Ospreys v Dragons Thread

[mrzimmerman]

A tad early i know but looking forward to this so thought i'd start a thread to see if i'm not alone. Ospreys start as favourites for the second east - west Welsh derby in the space of 7 days BUT i believe the Dragons will prove to be a much sterner test for the title chasing Swansea based region. Historically the Dragons have a good record against the Ospreys and i think it would mean as much to the Dragons if they win on Friday as it did for Ospreys when they won away to Leinster a couple of weeks back. The Ospreys will look to continue their strength in the strum and up front in general. Hopefully Mr Owens will police the scrum area a lot better than Clancy did last week.

I, for one, am looking forward to a good game and hoping for a home win. Saying that i don't have the confidence i did last week. The Dragons will pour men into the breakdown to slow the Ospreys and frustrate them. If they succeed and get enough posession to their dangerous backs then we could have a real game on our hands.

It looks like the biggest rugby attendance of the season so far at the Liberty which is great news. That could finally mean the Ospreys fans can do to the Dragons as the Dragons fans have so brilliantly done to the Ospreys players and that is to make it a real hostile environement where every mistake is magnified and every postive attacking home play is welcomed with deafening noise.

It's clear who i support and i'm sorry for the clear bias in my post. Please please can Dragons fans place their perspective on the thread. If a dragons fan wants to post a lenthy message on the thread i'll post it here in the openning post. The teams will be posted here when they become available.

Further info found on match preview on pro12 website;

http://www.rabodirectpro12.com/matchcentre/13817.php

The teams

Ospreys Dragons

15 Ross Jones 15 Hallam Amos
14 Hanno Dirksen 14 Tonderai Chavhanga
13 Tom Isaacs 13 Adam Hughes
12 Andrew Bishop 12 Ashley Smith
11 Shane Williams 11 Aled Brew
10 Dan Biggar 10 Lewis Robling
9 Rhys Webb 9 Wayne Evans
1 Ryan Bevington 1 Nathan Williams
2 Richard Hibbard 2 Steve Jones
3 Adam Jones 3 Nathan Buck
4 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt) 4 Luke Charteris (c)
5 Ian Evans 5 Jevon Groves
6 Ryan Jones 6 Danny Lydiate
7 Justin Tipuric 7 Lewis Evans
8 Joe Bearman 8 Toby Faletau

Replacements:

16 Scott Baldwin 16 Sam Parry
17 Paul James 17 Phil Price
18 Joe Rees 18 Dan Way
19 James King 19 Rob Sidoli
20 Tom Smith 20 Tom Brown
21 Kahn Fotuali'I 21 Joe Bedford
22 Matthew Morgan 22 Martyn Thomas
23 Ashley Beck 23 Pat Leach

[LordDowlais]

It's Shane Williams last game for the Ospreys barring any playoffs, and they are letting the kids in for free. I am going down/over for this game as I have always liked little Shane, and I hope he gets a good send off. I cannot see anything but an Ospreys win though, and for me the Ospreys are the form team in the league at the moment. A long night for Lydiate, Faletau and co. I think. Also I think Charteris is starting for the Dragons after his injury.

[youngguns6]

We should be looking forward to a great backrow battle but sadly the dragons front 5 will be smashed leaving Danny n Toby no chance to boss the game. The ospreys pack has been going really well and whilst they don't posses the most exciting backline I'm sure they will be expecting 4 try's.

Still looking forward to the game and il be hoping Hughes can put in another big performce (all be it on the back foot).

[Guest]

I'm actually seriously considering heading down to the Library for this one. The O's v Drags are usually always a good match, and it will be nice to see what could be Shane's last game.

Dragons forwards really need to step up if they are to stand any chance.

[Smirnoffpriest]

I think it will be quite tight, even though the Dragons aren't on form I can see them wanting to fight for everything and although the Ospreys have the better quality in the scrum which will prove decisive I still think the Dragons can cause more problems than the Blues did.

It should be a good game either way - be interesting to see who the Dragons choose as their kicker though after Roblings relatively poor kicking against Treviso and Tovey seemingly not trusted to start.

[BOO]

Agree with the gist of all the posters, could be long night for the Dragons tight five. If we can get anything near parity we could cause some problems for the Ospreys.
Whatever happens hope it's a good send off for Shane.

[LordDowlais]

I think it will be quite tight, even though the Dragons aren't on form I can see them wanting to fight for everything and although the Ospreys have the better quality in the scrum which will prove decisive I still think the Dragons can cause more problems than the Blues did.

It should be a good game either way - be interesting to see who the Dragons choose as their kicker though after Roblings relatively poor kicking against Treviso and Tovey seemingly not trusted to start.

Why don't they keep using Steffan Jones, or would they rather keep him at Cross Keys as they have two finals to get through ? He is obviously the choice no. 10 to replace Tovey, isnt he ?

[ScarletSpiderman]

Lord - I am between minds as to who is better out of Jones and Robling. Jones seems to have a bit more flair, but is a bit more prone to a slip in concentration, where as Robling seems of a lower standard, but more consistant. Tough call IMO. That said I thought that Tovey should not have been dropped from the squad the way he was until he seemed to gift the game to Treviso (and in the process put the Blues in the HEC for next year). I would personally leave him out of the squad full stop after that.

[LordDowlais]

Lord - I am between minds as to who is better out of Jones and Robling. Jones seems to have a bit more flair, but is a bit more prone to a slip in concentration, where as Robling seems of a lower standard, but more consistant. Tough call IMO. That said I thought that Tovey should not have been dropped from the squad the way he was until he seemed to gift the game to Treviso (and in the process put the Blues in the HEC for next year). I would personally leave him out of the squad full stop after that.

You are very synical SS.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

We haven't looked particularly dangerous in attack recently, so even if we do get parity up front, which I doubt, I wouldn't expect us to cause the Ospreys' defence too many problems.

I hope we win but I'm pretty sure we won't.

[mrzimmerman]

For me, a lot rests on Ashley Beck. If he starts we have that more potent attack to complement the strong scrum. Without him we really don't look the same threat. Anyone know if he's playing?

Ian Evans v's Charteris will be interesting to watch at the line out. (If they play)

[GavinDragon]

steffan jones is injured lads - and my thoughts on that is that from what ive seen jones has slightly ore potential, robling needs to back and have a good season with a prem side to build his confidence up

as said above having nightmares abut how our scrum is going to be demolished but heres hoping for some flowing rugby from either side. And i want to see some dog from us after they way we have lost our edge at home over the last two games

[bedfordwelsh]

I fear that we are in for a bit of a tonking in this one. The O's pack is looking very strong at the moment whilst our front five have been poor, that coupled with our shocking away form leaves me very fretful indeed

[glamorganalun]

The Dragons can't afford to have scrums anywhere near goal line or there could be a number of penalty tries. I hope it will be a running game and not an arm wrestle or kicking contest. The biggest hope for the Dragons is Biggar kicking the ball away and having a howler he normally has against the Dragons. I suspect this will not happen this time as Tandy and Co seem to play more rugby than Holley did.

It could be a 50 pointer for the Ospreys, I suspect Shane will go for a try scoring send off, good luck to him.

[Shifty]

I'm predicting a catastrophic loss for the Dragons in this one.

So far it's been announced that 11,000 tickets have gone for the game, and the Ospreys are on fire at the moment. The Ospreys beat Leinster away from home, and smashed The Blues away and Treviso at home. Finally Nigel Owens is the ref and he will not tolerate any spoiling play from the Dragons in the game. I think the Bridgend style that Tandy has been trying to produce at the Ospreys is starting to come through now.

Compare this with the form of the Dragons who have lost to both Connacht and Treviso at home in the last 2 games. Any serious side must beat those type of teams at home. If the Ospreys stick their full team out, against this Dragons side they could smash them off the park.

[Liam]

Echo what everyone else has been saying, could be a long night for the Dragons, but a few tries all the same for the crowd, a healthy one at that. Hopefully Shane gets a good send off, and a try. Osprey's by 15+

[Taffineastbourne]

Not expecting too much for the Dragons.Ospreys by 15/20 points.All the best,Shane.

[Guest]

Dragons will be lucky not to have forty points put on them. I'll be there though, but with very low expectations. Our scrum will be an issue of course.

The only upside I see is we have been hit by a stomach bug this week, so we haven't been subjected to Darren's coaching too much

12,000 thus far though. Not bad, but I'd hope for more given that it is advertised as Shane's last game (though it probably won't be). I don't think that it will be much of an atmosphere though compared to Rodney Parade.

[Stone Motif]

make it a real hostile environement where every mistake is magnified and every postive attacking home play is welcomed with deafening noise.

Shhhhhhhhhhh

[Stone Motif]

Any serious side must beat those type of teams at home

Instead of just settling for certain easy perennial victories against a certain other Welsh region where we seem to need to just turn up and win? As you are chasing your first league win over the lowly Dragons since you played the Cross Keys under 14s at the Library way back in 2010 does that make you a 'serious side'?

To be fair I doubt we will do the double over the O's this season but it wouldn't be the first time I'd seen an Osprey fan choke on that kind of arrogance...

[Breadvan]

Stone, I don't share Alyns "arrogance" as we always seem to play like crap aginst the NGD's. I do predict a win tho, due to form and what tandy has done with the ruins left by the Jawnse & co. I do hope for a total gubbing tho...

[mrzimmerman]

Updated with teams. i did them side by side so you can compare. I tried to do it more symetrically but the format changed when posted, sorry.

[youngguns6]

Amos at 15, that's a big call. Great prospect but could be put under some pressure. That said will the ba go near him? We won't have it and the ospreys (if they have any brain cells) will keep it tight.

I'd actually take the dragons backline over the o's but our front 5 will be demolished.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

So who'll play at outside half if Lewis Robling gets injured or has a 'mare?

[Guest]

I'll compare the sides later maybe, but for us great to see Amos at 15, but I don't understand why Sid is only on the bench and why Darren Waters isn't at 7 instead of Lewis Evans (who I am not convinced with at 7)

Obviously the Ospreys have it in the front five (even with Bevington there), I think I like our backrow better (Lewis Evans aside). Halfbacks Ospreys, but the rest of the backs are fairly even (ish) depending on whether Aled Brew is up dir it.

Nothing changes though. A long night at the coal face (especially in the scrum) for the Dragons and a convincing Ospreys win.

[Smirnoffpriest]

I reckon Biggar will kick at Amos a lot, and he may have quite a bit to do defensively as well, especially covering - so it'a big ask for Amos.

Didn't Hughes take the kicks sometimes when Robling wasn't kicking well? Still it's a risk not to have a recognised 10 on the bench.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

He can kick for goal but I don't think he's ever played outside half before.

[youngguns6]

I guess Smith will move to 10 if Roblin gets injured.
Amos is a huge talent but I worrie that he might get turned over (like last week - leading to brews interception) as the ospreays front 5 will dominate and he's light weight at the moment. No dout he has the skill to cause problems if given a chance. Can't believe sids been rested although he's had to burden the work load for so long there's only to games left!!

Agreed - Lewis Evans isn't a 7, he's not quick enough and clearly not a natural 7. Why has he had"brain farts" so many times this season, he looks like he's walking his dog! Other times he's looked class...

Not sure if waters has the pace to be a regional 7 (sorry guys).

[Impossible Standards]

Firstly nice write up StowersBiceps... Secondly as a dragons fan I can't help but think we are going to ship 40+ in this match. Ospreys form is good at the moment and the Dragons form home and away is becoming shocking. The once nasty bite from the Dragons has become a mere gerbil type nibble... Anyway here's to hopefully a good game of RUNNING rugby and a nice send off for ickle shane!

[Smirnoffpriest]

The once nasty bite from the Dragons has become a mere gerbil type nibble...

[Luckless Pedestrian]

the ospreys (if they have any brain cells) will keep it tight.

Our best chance is if the Ospreys take the victory as a given and go looking for tries out wide from the outset. But even if they do keep it tight, I don't think our scrum will cave the way the Blues' scrum did. (I hope I'm not tempting fate by saying that!)

[youngguns6]

If they do play a fast open game then it would really suit us, we will still loose but it could be more like 45-30 rather than 25-10

[mrzimmerman]

thanks for the compliment Impossible standards. I think Webb starting is key, we look so much better with him. the backs do you more evenly matched than you'd think though given our different positions in the league. should be cracker.

Really good to see all the Dragons fans wishing the best for Shane, even though this is the 2nd of a possible 5 farewell matches for him!

[glamorganalun]

Looking at the sides there is not much between the teams except the props, the rest of the Dragons are competitive. The Ospreys pack is international standard (apart from Bearman) so it will be a big ask for the Dragons to get within 20 points. Shame Tovey will not play as he usually out plays Biggar with less quality ball.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

Looking at the sides there is not much between the teams except the props, the rest of the Dragons are competitive. The Ospreys pack is international standard (apart from Bearman) so it will be a big ask for the Dragons to get within 20 points.

I don't know how you can say there's not much between the teams and then go on to say you think there'll be 20 points between the teams. Surely you're contradicting yourself.

[Cari]

Chuffed to see that the O's have sold 12'500 tickets so far

[glamorganalun]

Luckless:

I shows the importance of the props, if you can't scrummage you are stuff, the rest of the team as I said is competitive.

[Guest]

Chuffed to see that the O's have sold 12'500 tickets so far

I had hoped for a bit more really given what it is. Still time though I guess to shift some more.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

Fair enough Alun, but I don't think we'll be as poor in the scrums as the Blues were.

[Cari]

Chuffed to see that the O's have sold 12'500 tickets so far

I had hoped for a bit more really given what it is. Still time though I guess to shift some more.

I think they'll sell more between now and kick off Risca. They've got a lot on before and after the match apparently - including the Six Nations trophy being there beforehand so people can have a photo taken with it.

[Guest]

Ah I just tried finding out about the entertainment etc but can't find out. I know about the presentation to Biggar from the OSC after the game (which I'm going to see), but can't find about the 6 Nations trophy.

I did accidentally stumble on the fact that the Armed Forces get a free ticket to most games. Fair play to them. I also discovered that the 12,500 attendance beats the previous O's v Dragons record by 3000 or so, so fair play there too.

[Cari]

Risca - I read it on the O's Supporters Club news feed. The trophy will be there ahead of the game, and Biggar's presentation is after the match. Both are in the supporter's village I think. They've got Neath Male Voice Choir as the entertainment. Well, it had to be something really Welsh didn't it?

[Guest]

I've seen it now. Well I might try and get a pic too then seeing as I was away when it was Rodney. Choirs are always good and being in a lounge will be alright too. Should be a good evening, match aside (unless you support the Ospreys).

[Cari]

You never know Risca...Dragons/O's matches have been close affairs in recent times whoever wins. Hope you enjoy the evening anyway.

[LordDowlais]

Chuffed to see that the O's have sold 12'500 tickets so far

I had hoped for a bit more really given what it is. Still time though I guess to shift some more.

I think they'll sell more between now and kick off Risca. They've got a lot on before and after the match apparently - including the Six Nations trophy being there beforehand so people can have a photo taken with it.

They will probably get quite few hundred walk up fans who will decide on they day/night

[Huwball]

Re: Ospreys v Dragons Thread
by rugbydreamer on Wed 18 Apr 2012, 9:47 am

.I'm actually seriously considering heading down to the Library for this one. The O's v Drags are usually always a good match, and it will be nice to see what could be Shane's last game.

Dragons forwards really need to step up if they are to stand any chance.

I hope you aren't going to wear a scarlets shirt down there dreamer?

I hope Shane gives a bit more respect to the crowd than he did on his 100th osprey game - they asked for the crowd to wait for his presentation to cheer him on, and he just walked off the pitch! Charming

It should be an easy win for the hairspreys, but after the last few games against the men of Gwent, I won't take anything for granted.

C'mon a home semi

[Cari]

Latest I've heard on ticket sales is 13'200 now. I'm sure, as LordD said, there'll be more paying at the door.

Should be a corker anyway!

[Cari]

Watching live on Scrum V. They've got Sean Holley in the van doing the punditry, and he seems a bit negative about his former team.

Lovely welcome for Lickle Shane.

[Cari]

Good start from the O's, but the Dragons are defending well....Blonde Bomshell (Dirksen) is having a particularly good start.

[eirebilly]

Well iam watching this i guess

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