Ospreys v Dragons 22nd March

First topic message reminder :

Liberty Stadium
7.05 KO
Live on BBC.

Teams announced as below.

Ospreys.

15 Richard Fussell
14 Tom Habberfield
13 Jonathan Spratt
12 Ashley Beck
11 Tom Isaacs
10 Dan Biggar
9 Kahn Fotuali'i
1 Ryan Bevington
2 Richard Hibbard
3 Adam Jones
4 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)
5 Ian Evans
6 James King
7 Justin Tipuric
8 Jonathan Thomas

REPLACEMENTS
16 Scott Baldwin
17 Duncan Jones
18 Dmitri Arhip
19 Lloyd Peers
20 George Stowers
21 Rhys Webb
22 Matthew Morgan
23 Ben John

Dragons:

Dan Evans, Adam Hughes, Pat Leach, Jack Dixon, Ross Wardle, Steffan Jones, Wayne Evans; Owen Evans, Sam Parry, Nathan Buck, Andrew Coombs, Adam Jones, Dan Lydiate, Nic Cudd, Lewis Evans (c).

Replacements:
Hugh Gustafson, Phil Price, Dan Way, Ian Nimmo, Toby Faletau, Jonathan Evans, Will Harries, Hallam Amos.

Ospreys are going all out for 5 points i think. Good to see Lydiate back, what a pack to come back against!

I said it once and I will say it again, Men against boys.

wales606 wrote:Beck was good, but the forwards won that game - I think Tips should have got it

It was him or Fotuali'i....again so I'm glad Beck got it.

No bottle of champagne for the MOTM

Perhaps Beck is a teetotaller

wales606 wrote:

thebluesmancometh wrote:

wales606 wrote:

thebluesmancometh wrote:First order of business for the O's next season...

Replace Fussell!!!

VERY harsh, despite being moronic for several years, he does do his job pretty well for the O's

If his job is to keep the shirt on his back then yes. Don't get me wrong he'll cover in the Rabo decent enough, but he is so below HC level!!!

He was, but this season he has looked decent. Cuts some good attacking lines from FB, which is what is needed when the O's lack creativity out wide

His skill levels are woefull, his lines are decent but he's so useless when he receives the pill, he butchers opportunities, lacks pace, lacks any sort of strength and is constantly a weakness. The O's need to invest in a centre and FB if they want to go anywhere in europe, which sounds very weird to say as a forward!


On other news so happy to see Biggar with a smile on his face, enjoying rugby and looking very strong too, he's deserved a real Wales shot for a while!!!

On other news so happy to see Biggar with a smile on his face, enjoying rugby and looking very strong too, he's deserved a real Wales shot for a while!!!

Completely agree, his game has progressed a lot over the last year.

"it was ok" AWJ - perfectionist

wales606 wrote:No bottle of champagne for the MOTM

Perhaps Beck is a teetotaller

I thought they stopped giving out booze for Rabo MOTM awards anyway because it's not sponsored by Magners anymore. They just get a little ball now.

AWJ in a competition to be as humble as possible

"Lloyd Peers is playing well, so hopefully I will be selected next week"

AWJ coming across as the ideal captain in this interview. He'll be like gold to this team for the foreseeable future.

Cari wrote:

wales606 wrote:No bottle of champagne for the MOTM

Perhaps Beck is a teetotaller

I thought they stopped giving out booze for Rabo MOTM awards anyway because it's not sponsored by Magners anymore. They just get a little ball now.

Im sure I have seen bottles since. Maybe i'm wrong

Cari wrote:

mikey_philVIII wrote:. Best scrum half in the world in my opinion.

That's got to be a WUM!

Biggar off. Could be try number six coming...

Dearie me woman. So who would be better on current form? Certainly not household names like Parra and Genia. Pienaar and Aaron Smith along with Kahn are the best in the world. I hope you've learnt something here .

mikey_philVIII wrote:

Cari wrote:

mikey_philVIII wrote:. Best scrum half in the world in my opinion.

That's got to be a WUM!

Biggar off. Could be try number six coming...

Dearie me woman. So who would be better on current form? Certainly not household names like Parra and Genia. Pienaar and Aaron Smith along with Kahn are the best in the world. I hope you've learnt something here .

Not Aaron Smith. Phillips, Genia, Pienaar and Parra are better

Wales, did you watch the last tri-nations? Genia was sub par. He didn't live up to expectations and Aaron Smith overtook him. Pienaar has been in excellent form for Ulster and single handedly won game for SA in the autumn. Parra has looked good for Clermont but not for France and I think his capabilities have dipped, I think he'll get back up there. I'm a fan of Phillips but I know not to mention him in the same breath as the fore mentioned...

mikey_philVIII wrote:Wales, did you watch the last tri-nations? Genia was sub par. He didn't live up to expectations and Aaron Smith overtook him. Pienaar has been in excellent form for Ulster and single handedly won game for SA in the autumn. Parra has looked good for Clermont but not for France and I think his capabilities have dipped, I think he'll get back up there. I'm a fan of Phillips but I know not to mention him in the same breath as the fore mentioned...

Aaron Smith was given an armchair ride.

When Genia is given any sort of platform he will beat any opposition - as he showed against Wales even when Wales narrowly won the forward battle

wales606 wrote:

On other news so happy to see Biggar with a smile on his face, enjoying rugby and looking very strong too, he's deserved a real Wales shot for a while!!!

Completely agree, his game has progressed a lot over the last year.

True he has developed his game over the years, but it's his attitude that has really progressed, always had the skill set. He's come of age basically, could really kick on now and nail the Welsh 10 shirt. His response to not getting to tour OZ last summer has been immaculate.

I have heard that the Dragons are not seeking clarification of any decisions by the ref!

Taffineastbourne wrote:I have heard that the Dragons are not seeking clarification of any decisions by the ref!

Just got back from the game, if I'm honest the Ospreys had it very easy tonight, 9 minutes in and the Ospreys had their second try and most of the Dragons players were looking at the floor, and shaking their heads at that point.

The Ospreys fans were a little disappointed after scoring our third try that we went for a penalty shot at goal, in all honesty if we had gone for the corner I would of expected us to score another try.

It was nice to see Lydiate back on the field but I had trouble finding him, he seemed miles behind the play, Even well behind the front row forwards in the loose. I think it's going to be a very long road back for him, before he gets back to his best. Still he's taken his first steps tonight.

All in all we played a poor team tonight and won fairly easily. I was amazed that the Dragons captain was hauled off after the 20 minute mark, I didn't see him down injured or in any discomfort, it just seemed a tactical substitution to bring Faletau on.

Still we scored a load of tries which was nice and the Dragons had a few as well, it was a good nights entertainment for the 10,000 or so fans who went.

Great night out. Glad to see the steak slice has returned. Good performance. Tipuric and AWJ were fantastic. Biggar is maturing well.

Would like to see Habberfield given a go at reserve scrum half, Webb is off colour.

I was offered free tickets to go and watch this game, but could'nt bring myself to go as I knew we would be on the ar$e end of a kicking.

There is no where near enough talent in the squad, and when there is it is left on the bench???!!!

In any other sport the manager/coach would have been sacked on back of these results but not so with Dragons and Darren Edwards. The fact that you cannot get relagated hides the issue of how poor you can become. The Dragons need a good experianced coach that can actually attract players, keep the ones we have and maybe get us to finish outside of the bottom four.

Fotuali'i is the best attacking 9 in the world.
Phillips (as we've already mentioned) is the best 8.5

theskippingpig wrote:In any other sport the manager/coach would have been sacked on back of these results but not so with Dragons and Darren Edwards. The fact that you cannot get relagated hides the issue of how poor you can become. The Dragons need a good experianced coach that can actually attract players, keep the ones we have and maybe get us to finish outside of the bottom four.

You can make that argument to be fair the Dragons (through no fault of any of the other regions) do have a lot less money in their player budget. However the fact are the players they do have are almost all players signed by Edwards and the Dragons look hopeless at the moment.

Yes he does have the least money and the poorest squad and us Dragons fans have been used to that over the last few seasons.

I would say as fans we can accept going down to superior sides such as the Ospreys.

What rankles me so much is the defeatist attitude of a side which has only come from the coaches. Kicking for goal when your 20 points down away from home is a fine example of this.

Times gone bye Dragons were tough to beat and would keep going until the end. Under this coach that ethos has gone. He has taken us backwards, he does nothing to inspire the players and again instilled an attitude which has resulted in a sum of ambition to stay as close to teams on the board as possible.

EDWARDS OUT

I cannot understand all the fuss about Kahn Fotuali'i. He is very good when the forwards are at their rampaging best but when the chips are down he goes missing, and do not get me started on his box kicking, he is crap at it but still persists in doing it when he is not playing well, for me he is a luxury player.

LordDowlais wrote:I cannot understand all the fuss about Kahn Fotuali'i. He is very good when the forwards are at their rampaging best but when the chips are down he goes missing, and do not get me started on his box kicking, he is crap at it but still persists in doing it when he is not playing well, for me he is a luxury player.

At the start of the season I felt the same way, I had no idea why the Ospreys signed him, he was rubbish last season. I think maybe it's a bit of a situation that you have with a lot of players, he is working his backside off because his contract was up for renewal, once he gets the security he will be laid back again. I'm disappointed to see him go, because Webb isnt playing well, and I don't think the Ospreys have much intention of developing Habberfield which is a shame.

Just watching Scrum V on telly and The Fat Hairdresser (AKA Hibbard) comes across as a genuinely tidy sort. Fairdo's.

Shifty, haven't the O's signed Tibaldi (?), the Italian scrum half, for next season as Kahn's replacement?

Lewis Evans tore his calf (according to the initial diagnosis). Surprised he didn't show any discomfort.

No threat in the backs. Not enough grunt in the forwards. Increasingly poor defence. Story of the season, I'm afraid.

It could be a case that the 3 best SH's in the league are Fotuali'i, Matawalu and Pienaar are all overseas players!

Matawalu is great to watch. Glasgow too, I love their offloading game.

Ospreydragon wrote:Shifty, haven't the O's signed Tibaldi (?), the Italian scrum half, for next season as Kahn's replacement?

Yeah Tito Tibaldi has signed a two year deal. Rhys Webb has signed up for another three years too.

Yep we've signed an Italian player I don't know much about him though I'll be honest.