Ospreys v Scarlets - Bonfire Night, (Saturday 05/11/11) BOOM!

First topic message reminder :

Liberty Stadium, Swansea. Kick off 6.30 pm. Live on S4C from 6:10pm. Match coverage repeated from 9:00am on S4C Sunday 06/11/11.

Roll up! Roll up! It's the West Wales derby Part One - can the Scarlets beat the Ospreys for the first time at the Liberty since 2007 or will the Ospreys determination to make up for the loss they incurred last week in the Rabo spoil the Scarlets party? Their previous meetings have looked like this:

27/12/10 Ospreys 60 - 17 Scarlets
02/10/10 Scarlets 18 - 21 Ospreys
02/04/10 Ospreys 27 - 19 Scarlets

It should be a very exciting encounter, and I can't wait to be there Let the banter begin!

OSPREYS
15 Richard Fussell
14 Tommy Bowe
13 Andrew Bishop
12 Ashley Beck
11 Eli Walker
10 Dan Biggar
9 Kahn Fotuali'i

1 Duncan Jones
2 Richard Hibbard
3 Cai Griffiths
4 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)
5 Ian Evans
6 Joe Bearman
7 Justin Tipuric
8 Jonathan Thomas

Replacements:

16 Huw Bennett
17 Ryan Bevington
18 Aaron Jarvis
19 Ryan Jones
20 Tom Smith
21 George Stowers
22 Rhys Webb
23 Shane Williams

REFEREE: Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
Assistant Referees: Neil Hennessy, Jon Mason (both WRU)
Citing Commissioner : Richard Gwynn (WRU)
TMO: Tony Rowlands (WRU)

SCARLETS
15 Daniel Evans
14 Liam Williams
13 Adam Warren
12 Scott Williams
11 Sean Lamont
10 Stephen Jones
9 Tavis Knoyle

1 Iestyn Thomas
2 Matthew Rees (capt)
3 Rhys Thomas
4 Dominic Day
5 Damian Welch
6 Aaron Shingler
7 Rob McCusker
8 Ben Morgan.

Replacements:

Ken Owens
Phil John
Rhodri Jones
Sione Timani
Richie Pugh
Rhodri Williams
Jon Davies
George North.

PS: There will also be a Food Fair that will get underway at 4.00pm ahead of kick off. The food suppliers confirmed for the event including Gower Cottage Brownies, La Crème Patisserie, Swansea Hog Roast, the Waffle Trailer and Welsh Premium Burgers, giving fans a real taste of Wales ahead of the big match. YUMMO!!

Don't think you'll have many people disagreeing with that Glas!

So Wellies gets away with it!

The whole thing is a bit of a joke - yes these laws are getting stupid, but they are just that... laws that need to be consistently applied accross the board.

Why did Rabo decide to bring in, what appeared to be a novice French referee on such a high profile game?

Even one eyed, Scarlet-tinted glasses Nigel from the wrong side of the Lougor bridge makes big calls when needed.

I think it's high time the IRB made a sensible call on the tackle area before the game becomes more of a laughing stock than it already is!

A wendyball supporter in work thinks rugby league is more exciting to watch than "normal" rugby - this indeed is a dark day, and the way it is going, I hate to say I agree with him. I'm not sure I want to sit in the cold on the West stand to watch Biarritz on Saturday

Don't blame the ref for your inadequacies. The place lit up when Shane came on. Would Holiey have discovered Shane?

Do you think the ref was a very good ref then Glas?

If wellies had been red carded as has been the case in "other" instances, then the turks wouldn't have got off 3.

They did play well later in the 2nd half to be fair, but that doesn't detract from the point that there doesn't appear to be any consistent refereeing.

End of rant

Apparently these are in the laws regarding dangerous tackles:

- The player is lifted and then forced or ‘speared’ into the ground (red card offence)

- The lifted player is dropped to the ground from a height with no regard to the player’s safety (red card offence)

- For all other types of dangerous lifting tackles a yellow card or penalty may be considered sufficient


I would guess they saw Stevo being guilty of the 3rd option so a yellow was enough. He certainly didn't do either of the first two options when it is viewed in real time. (Imo that is anyway )

It's getting a bit farcical this situation now, where no one seems to be clear on how these tackles should now be dealt with.

Huwball wrote:Do you think the ref was a very good ref then Glas?

If wellies had been red carded as has been the case in "other" instances, then the turks wouldn't have got off 3.

They did play well later in the 2nd half to be fair, but that doesn't detract from the point that there doesn't appear to be any consistent refereeing.

End of rant

Sorry Huwball, that was unnecessary from me. Glad you took it in good spirit.

Didn't merit a red. There really is an inconsistancy here though. Tipuric got a yellow then a three week ban, Tommy Bowe got binned, cited and let off at the hearing - both were similar tackles.

Note: Tommy's happened in 2009 so I don't know if the rules have changed since then...

Huwball wrote:

Even one eyed, Scarlet-tinted glasses Nigel from the wrong side of the Lougor bridge makes big calls when needed.

that made me laugh out loud, this is the same ref that handed the game at PYS to the Ospreys on a plate last season when he 'missed' the biggest forward pass from the fullback you'll ever see for a try, and then 'missed' their fullback taking the ball back into the 22 and kicking it out on the full, which led to another try, what was he thinking? ah yes, that's right, the fullback in question was his ex. Don't moan he did his best for your side over the years.

Is he? Didn't know that! Wouldn't that make him less likely to help him out?

obviously still good mates.

Why does Nigel's sexual preference always have to be brought into the equation? What evidence do you have that he had a relationship with any player? As for that forward pass, didn't see a linesman flag it up either, and you got a drubbing at Christmas, so...

Cari wrote:Why does Nigel's sexual preference always have to be brought into the equation? What evidence do you have that he had a relationship with any player? As for that forward pass, didn't see a linesman flag it up either, and you got a drubbing at Christmas, so...

could you try making sense? He used to live with Byrne, does that answer your question? what has the match at xmas have to do with my post?

Do you know that Turk, or is it gossip?

You still haven't answered my question. I asked you what evidence can you offer confirming your comment about Nigel's relationships with a player? He lived with Byrne? Well, lots of adults share houses with other adults doesn't mean they're in a sexual relationship with them. So, can you offer any more concrete evidence to prove that Nigel has been in a romantic relationship with any players, particularly the one to which you refer?

I'm not making any comment about Nige's proclivities, sexual or otherwise, but I don't see any proof that he's pro-Scarlets, and believe that he's a Osprey's fan isn't he? Not that I'm saying that he's unprofessional enough to let that bias his judgement, but to say that he's biased towards the Scarlets is rubbish.

And although the ref was poor in the game last week, so were both sets of players and I think the ref was poor for both sides rather than favouring one side over the other.

The funny thing is, is that there are plenty of O's fans that believe Nigel is anti-O, so in that respect he's actually quite suited to refereeing the matches between us.

I didn't actually have too much of a problem with the ref last weekend. He wasn't brilliant but he certainly isn't as bad as some other ref's we've had to put up with.

Smirnoff - that's what I'm getting at here. A poster on here used Nigel's sexuality as an excuse for him missing something that a player did wrong during a match he was refereeing. How absurd is that?

It's well known they lived together. And if you want to talk about 'absurd' then look no further than your ending of your post "and you got a drubbing at Christmas, so..." just what has that got to do with Nigel Owen? I also notice that you didn't bother trying to correct an Ospreys supporter who posted " Even one eyed, Scarlet-tinted glasses Nigel from the wrong side of the Lougor bridge makes big calls when needed." so, it's ok for him to cast aspertions on his honesty but not me? just grow up woman!

On the SJ tackle, it looked to me on the video as though Iestyn Thomas put his hand under TB to make sure he landed okay, which was very responsible of him if he did.

I'm not disputing the fact you criticised a referee, you're welcome to do that as is anyone. I was pointing out the absurdity of suggesting that a referee makes a decision because of his sexual preference, and because they're apparently having a relationship with a player for which you have no evidence only "well known" gossip.

With regards to my comment about the Christmas time derby, that was to illustrate that regardless of whether or not Scarlets lost the October match at PYS because of Nigel's decision, they were beaten well by the Ospreys in the opposing fixture and through no help from the referee. Therfore your comment was somewhat pointless.

so you think it's ok to criticise the ref because he's a 'Turk' but not because he was in a relationship with a player, the absurdity's all yours dearie, picking and choosing your argument is what it's all about, and if you seriously think that the ospreys would have won the game if it wasn't for those two crucial moments when Owens got it very wrong then fair play.

Turkster it is worth pointing out that Bryne was with Owens when he was a Scarlet player, and most Ospreys fans will argue that Owens normally goes against us.

I'd argue the same from a Scarlets point of view Alyn

I guess it's just how all fans feel about their sides relationships with refs

Turkster you might want to re-edit so your last line makes more sense, but with no insult please!

nah can't be bothered, just exasperates me how someone can think it's perfectly sound to call someone out for using a certain argument, but then doesn't call someone else out for using a similar argument. But then I've been married for 22 years and should be used to women's logic, but it can still surprise.

what's that about women's logic?

Our logic is fine thank you very much! Well, most of the time...

Ur skating on very thin ice Turkster - especially with 2 women on the boards and 1 of them a mod!

U shouldn't criticize a woman's logic... merely state that women apply logic in a different (and illogical) way!

Smirnoffpriest wrote:Ur skating on very thin ice Turkster - especially with 2 women on the boards and 1 of them a mod!

U shouldn't criticize a woman's logic... merely state that women apply logic in a different (and illogical) way!

looks like you'll be joining me in the doghouse.

I'm used to it - I'm already in the doghouse with my boss (a woman) for describing my girfriend as the missus instead of using her name. LOL

It's well known they lived together.

Yes, but is it true? Are you their milkman? How do you KNOW.

Smirnoffpriest wrote:I'm used to it - I'm already in the doghouse with my boss (a woman) for describing my girfriend as the missus instead of using her name. LOL

my boss is a woman from Swansea, she loves rugby but only because she fancies most of them, so it's easy enough talking rings around her.

Glas a du wrote:

It's well known they lived together.

Yes, but is it true? Are you their milkman? How do you KNOW.

you one of these there pervs who needs pictures?



just joking, it's been well known for a few years, one of those 'open secrets', like the one that Gareth Thomas and a certain ex-Swansea fly-half were banned from sharing a room on tour, sort of wink-wink nudge-nudge type things.

Turkster wrote:just joking, it's been well known for a few years, one of those 'open secrets', like the one that Gareth Thomas and a certain ex-Swansea fly-half were banned from sharing a room on tour, sort of wink-wink nudge-nudge type things.

Quite true they were apparently caught "at it" by one of the Welsh coaches, though what 6'3" Alfie would of done to little 5'7" Arwel Thomas would of been shocking.

I was suprised to read Alfie had a wife when I read his autobiography, it's not as if everyone didn't know about the "incident" on the north american tour anyway.

Lee Bryne is a different matter because he was openly gay during school and didn't hide it, so it's confusing he's suddenly decided to swing the other way.

Smirnoffpriest wrote:Ur skating on very thin ice Turkster - especially with 2 women on the boards and 1 of them a mod!

U shouldn't criticize a woman's logic... merely state that women apply logic in a different (and illogical) way!

Im disappointed that non of the girls commented on my comment or repremanded me for wilful stereotyping