Ospreys head coach Toby Booth heaps praise on his side for overcoming their financial constraints and embarking on a European journey... as the Welsh side take on Gloucester for a place in the Challenge Cup semi-finals

Good news has been in short supply in Welsh rugby in the last two years or more.

From Six Nations wooden spoons to financial and contractual misery and the ongoing fallout of a sexism and misogyny scandal, Wales’ national game has suffered all manner of ills.

But in Swansea, the Ospreys and their head coach Toby Booth are showing that from scorched earth, green shoots of recovery can grow. On the face of things, the Ospreys’ record of seven wins from 13 United Rugby Championship games and a place in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals might not seem that remarkable. But those numbers barely tell even half the story.

Booth has worked wonders with one hand tied behind his back. If his team can beat Gloucester at Kingsholm on Friday night, they will reach the last four of Europe’s second-tier competition.

‘We’ve worked really hard to get to this point. There’s been plenty in the public domain, but there has also been a lot of unseen adversity off the field,’ Booth told Mail Sport.

‘There have been budgetary constraints and lots of reasons not to roll your sleeves up and do well, but the thing that’s been most pleasing is we have an opportunity to progress to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup and still compete in the URC despite all that adversity. That gives me a lot of pleasure and speaks volumes about the group.’

There can be no doubt the Ospreys are punching well above their weight. Such a statement might seem patronising, but it is true. Like their other regional rivals Dragons, Cardiff and Scarlets, the Ospreys have had to cope with all sorts of misery – much of which has been caused by shocking mismanagement from the previous WRU regime headed up by ex-chief executive Steve Phillips.

All four regions have had their playing budgets slashed to £5.2million for this season and to a paltry £4.5m for next while the WRU has inexplicably used funding to build a new hotel and a roof walk venture at Principality Stadium. The result for the regions has been an exodus of top players to England, France and Japan and smaller squads, limiting their ability to compete.

It is within this context that the Ospreys’ achievements this season should be analysed. Asked how he would describe the hand he’s been dealt, Booth’s answer is clear.

He said: ‘My instinctive answer is I couldn’t possibly say! It’s been very challenging for us all. But it’s made us stronger. We now know more about our players.

‘I prefer to focus on where we’re going rather than where we’ve been, but where we’ve been has meant we’ve had to sharpen our pencil in many areas. That includes me and the way I coach. We didn’t see it at the time, but we’ll be stronger for what we went through. We weren’t going to use any of what happened as an excuse.’

For a variety of different reasons, Booth has seen the Ospreys lose experienced Wales internationals Alun Wyn Jones, Rhys Webb and Gareth Anscombe. Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake – co-captains of Wales at last year’s World Cup – have both had long spells out with injury.

The parlous financial state of the Welsh game has meant Booth couldn’t offer Test great George North a new contract. He has had no other choice than to give youth its chance.

Morgan Morris has again been a standout figure, making a mockery of his ongoing Wales omission, while Harri Deaves, Morgan Morse and Dan Edwards have shown their promise. The Ospreys are seventh in the URC and have designs on a play-off spot as well as European progression.

‘It was a case of needs must but we were quite strategic and it’s proved to be a good policy because we’ve been able to ride out the bumps better than most,’ Booth said.

‘We haven’t got to the bottom of the financial constraints yet because the budgets are going to go down again. But what we’ve done is try and be innovative and it’s allowed us to punch above our weight and be resilient. Don’t get me wrong, there have been times where we’ve hung on by the skin of our teeth because of injuries. The big issue is squad size.

‘We’ve had to modify training, especially during the international periods. We’ve been competitive and I’m pretty confident we’ll have a little bit more next year than we have this.

‘We’re the first Ospreys side to ever win a European knock-out game. That’s an incredible achievement in itself given the Galacticos era we had here. To do something like that reinforces belief in the group. We’re not going to Gloucester to make up the numbers.’

It is ironic that the biggest game of the Ospreys’ season to date is away to Gloucester given Kingsholm was the former home of their new chief executive Lance Bradley.

Since joining Welsh rugby at the start of the year, Bradley has been busy. You could easily be forgiven for thinking he was made to take on the job but top of his to-do list has been moving the Ospreys away from the Swansea.com Stadium. The region currently plays their home games at the home of Championship side Swansea City but have struggled for big crowds.

Bradley is exploring a new home venue with smaller grounds in Bridgend, Neath and Swansea on the shortlist. The Ospreys beat Sale at Bridgend’s Brewery Field to set-up the Gloucester clash.

‘The Welsh regions have had additional issues because of the way the WRU has been run. But things are changing with the new management who are keen to be more collaborative on how things are going to look in the future,’ said Bradley.

‘It’s been good so far. The only thing that’s not good fun is the Swansea weather which is interminably miserable! I’ve been here three months and we’ve only had three days without rain!

‘The finances are constraining. But if you believe you can be successful, you can do it. If you believe you’re going to fail, you probably will. Toby has got a young squad together of mostly local boys who just refuse to countenance they might not win. You wouldn’t know there are wider issues in the Welsh rugby set-up by the team spirit here.

‘We had 4,000 people at the Sale game in Bridgend.

‘The noise you get in a small stadium just makes everything better. Even if the crowds don’t increase initially wherever we end up, they will increase in time.

‘We went to Edinburgh the other week and their chief executive told me their crowds doubled when they moved out of Murrayfield and into the new stadium next door. That’s what I think we’ll do. ‘Primacy of tenancy is important for us.’

Bradley wants the Ospreys to own their new stadium to increase commercial revenue. While it is a spit-and-sawdust, old-school ground, the Brewery Field feels the perfect option currently.

The Ospreys have certainly provided Wales’ professional game with a much-needed beacon of light.

Bradley hopes things can get even better in the future now Abi Tierney has succeeded Phillips as WRU chief and is keen to work with the regions rather than against them.

‘The WRU are producing a strategy plan for the next five years. The regions have been completely involved in formulating that.,’ Bradley said.

‘In the very first meeting we had, Abi announced it as a plan for the whole of Welsh rugby. Some of the longer-serving WRU members thought that just meant the WRU. She was quite clear Welsh rugby isn’t just the WRU. It hasn’t always been like that. Now, the relationship between the regions and the WRU is co-operative. It’s an oil tanker Abi is trying to turn round.

‘It will take some time but the change has been really refreshing.’