What a difference a Tandy makes !!!

I tell you what, how refreshing is it to see the Ospreys playing with a smile on there face's ? Let's be totally honest here, you can see a remarkable difference with the mood and the style he has them playing already. I have not seen the forwards as dominant as they have been since Lyn Jones was there. If Tandy keeps this up, the Ospreys will be the team to beat next season, especially with the youngsters in the backs having this season under their belts and a front five that matches anything in Europe, even Hibbard is playing well , and the likes of Beck, Dirksen, Biggar, Walker, Webb, all gaining valuable experience, I can see this team achieving something special in the not to distant future. It makes you wonder, what the heck Sean Holly and Scott Johnson were doing when they were there. Perhaps the players all have a lot more respect for Tandy as he has been with them all from the start, but what ever it is, surely I cannot be the only one was has seen a remarkable upwards curve in terms of sheer quality since he has taken over.

A lot of that is true but why don't we wait until next season? I also put half of it down to the loyalty of some the big players there. They are setting a fine example.

Also it's good have the best forward pack around but what about the impotent backline behind it? The Ospreys still lack quality cover throughout the backs with 13, 14 and 15 being the big worry.

What do you mean ? There are a lot of qulity youngsters comming through the Ospreys acadamy. I thought the youngster from Bridgend played a stormer Friday night at fullback, and they have that youngster Watermayer (spelling) in the center.They might be struggling for wingers, Eli Walker, Hanno Dirksen, Kristian Phillips, Richard Fussel, A N Other. But I think the Ospreys are going to have a cracking young side next season.

Dowlais - I have heard Kris Phillips is leaving, and I believe that Fussel is rumoured to be off too.

Luke Morgan should get more game time imo. Fussel won't be too much of a miss imo, but Morgan really stood out for me in the u20's.

Dowlais, you have good prospects but I have yet to see any of them ready to step up to the required standard. That includes Ross Jones, Luke Morgan and Eli Walker. Morgan's defence is absolutely awful and Walker is just awful. Fussell is one of the worst players in Wales and I still can't understand why your team purchased him or keep playing him. Watermayer looks the part.

I also heard Kris Phillips was moving to Scarlets, any truth in that? See what I mean now, wait until next season. Your team gets hyped towards the end of every season since their ineption.

: A tad harsh Morgs. Yes they're good prospects but none of these players has had any kind of run in the side. Fuss is playing out of postion at FB and has done ok-ish. He was player of the year ,when on the wing last season. He was only ever cover for Shane and Tommy anyhow. I'd like to see Jones,Walker, Watermayer and Gareth Owen (remember him! ) get a decent spell in the team next season...

The Ospreys are doing well because they have a very strong pack of forwards and no real injury issues at present. That means a strong pack on the pitch every game and they grind down the oposition.

The Ospreys pack means they allways tend to look strong in the Rabo, but in the Heineken with other teams playing their strongest sides, its not so easy. The playoffs will be interesting if Munster and Lienster (Ospreys likely opponents) play their best 15's.

With their squad strength the Ospreys should allways be one of the top UK sides. The jury is still out on Tandy. lets see where they are this time next season.

Morgannwg wrote:Dowlais, you have good prospects but I have yet to see any of them ready to step up to the required standard. That includes Ross Jones, Luke Morgan and Eli Walker. Morgan's defence is absolutely awful and Walker is just awful. Fussell is one of the worst players in Wales and I still can't understand why your team purchased him or keep playing him. Watermayer looks the part.

I also heard Kris Phillips was moving to Scarlets, any truth in that? See what I mean now, wait until next season. Your team gets hyped towards the end of every season since their ineption.

Just a second, the Ospreys are not my team. I am a supporter of Welsh rugby, I do not have a region to affiliate myself with, so I watch as much of all four regions as my spare time and money allows me to. Also, Fussel has been playing out of position at fullback all season, so you must give him a break.

Fussel should be on the wing along with Dirksen next season, he's actually quite a good player there. E Walker can wait another year, he has to drastically improve his game if he wants to play in the HC again as far as i'm concerned. Ross Jones has been inconsistent when hes played for the O's, he makes a good break here and there and then drops a sitter from a high ball! Haven't seen much of Morgan tbh. Agreed about Watermayer he looks very classy, i think he's a specialist 12 though, it'd be great if he could slot into 13 alongside Beck. I'd also be very disappointed if Kris Phillips goes, he should get a lot more game time next year and we could use an X factor player like him. I'd love to see Gareth Owen fit and firing he's a great talent, i'm not really sure where his best position is though to be honest, he looks good at 12,15 and 10!

Bishops been excellant the last few games to be fair aswell, I didnt remember he could even run with ball in hand let alone throw in some footwork and line-breaks.

Tandy's shown how bad Johnson is to be fair, its the same at the blues, the squad is good enough but the coaching lacks direction and motivation. (although, as a blues fan, I know that coaching is only one of many issues at the blues currently).

Ospreys will be contenders for the Rabo over the next season or 2 and hopefully they can get themselves back into Heineken Cup mode after a few more seasons experience together as a young side.

I do think the Ospreys will do as go next year but who is replacing Bowe in a backline that has struggled a little at times.

Also when Ospreys came up against the bigger forwards teams they haven't looked as good.

O's are not replacing Bowe, developing from within instead, that's all they can afford. There aren't really any quality players to replace him with (yet). Agree that we have struggled with sides who have bigger packs, that's why we need our backs to catch up fast!

do the O's do seem to have a better recuitment/academy it seems.

Even though they have cut back like scarlets they didn't really have a dip.

Is it just how it seems or is the O's youngsters better quaility

I've heard a rumour that Eli Walker is off next year to an English club. Don't know if there is any truth in it but came froma good source. Would be a shame as I think he has a lot of talent.

Brendan wrote:do the O's do seem to have a better recuitment/academy it seems.

Even though they have cut back like scarlets they didn't really have a dip.

Is it just how it seems or is the O's youngsters better quaility

I'd say the O's just seem to have the basics sorted, especially when compared to the other regions. Our pack is basically international standard, we have a solid scrum most of the time, an agressive defence and we're combative at the breakdown. To compete you need these things... unless you have amazing backs who can make things out of nothing (Cardiff in their 08 cup run).

Regarding cutting back I think the Scarlets had to cut back a hell of a lot more than us as well because of their financial problems a few years back.

But i would also say that i think our youngsters are ready for pro rugby and are introduced when they are ready, Scarlets have done this as well but Cardiff haven't.

Our squad players also don't really get the credit they deserve, it was them who put us in this position in the games during the world cup and 6 nations.

I think the squad is what makes the difference the O's and Leinster are top because of their second team being so strong so their is no major drop off. Others when they change a couple the teams seems poor.

That is why I thinks O's haven't suffered so much and they have stepped up to be first team with ease

I agree Brendan, now we just need to make some money so we can continue to strengthen our squad and continue to dominate our regional rivals ... mwah ha ha

Brendan wrote:Even though they have cut back like scarlets they didn't really have a dip.

I think that come the end of this season, when players leave, the Ospreys would have cut back abouta s much as the Scarlets did. So next seasons resutls should show how much the cut back have damaged them. That said, and I hate to say it, the Ospreys have a real depth of talent in the wings, and plenty of talented young players coming through. The Blues will also be in a similar position with regards to the cut backs next season, so even if the Ospreys do dip a little I doubt it will semm as dramatic as when the Scarlets went off the rails (as the Dragons, Blues and Ospreys were all improving/staying at hte same level then).

LordDowlais wrote:

Just a second, the Ospreys are not my team. I am a supporter of Welsh rugby, I do not have a region to affiliate myself with, so I watch as much of all four regions as my spare time and money allows me to. Also, Fussel has been playing out of position at fullback all season, so you must give him a break.

He was crap on the wing too. There was a bit of hype around him for a period at the Dragons. I got dispelled though once people worked out all he could do was touch the ball down and nothing else. Besides, Harries has adapted to the positional change to a T. And there isn't a lot of difference between wing and full back anyway. There seems to be a majority of tries coming from the forwards, the backs aren't threatening enough. Beck remains the standout player.

I don't think I was being harsh, I was being fair and accurate. The way Ospreys capitulated in Biarritz was shocking. It will be interesting to see if they'd do such a thing under Tandy but like I mentioned we will have to wait and see.

I always did rate Gareth Owen very highly. He is a good 10 and 12 and he is naturally very skillful. Hopefully Tandy gives him a real chance unlike previous coaches.

Yeh. I'm not preaching ST as the new messiah but there's def more of an upbeat tone around the place. I'm more optimistic about next season than I've been in a while.

All Tandy has done is try and use his Ravens game plan in the Ospreys and it's working. All season with Bridgend they concentrated on making space and gaps for Luke Morgan, Kristian Phillips and Ross Jones to score tries. The result was both wingers got a shed load of tries for the club.

Tandy has done a good job, he had a bit of trouble during the Aironi and Glasgow home games which we lost to Glasgow because he didn't realise we needed power to smash through defenses and create space, which made our attack blunt. But now with Ryan Jones and the other internationals back we are looking a very fine team.

I'm really not worried about any of the players leaving in fact I think it will help because at the moment we have in many areas too many players. Ryan Bevington and Paul James are international squad loose head props and Duncan Jones is a 57 cap international, but does any team need 3 good loose heads? 2 maybe, for 3?

I'm pretty fed up of listing all the good young wingers and full backs the Ospreys have, so I will give it a miss but we have 6 by my reckoning.

Dirksen is all I can think of.