And although a home semi-final against either Munster or Glasgow on the following Friday night has already been secured, the big back-rower says victory is a must against the Italian opposition if they want to go into next week’s crunch game with momentum behind them.
“We’re heading over to Aironi looking to get a good performance and result to carry us on to the semi’s positively,” said Bearman. “It’s important that we perform well in Aironi for momentum but we realise it’ll be tough, so we are going to have to be on top form if we don’t want to be brought crashing back down to earth at the wrong time.”
There was some speculation that with the home tie guaranteed the Ospreys may opt to leave a number of players behind this weekend, a school of thought that Bearman insists would have been the wrong option. He explained: “I can understand people saying that, especially with the semi-final less than a week after the Aironi game but in reality we’ve all just had last weekend off so we want to be playing. It’s what we are paid to do and I think I speak for everyone when I say no one wants to be left at home twiddling their thumbs the weekend before the biggest game of the season.
“There’s always the risk of injuries, but that could happen just as easily in training, so you’ve got to pick a team that you think can do the job and put your faith in the boys to keep the good run going. That’s what we want to do on Saturday.”
Having moved to Ospreylia last summer following five years and more than 70 appearances for the Dragons, Bearman has established himself in the matchday squad during the second half of the season, with 23 appearances to his name so far. As the season goes into overtime, the Welsh qualified Cornishman is relishing being involved in the chase for silverware:
“This is actually why I signed for the region” he said. “It’s brilliant to be involved at this stage of the season. I’m really enjoying it and fingers crossed we can get a good win next week in the semi, whoever we are playing, and keep our involvement going to the final. That would be fantastic.”
Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, commented: “It’s important that we keep the momentum of the last couple of months going and we’ll expect the team to maintain the standards that they’ve set in the last few games. It’s easy for players to get distracted with a semi-final on the horizon, but the group has worked very hard this week and we’ve ensured that the focus has been firmly on Aironi and what will be a very difficult evening for us.
“The attitude of the team has been spot on over the last couple of months and they’ve got their reward for that with a home semi-final. It’s important moving on from here that we make sure that hard work isn’t wasted, and we kick on over the closing weeks of the season. What we’ve done before now won’t matter, what we’ll be judged on is how we perform in these do or die games at the end of the season and we want to ensure that we give our supporters something to be proud of.”
