The men from the Liberty Stadium looked to have snatched a place in the Kingspan Stadium final when Josh Matevesi crossed the try-line with the final play of the contest against Muster. But the Ospreys were denied when referee Nigel Owens went back to the Television Match Official, who spotted a slight knock-on by Rhys Webb in the build-up. But despite the heart-breaking exit, Tandy was proud of his troops.
He said: “There’s disappointment going round, but I think the over-riding thing is how proud we are of our group and how they battled back. It would have been so easy to throw the towel in on so many occasions. But we just kept fighting, we kept scoring and getting back into the game and ultimately we were a fine margin from stealing victory and being the first team to win an away semi-final in the Pro12.
“You have got to stay in the fight when you are away from home. It’s easy to throw the towel in, but we kept fighting. It would have been huge for us to get to the final. I am obviously biased and I think our boys deserved a little bit more.”
The Ospreys must wait another year for redemption after a successful campaign that saw them finish third in the PRO12 and seal a place in the European Rugby Champions Cup. And Tandy has backed his young side to come back stronger next season.
He said: “It was pretty emotional in there, in terms of how proud he is of the group, how proud I am and the fact of how youthful the team is, how we’ve come away to Thomond Park and really performed and showed real good glimpses. I think there’s still more in our team and that’s the exciting part around it. It’s a tight group.”
