Ospreys’ 26-13 win over Dragons was another battling display from the home side, capitalising on their forward dominance and their opponents’ ill-discipline.

There were few moments where individuals stood out as Ospreys continued the team ethic and “family” environment which has served them so well this season.

There was one exception however, as on 68 minutes the whole of the Swansea.com stadium rose to pay tribute to one man.

Nicky Smith is four short of a half century in Wales colours but it’s in the black of Ospreys where the Swansea born prop is lauded most.

Saturday marked 30-year-old Smith’s 189^th appearance for Ospreys but also his final one at home at the Swansea.com stadium as he moves to Leicester Tigers for next season.

“It’s the last home one so there was a bit of emotion with the family coming down as well,” said Smith.

“On the other hand we’re still in the play-off hunt and it’s great that’s it’s not going to be a dead rubber season for us, next week five points that’s all that matters for us.”

Ospreys currently sit 11^th, four points behind the play-off places and needed to ensure a four-try bonus point against Dragons to realistically keep themselves in the hunt.

For Smith, it was a case of trying to focus on it being business as usual, however even Ospreys’ normally stoic head coach Toby Booth admits there were a few emotions before kick-off.

“I’ll try not get as emotional as I did pre-game where I just about held it together but if you’re trying to create what an Ospreys player should look like the biggest complement I can give is they need to look like him,” said Booth.

“We wish him well obviously, he goes with our blessings as an unbelievable servant to the Ospreys, he brings attributes positionally and on the pitch but also around the place with a team first mentality.

“He’s always willing to listen to both sides and call people and coaches out if need be because he cares massively about the place.

“Those people are very special to any organisation as are others but on Nicky he’s a guy who’s represented Ospreys brilliantly and what we want Ospreys of the future to look like.”

Smith has been a key cog in Ospreys’ front row this season, sharing starter duties with fellow Welsh international Gareth Thomas and playing his part in a dominant set-piece particularly in South Africa against the Stormers and Springbok double world cup winning tight head Frans Malherbe.

Despite his form for his region, he has often found himself on periphery of the Wales squad, third choice for last year’s World Cup behind Thomas and Cardiff’s Corey Domachowski whilst an injury meant he missed the beginning of the Six Nations.

When Smith exited stage left against Dragons on Saturday, he was greeted with a standing ovation led by his teammates on the bench along with the whole of the Swansea.com crowd.

“The ovation was a bit of a surprise, I thought it was just my old man cheering along,” joked Smith.

“It took me by surprise but being a Swansea boy a local boy it really did mean a lot to me.

“As a group one thing you can rely on is how tight a group we are, at the end of the day it’s the person first, family first and we regard ourselves as a big family and that’s the reason why it’s been a successful season so far.

“Overall, the tightness of the group and if the foundations are right that’s when things go well. We know we’ve got things to work on but that tight core group if they carry on like that then the sky’s the limit and this group can do something special.”

“On the family bit Nicky mentioned, those relationships are so important for us,” Booth added.

“They get you through tight moments and get you in the window when you don’t have a right to do it.”

With one game left in the regular season, Smith will earn cap 190 in Ospreys colours at the Cardiff City Stadium in a fortnight’s time on Judgement Day.

He will be hoping his side can grab another crucial five points and see other results go their way to maintain their slim hopes of winning the United Rugby Championship.

“10 more caps for Ospreys is what a lot of people are saying and big Duncan Jones has already said I better come back before I finish, for me it’d be great to have a 200^th cap,” joked Smith,

“But it’s more important to see this team do well and win silverware that would be a huge honour for me.”

Smith of course isn’t the only player set to leave Ospreys at the end of the season with scrum-half Cameron Jones, Mat Protheroe, Toby Fricker, Will Hickey departing along with two British and Irish Lion’s in George North to Provence and Sportin Wales co-founder Alex Cuthbert.

Cuthbert injured his hamstring in Ospreys’ loss to Munster in March, ruling him out for the remainder of the season.

On Cuthbert, Booth said: “When we brought Alex Cuthbert from Exeter he hadn’t been playing that much towards the end and one of our challenges was to get him on the pitch more often.”

“Our medical team and conditional team were brilliant about that and he played a decent amount of rugby for us.

“He pays you back as well. He’s the first to say ‘that’s not good enough’, very similar to Nicky and others, we’re not a team that sugar coats things and we understand it’s the opportunity to get better.

“Cuthy was up there in the stands near me against Dragons and talking about ‘we need to be more clinical there’ and even though he’s got every right to disengage as he’s not going to play again for us, he cares enough to voice an opinion and that speak volumes about him.”