Phillips says lifting the League title will compensate for their European failure

MAGNERS LEAGUE GRAND FINAL - LEINSTER v OSPREYS
Venue: Royal Dublin Showground Date: Saturday, 29 May Kick-off: 1830 BST
Coverage: Live on S4C and full commentary on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & online, score updates on BBC Sport website highlights on Sunday's Scrum V (BBC TWO Wales & online, 1730 BST)

Mike Phillips believes victory over Leinster in Saturday's Magners League final will help the Ospreys shake off their tag as perceived under-achievers.

The star-studded region fell at the quarter-final stage for the third time in a row in this season's Heineken Cup.

And scrum-half Phillips says beating Leinster in Dublin would prove they can rise to the big occasions.

"It would be a great achievement to win this league. It's a great league with some great sides in there," he said.

"Munster and Leinster are top European sides and to finish on top would be a great achievement for us.

"We were disappointing in Europe again this year and this will stem that disappointment a little bit."

Phillips will be surrounded by a host of experienced internationals in the Ospreys' side in Saturday's final, with as many as eight of those also Test-capped Lions.

The 27-year-old accepts that such an expensively assembled squad should have been a greater force in Europe over the past seasons.

A glorious chance to reach the Heineken Cup semi-final slipped through their fingers as they lost agonisingly 29-28 at eventually beaten finalists Biarritz.

But Phillips says their performances since then - which include two away wins against Ulster and Munster which helped seal second place in the table - have shown what they can achieve.

606: DEBATE There is only one way to shut the media up and that's to win trophies, Saturday is the day we can start to put that right OSPREYJB1973

"I think we're improving and we've shown at the end of the season the kind of form we can show," added Phillips, who won the Celtic League with the Scarlets in 2004 and the EDF Energy Cup with the Ospreys in 2008.

"We are developing as a regional side, on and off the field. It all counts. We're pushing on every year and we know the pressure is on us.

"We go out to win every game and give everything for the region. Hopefully we can go well this weekend and end the season on a high."

While the majority of players are beginning to run on empty after an arduous season, Phillips is raring to go having spent October to February nursing an ankle ligament injury.

And the abrasive scrum-half hopes victory on Saturday could be the beginning of a successful end to the season with Wales Tests against South Africa (5 June) and New Zealand (19 and 26 June) to follow in quick succession.

"I've missed most of the season with injury so it's really exciting to have this opportunity to play in these big games," he said.

"We've got big games with Wales moving on so I'm really excited. I've been doing some extra training to make sure I'm really fit for the big games.

"I'm back playing now and I feel great, my ankle feels on song and I'm really excited and looking forward to it."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version