Ian Gough, Wales' hard-hitting lock, talks to Eddie Butler in The Observer about the Ospreys chances at Thomond Park.
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Ian Gough and the Ospreys are unafraid of their Munster challenge
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"Ian Gough is old enough at 32 to have survived several generations of management-speak. For years he has been going about his business, filling what he calls his "niche" in the second row, doing anything but tart up his game of rugby.
"Gough chases kicks hard, hits rucks harder, tackles opponents hardest. He is the boring front jumper to whom the ball is thrown when all fancier options have failed. He has won 59 caps for Wales as their honest Joe. But ask him about today's Heineken Cup quarter-final against Munster and the old boy cannot help reaching into the phrase book of the modern Ospreys. "This is all about re-integrating well, re-focusing, re-motivating and re-tasking," he says.
"He means it. He re-means it. Gough and a whole string of the region's players went through a pretty dramatic and ultimately unsuccessful Six Nations campaign with Wales, regathered as Ospreys and were derailed by Gloucester in the semi-final of the EDF Energy Cup. Now they face the defending champions at Thomond Park in Limerick. Perhaps the only place to hide is in jargon."
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