The Welsh region enjoyed some positive spells at the AJ Bell Stadium on Sunday and trailed just 14-3 at half-time, but hosts Sale ran in five tries in a rampant second-half display to condemn Ospreys to an exit from European competition, after they finished bottom of Pool A without a point.

“I think there were moments where we showed a lot of competitiveness, which was great, but you need a lot of competitiveness and a lot of success in individual moments in order to do really well against a very, very good team,” Booth told Ospreys’ website.

“For a long time, we held in the fight and stuck in the fight, just like last week [in the 25-10 loss to Racing 92], but ultimately class tells and collisions tell.

“They’re a very abrasive team and we didn’t deal with that, and as the game went on, I thought we started to fall away a little bit more physically.

“That’s not an intent thing; that’s a physics thing. We need to be technically excellent to live with a side like Sale when they get their tails up - as we did with Racing last week.

“But we know that this competition is extremely tough, extremely physical and extremely big - that’s why we’re trying to grow this group of players and recruit players to be able to compete at this level.”

However, there was one moment for Ospreys to celebrate in the second half as flanker Harri Deaves marked his debut with a try.

“He was plucky all day,” Booth commented. “He was up against the Curry boys and Jono Ross and people like that.

“I was looking at the pack and even for the front rows, for Rhys Henry, he was up against someone who’s got 200 Premiership caps. And they’ll be better for it.

“But I’m not going to shy away to just keep pushing this down the road – we need to learn lessons and learn them quickly, because we need to perform better.”

Ospreys were outgunned by Sale Sharks both technically and physically as they slumped 49-10 in their final Heineken Champions Cup pool stage game, according to head coach Toby Booth.