Ospreys vs Gloucester LV=

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Ospreys vs Gloucester

Friday 9th November, KO 19.45 @ the Liberty Stadium


Ospreys Team:
15 Ross Jones, 14 Tom Grabham, 13 Ben John, 12 Jonathan Spratt, 11 Will Price, 10 Matthew Morgan, 9 Rhys Webb, 1 Marc Thomas, 2 Matthew Dwyer, 3 Joe Rees, 4 Lloyd Peers, 5 James King, 6 George Stowers, 7 Sam Lewis (Capt), 8 Morgan Allen

Replacements:
16 Scott Otten, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Nicky Thomas, 19 Rhodri Hughes, 20 Arthur Ellis, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Nathan Edwards


Gloucester Team:
Martyn Thomas; Shane Monahan, Drew Locke, Tim Molenaar, Ian Clark; Tim Taylor, Dan Robson; Yann Thomas, Tommaso d'Apice, Dario Chistolini; Elliott Stooke, Will Graulich; Ross Moriarty, Matt Cox, Peter Buxton (capt)

Replacements:
Koree Britton, Dan Murphy, Tom Heard, Ed King, Ben Sparks, Dave Lewis, Billy Burns, Steph Reynolds

Burns coming off clutching his shoulder. Hope he's OK. He's done well today. Glaws giving away too many penalties. O's have great attacking opportunity now.

TMO decision coming, I don't think there was a try. Possible knock on. Yep...TMO says no try. Glaws scrum. It's wazzing down there now. That won't help.

Cari, what do you think of Alyn's favourite player Sam Lewis? I think he looks pretty decent.

WOOO!!! Great run by O's fullback, and the O's get a penalty in front of the sticks and Glaws get a man in the bin. Tidy.

Cynical from Glaws, it felt like a try was coming. Ospreys improve a lot in the second half as they did against Leinster.

Morgannwg - I haven't really been watching him too much. I think they're all stepping up pretty well these youngsters. Morgs should be a MOTM contender at least.

18-13 after 59 minutes following another Morgs penalty kick. The weather is grim though.

What?! Morgs and Webb off?

Sam Davies kicks the penalty 21-13 now on the hour.

Glaws have given away six penalties in 23 minutes. Davies goes for the corner on this one. Very bold move! I like it!

TRY! Tom Grabham!

26-13 after 65 minutes. Conversion missed.

Terrible conditions now. The pitch is like a bog. The ball isn't bouncing at all when it hits the grass and the players are skidding all over the gaff.

Glaws are very unorganised in most areas, and the penalty count seems to be getting ridiculous. Nige had this same issue with Scarlets 2nd team last year.

Schitt. Soft try for Glaws. No O's defence at all. They could lose this if they're not careful.

26-20 with seven minutes to go.

And the O's have lost it. Rose gives a penalty try after the O's collapse a driving maul. The locals aren't happy.

26-27 and 3.5 minutes to go.

O'S TRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

31-27 with the conversion to come. What a response!

Anyone else tired of hearing how amazing Gloucester are from the commentators? There are two teams playing Scott/Dean!

Excellent try by Spreys btw. Thanks for recognition commentary team!

Morgannwg wrote:Anyone else tired of hearing how amazing Gloucester are from the commentators? There are two teams playing Scott/Dean!

Getting tired of them mentioning this young ospreys side!

FT 33-27 Well done Ospreys. what a match! So pleased for them.

Morgannwg wrote:Anyone else tired of hearing how amazing Gloucester are from the commentators? There are two teams playing Scott/Dean!

To be fair they spent a lot of time complementing Matthew Morgan in the first half. Good game in the end despite the conditions, well done to the Ospreys.

They'll be pleased with that I think. Good for these young guys to be coming into a winning environment.

Yeah I've found the commentators to be pretty neutral.

Sam Lewis (Captain) was MOTM.

nathan wrote:

Morgannwg wrote:Anyone else tired of hearing how amazing Gloucester are from the commentators? There are two teams playing Scott/Dean!

Getting tired of them mentioning this young ospreys side!

You're watching this are ya? Guess you got tired of watching Tigers get a pasting .

Wouldn't mind seeing habberfield get some pro12 game time

He has to be given the chance. I've watched him for a while in the U20s and on the Sevens Circuit. He is a very good player and has great potential. Given Webb's form Tandy would be mad not to give Habberfield some Pro 12 games. Same can be said for players like Ross Jones.

Morg: Ross Jones seems to have put a bit of weight on. Fussel makes me a little too nervous.

How frustrating was Rhys Webb tonight ? He takes an absolute age to get his back line going, time for Habberfield to be given the chance if you ask me.

sheephead wrote:Morg: Ross Jones seems to have put a bit of weight on. Fussel makes me a little too nervous.

Ross Jones is streets ahead of Fussel when it comes to ability, Ross Jones has a bright future ahead of him.

Thought Thomas the prop looked good in the loose too. Lord: I don't think Tandy will give Ross Jones a chance unless fussel gets injured.

Give it a rest Scott quinnell!

sheephead wrote:Thought Thomas the prop looked good in the loose too. Lord: I don't think Tandy will give Ross Jones a chance unless fussel gets injured.

I know, it's a shame though isn't it.

I would just like to say well done the Ospreys.

I thought Gloucester was going to win in the last couple of minutes. But that was a cracking try by the Ospreys in the dying minute it realy was.

Once again weel played the Ospreys.

Can Quinell give any one else a chance to get a word in ?

One word.....nah!

Bloody hell Glos how many pens do you want to give??

Mat Morgan looks fantastic such good all round game.

Yap: I thought Sam Davies played a better game when he came on. Similar to priestland, brings runners on well

I've not seen him play many times mind

Good win well done Ospreys

Morgannwg wrote:Cari, what do you think of Alyn's favourite player Sam Lewis? I think he looks pretty decent.

A player playing regular first team rugby against players of the same age who are in the Gloucester academy and aren't that much bigger than him, yes I agree he had a decent game, though with rain hammering down it was perfect for him. I'm not complaining though finally I have seen what the Ospreys coaches have been telling u there all the time.

It was a cracking game of rugby to be fair, both teams tried to play rugby despite the conditions, I was very impressed with Matthew Morgan, Ross Jones and Grabham. The only downside was I have realised after 2 seasons that I can get wet during games, our seats were soaked before kick off and the swirling wind covered us a few times.

Overall fantastic entertainment though, probably he most exciting game of rugby I have seen there this season. It's just a pity only 5000 or so turned up to see the youngsters play.

Duhhh, it's da post code lotterryyy mun.

I was pretty impressed with Gloucester blindside Ross Moriarty as well, he looked pretty useful. For a moment I wondered if he might follow in his fathers (Paul) and uncles (Richard) footsteps and end up playing for Wales, he's got to be at least 6'4 and plays like a clone of his dad.

But apparently after a quick google check he's opted for England!

England youth only so he can still play for Wales.

A cracking game, well played by both teams in difficult conditions. I think the Ospreys kicking game was the deciding factor. Great to see such promising youngsters doing well. Anyone who doubts the value of the LV just needs to get out more.

Shifty wrote:

Overall fantastic entertainment though, probably he most exciting game of rugby I have seen there this season. It's just a pity only 5000 or so turned up to see the youngsters play.

Why does the attendance matter?

And why is only 5000 on an awful cold wet night for an LV= match with two teams of relative unknowns a bad attendance?

It was disappointing that our senior players didn't step up and our backs were either anonymous or dreadful. But there were some real positives from the game. D'Apice was excellent and really showed his worth. Stooke and Moriarty both looked like they'll be making more senior appearances soon.

Stooke was the middle jumper last night which is where we need him developed. I understand he's sees himself more as a front jumper, but his technique looks good enough to be Browner's long term replacement.

Moriarty has been playing at 7 for the A side and Hartpury and I hope this is where Glaws develop him. His tackling and breakdown work were very good last night.

On a seperate note Dan Murphy has to be our most improved forward. His scrummaging has vastly improved and he provides a genuine alternative to Woody now.

Sorry should have said, well played Ospreys on a deserved win

HongKongCherry wrote:It was disappointing that our senior players didn't step up and our backs were either anonymous or dreadful. But there were some real positives from the game. D'Apice was excellent and really showed his worth. Stooke and Moriarty both looked like they'll be making more senior appearances soon.

Stooke was the middle jumper last night which is where we need him developed. I understand he's sees himself more as a front jumper, but his technique looks good enough to be Browner's long term replacement.

Moriarty has been playing at 7 for the A side and Hartpury and I hope this is where Glaws develop him. His tackling and breakdown work were very good last night.

On a seperate note Dan Murphy has to be our most improved forward. His scrummaging has vastly improved and he provides a genuine alternative to Woody now.

Thought Dan Robson looked good too at nine, as you said Moriaty was very good, though like coach Davies's kid Sam, it would have been nicer to see him on our side than yours, we could do with a long term six.

Good Glaws front five. It was a very close game. Surprisingly bright back play and subtle passing for such atrocious weather.

What did you think of the Ospreys lads???

Robson did look bright and had a good game bar a few poor kicks. He showed his versatility by moving to 10 which I feel is a good skill to have for a 9.

I thought like Glaws it was the Ospreys youngsters who came to the fore. Sam Lewis was a deserved MoM - any chance he has an English granny?! He looks to be a proper 7. Morgan showed flashes of brilliance too, but he looks like he needs more game time to read the game better.

If the east wales regions produced the same amount of talent as the ospreys and the scarlets, wales would not have to worry about the current exodus to france.

Each region receives the same amount of funding so why is there such an imbalance?

I have heard it said that andrew hore and gareth jenkins are hugely influential at the ospreys and the scarlets whereas those with influence at the dragons and the blues are mainly the benefactors.

HongKongCherry wrote:Robson did look bright and had a good game bar a few poor kicks. He showed his versatility by moving to 10 which I feel is a good skill to have for a 9.

I thought like Glaws it was the Ospreys youngsters who came to the fore. Sam Lewis was a deserved MoM - any chance he has an English granny?! He looks to be a proper 7. Morgan showed flashes of brilliance too, but he looks like he needs more game time to read the game better.

Sam played under 20s so he is a welsh player granny or none mate. We are doing a good job in the Swansea area of producing talented opensides. Morgan Allen at eight had a good game, but it was our hooker Dwyer, who is keeping Hibbards bench warm already this year, and his two young second row buddies Peers and King who grabbed me.

Matthew Morgan has become quite the measured conservative this season, though as you saw he can dance round players in a matchbox got a healthy boot on him and bags of pace.

Sam Davies, Nigel's son, who came on in the second half is a polar opposite. That was the best game I've seen Sam play so far, he lacked confidence before.

Good game, two close teams.

Well done Ospreys on your win.
I didn't see the game or post match write ups yet. I only have what I see here on 606. Sounds like a close game. Was Glos pen count a problem again ?
But thank you HKC for your usual insightful Glos analysis, and to Maes also for your interesting observations.
Robson: I've been impressed with him, early part of this season. Overshadowed a bit since Cowon joined. I can't figure out yet if being in Cowon's shadow will do more good / harm for Robson's development. He will get frustrated if he does not get adequate match time, but Cowon is a master player to learn from. Both sides sound like they have promising young talent coming through, so we hope a bright future for both clubs.