Gibbes urging Ospreys to not go toe-to-toe with Racing Metro

Despite hosting Racing Metro off the back of four-straight losses last weekend, Ospreys managed to grind out a 19-19 draw as they clawed their way back into the contest after finding themselves 13 points down.

However New Zealander Gibbes is wary of the threat the French outfit will pose at home, especially considering that they lined up at the Liberty Stadium with four South African forwards.

On the flip side, Ospreys travel to France without a whole host of first-team starters, all of which leaves Gibbes to conclude that his side should avoid fronting up against Racing Metro at all costs.

"We have to try to move them around," Gibbes told the South Wales Evening Post. "That's the key to it.

"They're a big pack and have a very good defence and they controlled large parts of the game in Swansea through set-piece and playing in the right areas of the field.

"So we have to make sure we're smart. We definitely don't want to go toe-to-toe with them. We tried that last week and we got burned a few times.

"Things are tight in each pool, with no one really getting ahead yet. We need to be on the right side of the ledger this week.

"We need to be close to still have a sniff come January. We are definitely going to go hard at it and we'll see what happens."

Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12