustrated as Alun Wyn Jones and co waited until late on to steal the spoils when Ian Evans crossed for the decisive try with just five minutes remaining.
“While we got the win at Parc y Scarlets last week, in many ways it was a frustrating afternoon. The spirit, effort and commitment from the team was faultless, but we made too many basic errors, coughed up possession cheaply and that meant we found ourselves under pressure,” said Tandy.
“The message this week is about raising that performance level so that it meets the standard we expect as Ospreys. Friday night will be a special occasion with a big crowd there to see in 2014 and it’s important that we start the year as we mean to continue.”
Having enjoyed a successful festive season with that away win over the Scarlets and an earlier triumph at Cardiff Blues, Friday marks the start of a big three weeks for the Ospreys as they return to Heineken Cup action on January 12 and 17.
The Ospreys are currently bottom of Pool 1 with their hopes of a place in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals all but over but back-to-back wins over Northampton and Leinster could see their European dream remain alive in the last eight, even if that results in a crack at the Amlin Challenge Cup rather than the top tournament.
A strong showing over the next three games would also be a big boost to their hopes of pushing on towards a fifth Celtic crown and Tandy knows just how important these fixtures are as a result, especially when it comes to encouraging big crowds at the Liberty Stadium throughout 2014.
“We’ve got some big games over the next few weeks, with the Heineken Cup looming after Scarlets on Friday, and we know that we need to be performing at our very best if we are going to achieve what we want in these games,” added Tandy.
“After the Scarlets it’s Northampton at home, and results in the last round of European fixtures mean that we can still have a big say in what happens in the pool so we know that we have to perform in such a way on Friday that makes supporters want to come back to support the cause the following weekend.”
