Williams calls for focus at the Ospreys

Ospreys wing Shane Williams has warned his side to improve their discipline ahead of facing Saracens in the Heineken Cup quarter-final.

Ospreys wing Shane Williams has warned his side to improve their discipline ahead of facing Saracens in the Heineken Cup quarter-final.

Despite going into the game as clear favourites Williams has warned that if the Ospreys don't eliminate the silly errors and costly penalties from their game there could be an upset on the cards.

The Ospreys recorded a comfortable bonus-point victory over Ulster in the Magners League on Friday, but Williams reminded his team-mates that there was still plenty of work to do.

“There is a lot to work on. There were too many mistakes and at times our discipline was quite poor,” Williams told BBC Sport Wales.

Wales' Grand Slam hero, and Six Nations Player of the Year, continued his try-scoring exploits with a further two tries against the Irish province. However he admitted that whilst Ulster were a difficult side to breakdown the Ospreys let themselves down at times.

“Our performance wasn't the best at times. Ulster made it very difficult for us and slowed down every possible ball,” he added.

“They made it very difficult for us to play our usual, open expansive rugby.

“There were a lot of mistakes and at times our discipline was poor and we gave away silly penalties.

“It's something we've addressed in the past and it's something we should really think we have nailed down.

“But we certainly deserved the bonus points and in the end it was a good performance.”

With Saracens in the Heineken Cup this coming weekend and the EDF Final against Leicester at Twickenham a week later Williams is confident the Ospreys are heading in the right direction.

“It's brilliant to get the momentum. We've got a massive game against Saracens next weekend and we needed the win,” he said.

“We also needed to feel good about the way we played and did that at times. Now there are some little things to work on in the week.”

Williams is also hoping Ospreys success can boost injured Mike Phillips' morale. The scrum-half has been ruled out for six months with knee ligament damage.

“You've got to feel for Mike. He's had a great season and had a great Six Nations – he was one of the players of the tournament,” said Williams.

“It's bad timing and I'm sure he'll be back sooner than expected. Unfortunately it's quite a bad injury and our hearts go out to him because he's had such a great season.

“He was probably looking forward to more rugby and the way he was playing didn't want the season to end.”