Ospreys vs Toulouse Round two...!

First topic message reminder :

Ospreys v Toulouse
KO 13:35 at The Liberty Stadium

December 15, 2012 1:00pm

Live on Sky Sports 1 from 13:00


Ospreys Team

15 Richard Fussell, 14 Ross Jones, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i (Capt)
1 Ryan Bevington, 2 Richard Hibbard, 3 Campbell Johnstone, 4 Ian Gough, 5 James King, 6 Ryan Jones, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Joe Bearman

REPLACEMENTs
16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Lloyd Peers, 20 George Stowers, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Tom Isaacs


Toulouse Team

15 Maxime Médard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Yann David, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Jean-Marc Doussain, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Cencus Johnston, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Vasil Kakovin.

Replacements
16 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 17 Yohan Montes, 18 Roman Millo-Chluski, 19 Yannick Nyanga, 20 Gregory Lamboley, 21 Sébastian Bézy, 22 Yannick Jauzion, 23 Christopher Tolofua

VinceWLB wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Also here is a good piece on last weeks game in Toulouse...

Very good piece, good reading.

Finally i think Campbell Johnstone was great given the circumstances and i genuinely believe he made the difference between the Ospreys shipping 30 or 50 points.

To have him on saturday with Adam coming in at around 50' would be just great.

I couldnt agree more, I will be looking out for that Journalist again.

Re This weekend, looks like Hibbard is in the running...

From the Beeb...!

Ospreys could have Wales hooker Richard Hibbard back for their Heineken Cup clash with Toulouse at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

Hibbard injured his shoulder playing for Wales against Samoa in November.
Ospreys coach Gruff Rees says Hibbard believes he is ready for a return against Toulouse, who beat the region 30-14 in France last week.

"He [Hibbard] will be pushing it. He has got it on the forefront of his mind," said Rees.
Hibbard will have a fitness test on Thursday.

Tight-head prop Adam Jones is also back in training but is less likely to be involved on Saturday after being out with a knee injury since October.

Rees is still hoping to make a mark in Pool 2 despite already going down to two defeats in three matches.
Ospreys beat Treviso 38-17 but have since gone down 39-22 to Leicester Tigers and in Toulouse.
"We haven't given up the ghost." he insisted.

"We had our expectations to challenge as league champions last year.

"Obviously a couple of games have gone against us.

"Our mindset hasn't changed regardless of the personnel in the team and we are going to be a side that continues to show ambition, guts and continued effort to try and get results in this group."

The following players were not considered because of injury:

Alun Wyn Jones - Shoulder

Hanno Dirksen - Knee

Joe Rees - Neck

Jonathan Thomas - Groin

Tom Smith - Groin

Aaron Jarvis - Knee

Owen Williams - Hamstring

Ian Evans - Knee

Tom Grabham - Hip

Backs Coach, Gruff Rees, said:

"With our next two Heineken Cup fixtures both at home here at the Liberty, it gives us a great opportunity to really put ourselves back in the mix. There's everything still to play for in the pool, and we know that if we can get the performance levels right in these games against Toulouse and then Leicester next month, then anything can happen and we could be going into the final round of fixtures with qualification hopes very much still alive.

"Last weekend we saw a glimpse of the Ospreys future with so many youngsters involved out in France, and we can be really proud of the true Ospreys spirit that they displayed in the toughest of circumstances. However, pride on its own isn't enough and we all know that we need to back it up this week in front of our own supporters.

"We saw last week what a difference the crowd can make and we are hoping for something similar on Saturday. Our fans were brilliant in Toulouse, making themselves heard amongst a very vocal home crowd who really backed their team when they needed them. Now we are back at the Liberty we'll want the same from our fans, who can play their part. Obviously we need to play the game in the right areas, manage territory and possession, and give them something to get excited about, but it's a team effort and if they are supporting the cause the team can feed off them.

"It's going to be a massive occasion and we want to show what the Ospreys are all about, on and off the field."

Great to see Richard Hibbard back in the side, Adam on the Bench.

We look a stronger side than last week. Still no clue why they value Fussell over Jones at fullback.

The Ospreys have made two changes to the front-row for Saturday's visit of Pool 2 leaders Toulouse to the Liberty Stadium.

Prop Ryan Bevington and hooker Richard Hibbard replace Duncan Jones and Scott Baldwin respectively in the only alterations to the starting XV that lost 30-14 at Toulouse last weekend.

That defeat left the Ospreys third in the pool, seven points adrift of Toulouse.

The French side are bolstered by skipper Thierry Dusautoir's return in place of Yannick Nyanga at openside flanker.

With Luke McAlister ruled out for a month earlier this week, Jean-Marc Doussain fills in at fly-half alongside Luke Burgess. Maxime Médard starts at full-back, with Yoann Huget moving to the left wing.

Teenager Gael Fickou also starts, in place of the injured Florian Fritz at inside centre, while Roman Millo-Chluski and Vasil Kakovin come into the pack.

Fotuali'in as captain, good to see his form and no nonsense attitude is being rewarded. I agree with you Maes, put Jones at full back and put Fussell to the wing.

Adam Jones at fullback would be awesome!

Finally Griff we agree

thebluesmancometh wrote:Finally Griff we agree

Morgannwg wrote:Fotuali'in as captain, good to see his form and no nonsense attitude is being rewarded. I agree with you Maes, put Jones at full back and put Fussell to the wing.

Fotuali was captain last week as well i think.

We did quite considering the severity of the injuries to the squad. Lets hope we can do better this weekend.

Promising start from the O's. They're 3-0 up thanks to Biggar's first penalty kick.

The referee is just guessing at scrumtime.

Yeah, I thought that too Biltong. I would have give the penalty to Toulouse. Looked like census Johnson stayed on his feet!

Oh dear Toulouse what was going there?! Great kicking from Biggar today.

Agree, on another note it seems the ball is slippery there are many handling errors.

I'm sat in my house about an hour away from the Ospreys and it is p*ssing down. It's been pretty stormy here in Wales the last couple of days.

No decent kicker for Toulouse. Hard to believe really? But may well prove to be a big mistake.

Yep it's pishing down in Cardiff too, has been for most of the day.

Nice one Fussell

Great opening 20 from the Ospreys - Toulouse backline looks a bit suspect in defense early on.

Awesome lineout move by the Os! Nearly deserved a try- if that was a Ferris or a Picamoles or someone that could have been five.

A more aggressive, straighter carry running onto the ball...

6-0 after 22 minutes.

O's need to watch their discipline though. Gough just pinged for coming in at the side.

That yellow card is quite pathetic to be honest.

Pffft yellow card for that? Not so sure.

Toulouse no.5 binned for reckless use of his boot.

I'm not liking the way the ref seems to react everytime a Tolouse players throws his arms out and screams something at him.

But Ive only seen 10 mins, decent game so far, Biggar is tying Tolouse up in knots just needs someone to read what he's seeing and they'll be in.

6-3 after a penalty. Gough is on a warning...he'll be binned if he's not careful.

Decent gamble by Fortuiali but no support!!!

I like this guy, couldn't figure out why Webb was ousted originally but Webb comes nowhere near him at the moment!!

One thing I have noticed is when I watch European rugby the sound is different to when I watch rugby in SA or super rugby.

We get to hear the referee and the background sound from the spectators are not so "removed"

Do you guys get the same sound?

The Ospreys have had a couple of very good close try opportunities so far. I hope they can get something out of it.

Biltong wrote:One thing I have noticed is when I watch European rugby the sound is different to when I watch rugby in SA or super rugby.

We get to hear the referee and the background sound from the spectators are not so "removed"

Do you guys get the same sound?

I'm watching on the internet so it's difficult for me to gauge sound. I can hear the crowd, but hardly anything from the ref's mic. That could be the stream I'm watching though rather than the broadcast sound.

Biltong wrote:One thing I have noticed is when I watch European rugby the sound is different to when I watch rugby in SA or super rugby.

We get to hear the referee and the background sound from the spectators are not so "removed"

Do you guys get the same sound?

I notice that too. As a SH rugby watcher primarily its hard to get used too.

Biltong wrote:The referee is just guessing at scrumtime.

That last scrum Bevington dropped his bind & the Os just span the scrum on a wheel & Clancy gives penalty to Ospreys

Trev

I though Bev was pinged originally there too

Bearman is so slow and soft, and has very little skill when under pressure, he's so poor at this level!!!

Ospreys and Treviso winning. Will make the last two rounds in this group very interesting if that stays the same!

As is Fussell

Well it's all been the O's so far. Hope it stays that way!

Some daft decisions being made my Toulouse.

I've been predicting a Treviso upset all week. Hope the Italians can hold on.

I don't think Toulouse have their heads in it this half, I really don't. I don't see them winning this at all unless they do something at half-time.

Notch - they're definitely not playing intelligently at the moment.

HT in Treviso 10-7.

I am not sure what Toulouse is trying to achieve. Their structure in attack is all over the shop.

HT 9-6 after a Toulouse drop goal.

Good drop goal from Doussain.

9-6 doesn't tell the story of how much I've enjoyed this half of rugby. 3 points being the lead for the Ospreys doesn't tell how disappointing Toulouse look.

Toulouse's forwards look awesome in the loose, but their backline in both defense and attack looks leaderless and disjointed.

Bad news for O's is that if Toulouse come out 2nd half with any shape or desire going forward instead of relying on the drive O's won't be able to hold them.

Just saw the Rolland pen try, and it has to be the Rolland try because it was 10 metres out!!!

Def a pen, and Leicester shouldve been warned but pen try???

Ha. On the live stream I'm watching, I can hear a private conversation between Ieuan Evans and some other dude. They're on about what they're doing at Xmas...

What are they doing Cari???

It's a stream live from the ground - not the TV broadcast, and cause it's half time I'm watching the competition going on the pitch. Ieuan and this dude were yapping in the background. They've shut up now (or gone to the bog).