Ospreys 2015/16 Season

by wayne Wed Sep 02, 2015 1:43 pm

First topic message reminder :

Never done one of these here before, yet cannot do any worse than last years idiot.
Head Coach Steve Tandy
Backs Coach Gruff Rees
Forwards Coach Chris Gibbes
Squad Alphabetically
TYLER ARDRON 24 Back Row Rhodri Hughes 20 Lock
Dimitri Arhip 26 Prop PAUL JAMES 33 Prop
Lloyd Ashley (Peers) 24 Lock AARON JARVIS 29 Prop
Dan Baker 23 Back Row Ben John 24 Centre
SCOTT BALDWIN 27 Hooker ALUN WYN JONES 29 Lock
Adam Beard 19 Lock JAMES KING 25 Back Row
Joe Bearman 36 Back Row Brendon Leonard 30 S/H
Ashley Beck 25 Centre DAN LYDIATE 27 Back Row
Rynier Bernardo 24 Lock JOSH MATAVESI 24 Centre
Ryan Bevington 26 Prop Scott Otten 21 Hooker
DAN BIGGAR 25 OH Sam Parry 23 Hooker
Andrew Bishop 30 Centre Kristian Phillips 24 Wing
Jordan Collier 20 Back Row Martin Roberts 29 S/H
Olly Cracknell 21 Back Row Nicky Smith 21 Prop
Sam Davies 21 O/H Johnathon Spratt 29 Centre
Gareth Delve 32 Back Row De Kock Steenkamp 28 Lock
Hanno Dirksen 24 Wing Dan Suter 23 Prop
Mathew Dwyer 30 Hooker Gareth Thomas 23 Prop
Dan Evans 26 F/B Marc Thomas 25 Prop
Lloyd Evans 24 Back Row Rory Thornton 20 Lock
Richard Fussell 31 F/B JUSTIN TIPURIC 26 Back Row
Tom Grabham 24 Wing Eli Walker 23 Wing
Cai Griffiths 31 Prop RHYS WEBB 26 S/H
Tom Habberfield 23 S/H The following 2 are either temporary
JEFF HASSLER 24 Wing or with feeder clubs
Dafydd Howells 20 Wing Sam Underhill 19 Back Row
Oliver Tomaszczyk 28 Prop
The players in CAPITALS will not be available until after the first 3 games of the Guinness League due to WC call ups
The past 5 seasons we have finished 3, 5, 3, 3 and 4 at the end of the regular season, I envision us finishing around the same position this season.
We will also be without Bernardo and Suter for a while early season, we have recruited Tomaszczyk to cover Suter, Underhill came on as a substitute in the Saracens friendly and there were favourable reports about him. If we have injuries in a few key positions especially early season, that prophecy above could be out the window. There has been talk we have signed a T/H from NZ, who had a serious ankle ligament injury, we are still waiting on his rehab. It needs to be soon or we will have to rely on Jarvis, which is not a good thought.
Just to add we won our first 7 matches last season, against most peoples and my expectations, and it will be more of a shock to me if we win either of our first 2 matches this season. Too many missing through injury and International call ups.

by Cardiff Dave Fri Dec 11, 2015 6:27 pm

GavinDragon wrote:Ospreys sold out all of their Bat Jerseys. Wonder what the profit margin was?

The Drags should issue their own Rodney Jersey. Be millionaires this time next year.
Luvvly jubbly!

by VinceWLB Fri Dec 11, 2015 11:15 pm

Can't believe Ospreys are leaving Ardron out of the squad altogether, he is a much better player than both King and Baker who i must admit has been disappointing and maybe Morgan Allen (injury permitting) was the better prospect, time will tell.

by VinceWLB Fri Dec 11, 2015 11:31 pm

wayne wrote:BB Team JM Buttin, JB Dubie, F Le Bourhis, C Brousse, N Ducuing, P Bernard, H Adams, J Poirot, L Maynadier, S Kepu, B Botha, A Jaulhac, M Clarkin, H Chalmers, M Tauleigne with R Chambon, JB Poux, P Toetu, C Cazeaux, L Madaule, B Serin, R Lonca and P Riva on the bench, does anybody on here know much about these players as there are only 4 or 5 I've ever heard of.

Buttin is a very talented fullback who imo was unfairly released by Clermont. Adams, i'm sure you have heard off is very small but incredibly lively scrumhalf, very dangerous player. Poirot is a very good loosehead both in the scrum and in open play. Botha is a beast of a man in the 2nd row and Clarkin is a talismanic player for them in the backrow with a huge workrate. On the bench i'm sure you would have heard of Poux but he is getting on a bit now. Can't pretend i know much about the other players.

by mikey_dragon Fri Dec 11, 2015 11:56 pm

Cardiff Dave wrote:
GavinDragon wrote:Ospreys sold out all of their Bat Jerseys. Wonder what the profit margin was?

The Drags should issue their own Rodney Jersey. Be millionaires this time next year.
Luvvly jubbly!

Delboy...

by wayne Sat Dec 12, 2015 11:14 am

VinceWLB wrote:
wayne wrote:BB Team JM Buttin, JB Dubie, F Le Bourhis, C Brousse, N Ducuing, P Bernard, H Adams, J Poirot, L Maynadier, S Kepu, B Botha, A Jaulhac, M Clarkin, H Chalmers, M Tauleigne with R Chambon, JB Poux, P Toetu, C Cazeaux, L Madaule, B Serin, R Lonca and P Riva on the bench, does anybody on here know much about these players as there are only 4 or 5 I've ever heard of.

Buttin is a very talented fullback who imo was unfairly released by Clermont. Adams, i'm sure you have heard off is very small but incredibly lively scrumhalf, very dangerous player. Poirot is a very good loosehead both in the scrum and in open play. Botha is a beast of a man in the 2nd row and Clarkin is a talismanic player for them in the backrow with a huge workrate. On the bench i'm sure you would have heard of Poux but he is getting on a bit now. Can't pretend i know much about the other players.

Vince I've heard of Adams, Kepu, Botha and Chalmers of the selected team and yes Poux on the bench, the rest no, if what whocares says is true, and I've understood him correctly, this is a big opportunity for us, we need to take advantage of today. And thanks for the info.

by wayne Sat Dec 12, 2015 11:23 am

VinceWLB wrote:Can't believe Ospreys are leaving Ardron out of the squad altogether, he is a much better player than both King and Baker who i must admit has been disappointing and maybe Morgan Allen (injury permitting) was the better prospect, time will tell.

I'm also surprised and disappointed Tyler is not in there, as for Morgan Allen, he was a good impact off the bench that was all, I remember certain people on here saying the same about Pitman this time last year, and if he was so good why did the Scarlets need to have Morgan. The error in my opinion is the selection of Ashley, Thornton should have been in the 2nd row, with Tyler in the back row and King on the bench covering for 2nd and back row with Baker also there.

by wayne Sat Dec 12, 2015 10:38 pm

I'm pleased to see that there is as much interest on this Forum about this match as there is in the Ospreylia Region.
Poor performance by us this evening, much too many basic errors for this level, some ridiculous options taken at the wrong time and showed some players not able to play at this level. We need an enthusiastic local following in order to compete with these teams and we are not getting it at the moment 7000 odd after the start we have had in this competition is PATHETIC.

by mikey_dragon Sat Dec 12, 2015 11:49 pm

The coach selects those players, but hey ho you seem to think everything is fine in Tandyland. He's a coach who like many is well out of his depth.

by VinceWLB Sun Dec 13, 2015 12:33 am

O's wont win another game in this pool with Ashley selected in the 2nd row and James King at 8 instead of Ardron.

by mikey_dragon Sun Dec 13, 2015 1:30 am

Vince did you see the match? (honest question).

by bedfordwelsh Sun Dec 13, 2015 9:08 am

wayne wrote:
VinceWLB wrote:Can't believe Ospreys are leaving Ardron out of the squad altogether, he is a much better player than both King and Baker who i must admit has been disappointing and maybe Morgan Allen (injury permitting) was the better prospect, time will tell.
I'm also surprised and disappointed Tyler is not in there, as for Morgan Allen, he was a good impact off the bench that was all, I remember certain people on here saying the same about Pitman this time last year, and if he was so good why did the Scarlets need to have Morgan. The error in my opinion is the selection of Ashley, Thornton should have been in the 2nd row, with Tyler in the back row and King on the bench covering for 2nd and back row with Baker also there.

Unfortunately for Baker he's just not got back to the level he was at before injury, at that particular time he really was pushing for a Welsh spot and offered something different to Faletau but injury is part and parcel of the game.

Have always rated M Allen and he is another who has had bit of injury but hopefully now he will start to regain his form as will Baker.

by VinceWLB Sun Dec 13, 2015 11:17 am

mikey_dragon wrote:Vince did you see the match? (honest question).

Yes i did and i saw a struggling pack, the attempt to defend the maul which lead to AWJ yellow was pathetic (including AWJ himself). I don't see what King really offers from 8. Even Tipuric was poor, missing some easy tackles which could have been really costly. I'm not really sure O's would have won if BB had kept 15 players on the pitch which would have been the 1st time they lose to french opposition at the liberty i believe.

Lydiate was pretty good though which is exactly why he was signed for, even his ball carrying is looking ok now.

by bedfordwelsh Sun Dec 13, 2015 11:28 am

Heard most of it on the radio and the commentators were very scathing in the end, generally over the basic skill levels (or lack of them) as it sounded.

by Stone Motif Sun Dec 13, 2015 12:10 pm

bedfordwelsh wrote:
wayne wrote:
VinceWLB wrote:Can't believe Ospreys are leaving Ardron out of the squad altogether, he is a much better player than both King and Baker who i must admit has been disappointing and maybe Morgan Allen (injury permitting) was the better prospect, time will tell.
I'm also surprised and disappointed Tyler is not in there, as for Morgan Allen, he was a good impact off the bench that was all, I remember certain people on here saying the same about Pitman this time last year, and if he was so good why did the Scarlets need to have Morgan. The error in my opinion is the selection of Ashley, Thornton should have been in the 2nd row, with Tyler in the back row and King on the bench covering for 2nd and back row with Baker also there.

Unfortunately for Baker he's just not got back to the level he was at before injury, at that particular time he really was pushing for a Welsh spot and offered something different to Faletau but injury is part and parcel of the game.

Have always rated M Allen and he is another who has had bit of injury but hopefully now he will start to regain his form as will Baker.

Classic over hyping of Welsh players there. That Baker has been anywhere near a Welsh squad just shows how cheaply caps are given out thanks to our perennial international season.

by bedfordwelsh Sun Dec 13, 2015 12:19 pm

In your opinion maybe but in his first season his performances were worthy of a squad place in a position were after Faletau we have little or no coverage at all.

by mikey_dragon Sun Dec 13, 2015 1:30 pm

VinceWLB wrote:
mikey_dragon wrote:Vince did you see the match? (honest question).

Yes i did and i saw a struggling pack, the attempt to defend the maul which lead to AWJ yellow was pathetic (including AWJ himself). I don't see what King really offers from 8. Even Tipuric was poor, missing some easy tackles which could have been really costly. I'm not really sure O's would have won if BB had kept 15 players on the pitch which would have been the 1st time they lose to french opposition at the liberty i believe.

Lydiate was pretty good though which is exactly why he was signed for, even his ball carrying is looking ok now.

That's bad news - and the maul is the exact reason I would not have Peers or Ashley (whatever you'd prefer to call him) starting at lock. That guy would be a standout in the premiership select team but I don't think he can play at European level. King is a 6, not an 8 - that was another bad call by the coach to leave out two No.8s. I'm just trying to get a better idea of how they struggled now, did James and Arhip struggle in the scrum? Was the Ospreys breakdown work any good? They picked three decent flankers in the back-row. Ospreys could turn this around and get 5 points next week, stranger things have happened.

Agree on Lydiate, he has improved a lot since coming back from Paris. More evidence to bust the myth that playing abroad makes you a better player.

by mikey_dragon Sun Dec 13, 2015 1:34 pm

bedfordwelsh wrote:In your opinion maybe but in his first season his performances were worthy of a squad place in a position were after Faletau we have little or no coverage at all.

Agree.

by VinceWLB Sun Dec 13, 2015 2:21 pm

mikey_dragon wrote:
VinceWLB wrote:
mikey_dragon wrote:Vince did you see the match? (honest question).

Yes i did and i saw a struggling pack, the attempt to defend the maul which lead to AWJ yellow was pathetic (including AWJ himself). I don't see what King really offers from 8. Even Tipuric was poor, missing some easy tackles which could have been really costly. I'm not really sure O's would have won if BB had kept 15 players on the pitch which would have been the 1st time they lose to french opposition at the liberty i believe.

Lydiate was pretty good though which is exactly why he was signed for, even his ball carrying is looking ok now.

That's bad news - and the maul is the exact reason I would not have Peers or Ashley (whatever you'd prefer to call him) starting at lock. That guy would be a standout in the premiership select team but I don't think he can play at European level. King is a 6, not an 8 - that was another bad call by the coach to leave out two No.8s. I'm just trying to get a better idea of how they struggled now, did James and Arhip struggle in the scrum? Was the Ospreys breakdown work any good? They picked three decent flankers in the back-row. Ospreys could turn this around and get 5 points next week, stranger things have happened.

Agree on Lydiate, he has improved a lot since coming back from Paris. More evidence to bust the myth that playing abroad makes you a better player.

Hard to tell at the scrum as BB kept shoving early all game and only late in the 2nd half they were pinged for it, i would say Arhip and James did ok if you take into account they had Ashley pushing behind them.

As for Lydiate, to be fair he didn't play a lot with Racing! and only the last couple of seasons he has struggled with his ball carrying but i seem to remember prior to that he was never that bad at it.

by wayne Sun Dec 13, 2015 5:28 pm

VinceWLB wrote:
mikey_dragon wrote:Vince did you see the match? (honest question).

Yes i did and i saw a struggling pack, the attempt to defend the maul which lead to AWJ yellow was pathetic (including AWJ himself). I don't see what King really offers from 8. Even Tipuric was poor, missing some easy tackles which could have been really costly. I'm not really sure O's would have won if BB had kept 15 players on the pitch which would have been the 1st time they lose to french opposition at the liberty i believe.

Lydiate was pretty good though which is exactly why he was signed for, even his ball carrying is looking ok now.

Vince, I thought better of you, Justin missed one tackle, reasonably close to our line in the 2nd half, all other tackles he made, I've made my feelings known on Ashley, the one thing you cannot say he lacks is commitment and I don't think he missed a tackle yesterday, King was not utilised as the jumper yesterday but was regularly used as a lifter, after some of the comments I read on here this morning, I then watched this game in its entirety and King in every one of his carries got over the gain line and made some very telling tackles, considering this is his first season in this position I thought he did reasonably well, and for further clarification I was talking with somebody in authority before yesterdays match, and asked him if this was the final match of the season would todays team have been selected and the answer is in the negative, he said we have to rotate, the same 15 cannot be selected every game.
Finally, you said you watched the game yesterday, if you did, you couldn't have missed the statement that was mentioned a few times, their player budget is 20 MILLION EUROS, as some of those playing yesterday were first choice returnees from injury, probably that team yesterday cost more than our total Euro squad, and it was mentioned that they have 55 full time professionals as well as an academy, in light of that information I think we did very well.
Really finally I thought our scrum did very well, especially when the selected 3 were on the field, and that tub of lard should have been penalised practically every scrum, he was driving inwards nearly every scrum, it was a pity that those lineouts towards the end of the game were thrown by Sam, his throwing in is always so flat, when Scott's trajectory has more of a loop, perhaps we'll give our youngster Scott Otten a chance next week.

by wayne Sun Dec 13, 2015 5:33 pm

bedfordwelsh wrote:
wayne wrote:
VinceWLB wrote:Can't believe Ospreys are leaving Ardron out of the squad altogether, he is a much better player than both King and Baker who i must admit has been disappointing and maybe Morgan Allen (injury permitting) was the better prospect, time will tell.
I'm also surprised and disappointed Tyler is not in there, as for Morgan Allen, he was a good impact off the bench that was all, I remember certain people on here saying the same about Pitman this time last year, and if he was so good why did the Scarlets need to have Morgan. The error in my opinion is the selection of Ashley, Thornton should have been in the 2nd row, with Tyler in the back row and King on the bench covering for 2nd and back row with Baker also there.

Unfortunately for Baker he's just not got back to the level he was at before injury, at that particular time he really was pushing for a Welsh spot and offered something different to Faletau but injury is part and parcel of the game.

Have always rated M Allen and he is another who has had bit of injury but hopefully now he will start to regain his form as will Baker.

BW, it's a pity you didn't have more of a say in Morgans early career then because we had him from your area.

by Stone Motif Sun Dec 13, 2015 5:53 pm

bedfordwelsh wrote: after Faletau we have little or no coverage at all.

Fixed. This is the truth of it. Baker is a one trick pony, only someone blind to his many deficiencies would think he should be anywhere near an international place.

by VinceWLB Sun Dec 13, 2015 6:27 pm

wayne wrote:
VinceWLB wrote:
mikey_dragon wrote:Vince did you see the match? (honest question).

Yes i did and i saw a struggling pack, the attempt to defend the maul which lead to AWJ yellow was pathetic (including AWJ himself). I don't see what King really offers from 8. Even Tipuric was poor, missing some easy tackles which could have been really costly. I'm not really sure O's would have won if BB had kept 15 players on the pitch which would have been the 1st time they lose to french opposition at the liberty i believe.

Lydiate was pretty good though which is exactly why he was signed for, even his ball carrying is looking ok now.
Vince, I thought better of you, Justin missed one tackle, reasonably close to our line in the 2nd half, all other tackles he made, I've made my feelings known on Ashley, the one thing you cannot say he lacks is commitment and I don't think he missed a tackle yesterday, King was not utilised as the jumper yesterday but was regularly used as a lifter, after some of the comments I read on here this morning, I then watched this game in its entirety and King in every one of his carries got over the gain line and made some very telling tackles, considering this is his first season in this position I thought he did reasonably well, and for further clarification I was talking with somebody in authority before yesterdays match, and asked him if this was the final match of the season would todays team have been selected and the answer is in the negative, he said we have to rotate, the same 15 cannot be selected every game.
Finally, you said you watched the game yesterday, if you did, you couldn't have missed the statement that was mentioned a few times, their player budget is 20 MILLION EUROS, as some of those playing yesterday were first choice returnees from injury, probably that team yesterday cost more than our total Euro squad, and it was mentioned that they have 55 full time professionals as well as an academy, in light of that information I think we did very well.
Really finally I thought our scrum did very well, especially when the selected 3 were on the field, and that tub of lard should have been penalised practically every scrum, he was driving inwards nearly every scrum, it was a pity that those lineouts towards the end of the game were thrown by Sam, his throwing in is always so flat, when Scott's trajectory has more of a loop, perhaps we'll give our youngster Scott Otten a chance next week.

Sorry Wayne, i was being a bit harsh admittedly but i was disappointed by the O's performance, the front 5 didn't quite work as a unit imo. I'm not questioning Ashley's commitment, but he shouldn't be selected over other, better players because of it alone. I'm well aware of those top 14 teams playing budgets, this is making a mockery of the whole European tournament or whatever is it called now...

Still hoping you can be the only pro12 side in the final stage of the tournament.

by wayne Sun Dec 13, 2015 7:04 pm

VinceWLB wrote:
wayne wrote:
VinceWLB wrote:
mikey_dragon wrote:Vince did you see the match? (honest question).

Yes i did and i saw a struggling pack, the attempt to defend the maul which lead to AWJ yellow was pathetic (including AWJ himself). I don't see what King really offers from 8. Even Tipuric was poor, missing some easy tackles which could have been really costly. I'm not really sure O's would have won if BB had kept 15 players on the pitch which would have been the 1st time they lose to french opposition at the liberty i believe.

Lydiate was pretty good though which is exactly why he was signed for, even his ball carrying is looking ok now.
Vince, I thought better of you, Justin missed one tackle, reasonably close to our line in the 2nd half, all other tackles he made, I've made my feelings known on Ashley, the one thing you cannot say he lacks is commitment and I don't think he missed a tackle yesterday, King was not utilised as the jumper yesterday but was regularly used as a lifter, after some of the comments I read on here this morning, I then watched this game in its entirety and King in every one of his carries got over the gain line and made some very telling tackles, considering this is his first season in this position I thought he did reasonably well, and for further clarification I was talking with somebody in authority before yesterdays match, and asked him if this was the final match of the season would todays team have been selected and the answer is in the negative, he said we have to rotate, the same 15 cannot be selected every game.
Finally, you said you watched the game yesterday, if you did, you couldn't have missed the statement that was mentioned a few times, their player budget is 20 MILLION EUROS, as some of those playing yesterday were first choice returnees from injury, probably that team yesterday cost more than our total Euro squad, and it was mentioned that they have 55 full time professionals as well as an academy, in light of that information I think we did very well.
Really finally I thought our scrum did very well, especially when the selected 3 were on the field, and that tub of lard should have been penalised practically every scrum, he was driving inwards nearly every scrum, it was a pity that those lineouts towards the end of the game were thrown by Sam, his throwing in is always so flat, when Scott's trajectory has more of a loop, perhaps we'll give our youngster Scott Otten a chance next week.

Sorry Wayne, i was being a bit harsh admittedly but i was disappointed by the O's performance, the front 5 didn't quite work as a unit imo. I'm not questioning Ashley's commitment, but he shouldn't be selected over other, better players because of it alone. I'm well aware of those top 14 teams playing budgets, this is making a mockery of the whole European tournament or whatever is it called now...

Still hoping you can be the only pro12 side in the final stage of the tournament.

Vince I was led into a false sense of security with what whocares said last week, and expected 5 points from yesterday, but when I heard about their budget when watching the game back, you have to put it into perspective, there was some silly decisions taken yesterday on the field, in which we could have had a bigger lead at the start, their 2nd rows were HUGE, even bigger than AWJ. Have to say what an improved player Lydiate is, it is good that he is not just a one trick pony these days. As for qualifying we have to be a lot better than we were yesterday, I think that this year is a couple of years to early for that eventuality, for me I think we have exceeded what I thought we would get out of this years tournament already.

by Cardiff Dave Sun Dec 13, 2015 7:10 pm

wayne wrote:
BW, it's a pity you didn't have more of a say in Morgans early career then because we had him from your area.

Didn't the Os have a say in 1/2p's early career?

by mikey_dragon Sun Dec 13, 2015 7:11 pm

I think both Allen and Halfpenny failed to get promotion from their academies, and then worked their way up through premeirship rugby? Halfpenny was quite the livewire back then.

by Stone Motif Sun Dec 13, 2015 7:19 pm

mikey_dragon wrote:I think both Allen and Halfpenny failed to get promotion from their academies, and then worked their way up through premeirship rugby? Halfpenny was quite the livewire back then.

Allen was never in our academy.

by whocares Sun Dec 13, 2015 7:31 pm

People mentioning the budget of 20 million should take a look at the team that was fielded by UBB yesterday:
- a few guys that have been around since the prod2 years (Adams, Clarkin, Chalmers)
- various t14 rejects such as Bernard, Poux and Buttin
- various players poached from prod2 or 3rd division clubs (Botha,Lonca, ducuing )
- few local youngsters who might be involved in 5 games per year (Brousse, Riva , Dubie and some names on the bench I actually discovered).

The bottom line is that the Ospreys a team who has a few Welsh internationals struggled to beat a team who on the paper is hardly better than Zebre but surely better coached.

by wayne Sun Dec 13, 2015 7:32 pm

mikey_dragon wrote:I think both Allen and Halfpenny failed to get promotion from their academies, and then worked their way up through premeirship rugby? Halfpenny was quite the livewire back then.

Mikey he played within Ospreylia from 2010 to 15, first in the Premiership with Swansea and Aberavon, and then with us, he had over 50 appearances admittedly most from the bench for us, if you cannot play to such a standard with the class of players in our team, you'll have a job with anybody, I genuinely hope he does well with the Scarlets, as long as it's not against us. Good luck to him I say.

by wayne Sun Dec 13, 2015 7:37 pm

whocares wrote:People mentioning the budget of 20 million should take a look at the team that was fielded by UBB yesterday:
- a few guys that have been around since the prod2 years (Adams, Clarkin, Chalmers)
- various t14 rejects such as Bernard, Poux and Buttin
- various players poached from prod2 or 3rd division clubs (Botha,Lonca, ducuing )
- few local youngsters who might be involved in 5 games per year (Brousse, Riva , Dubie and some names on the bench I actually discovered).

The bottom line is that the Ospreys a team who has a few Welsh internationals struggled to beat a team who on the paper is hardly better than Zebre but surely better coached.

Having watched both of our performances against UBB and Zebre at the Liberty this season, to say they are relatively equal is a bit of a porkie
whocares.

by Cardiff Dave Sun Dec 13, 2015 7:38 pm

wayne wrote:
mikey_dragon wrote:I think both Allen and Halfpenny failed to get promotion from their academies, and then worked their way up through premeirship rugby? Halfpenny was quite the livewire back then.
Mikey he played within Ospreylia from 2010 to 15, first in the Premiership with Swansea and Aberavon, and then with us, he had over 50 appearances admittedly most from the bench for us, if you cannot play to such a standard with the class of players in our team, you'll have a job with anybody, I genuinely hope he does well with the Scarlets, as long as it's not against us. Good luck to him I say.

Ach y fi.

by whocares Sun Dec 13, 2015 7:45 pm

Well I was exaggerating the picture on purpose Wayne. If you take out Kepu and perhaps Poux (who played for France 8 years ago), the names you have left should not bring any fear to the opponents. More or less the same team got schooled by Endimburgh twice last year.

by mikey_dragon Sun Dec 13, 2015 7:54 pm

Whocares, easy win for BB next week then Wink

.

by wayne Sun Dec 13, 2015 8:02 pm

whocares wrote:Well I was exaggerating the picture on purpose Wayne. If you take out Kepu and perhaps Poux (who played for France 8 years ago), the names you have left should not bring any fear to the opponents. More or less the same team got schooled by Endimburgh twice last year.

Poux was still playing for France 3 years ago, there was about half a dozen decent T 14 players in that team yesterday that I've heard of, and how long has the 3 coaches been in situ? If that team was schooled by Edinburgh why have they been retained by BB, they must have shown those coaches that they improved enough to be retained as one of the 55 Professionals on their books.
As I said earlier we made some ridiculous decisions in that match and our ball retention was poor, that was not a poor UBB team at least they didn't play like one.

by whocares Sun Dec 13, 2015 8:03 pm

mikey_dragon wrote:Whocares, easy win for BB next week then .

Depends which Ospreys team turns up Wink

by Stone Motif Sun Dec 13, 2015 11:46 pm

wayne wrote:if you cannot play to such a standard with the class of players in our team, you'll have a job with anybody

by Cardiff Dave Tue Dec 15, 2015 7:26 pm

whocares wrote:
mikey_dragon wrote:Whocares, easy win for BB next week then .

Depends which Ospreys team turns up

It won't be the "true one", that's for sure. Very Happy

by wayne Tue Dec 15, 2015 8:08 pm

Cardiff Dave wrote:
whocares wrote:
mikey_dragon wrote:Whocares, easy win for BB next week then .

Depends which Ospreys team turns up

It won't be the "true one", that's for sure.

Which one do you think it will be then Dave Shocked

by Cardiff Dave Tue Dec 15, 2015 8:28 pm

wayne wrote:
Cardiff Dave wrote:
whocares wrote:
mikey_dragon wrote:Whocares, easy win for BB next week then .

Depends which Ospreys team turns up

It won't be the "true one", that's for sure.
Which one do you think it will be then Dave

Ospreys RFC?

by wayne Tue Dec 15, 2015 8:43 pm

Cardiff Dave wrote:
wayne wrote:
Cardiff Dave wrote:
whocares wrote:
mikey_dragon wrote:Whocares, easy win for BB next week then .

Depends which Ospreys team turns up

It won't be the "true one", that's for sure.
Which one do you think it will be then Dave

Ospreys RFC?

Stop embarrassing yourself FFS Dave

by Cardiff Dave Tue Dec 15, 2015 8:55 pm

wayne wrote:
Cardiff Dave wrote:
wayne wrote:
Cardiff Dave wrote:
whocares wrote:
mikey_dragon wrote:Whocares, easy win for BB next week then .

Depends which Ospreys team turns up

It won't be the "true one", that's for sure.
Which one do you think it will be then Dave

Ospreys RFC?
Stop embarrassing yourself FFS Dave

Only answered your question mun.

by whocares Thu Dec 17, 2015 6:11 pm

still no thread for that game so am posting UBB squad for Saturday game here :

Forwards :

Steven KITSHOFF ; Benat AUZQUI ; Jefferson POIROT ; Matthew CLARKIN ; Jandre MARAIS ; Clément MAYNADIER ; Francisco GOMEZ KODELA ; Marco TAULEIGNE ; Hugh CHALMERS ; Ole AVEI ; Berend BOTHA ; Sekope KEPU ; Loann GOUJON ; Julien LEDEVEDEC ; Louis-Benoît MADAULE.

Backs :

Félix LE BOURHIS ; Heini ADAMS ; Baptiste SERIN ; Sofiane GUITOUNE ; Pierre BERNARD ; Julien REY ; Darly DOMVO ; Yann LESGOURGUES ; Adam ASHLEY COOPER ; Jean-Marcellin BUTTIN ; Metuisela TALEBULA.

that's 11 players that were not included in last week squad with likes of Avei, Marais, Goujon, Madaule, Lesgourgues, Guitoune, Rey, Talebula being usual first choice. Also AAC is meant to play gis first game this weekend (I assume at 13).

by wayne Thu Dec 17, 2015 7:44 pm

whocares wrote:still no thread for that game so am posting UBB squad for Saturday game here :

Forwards :

Steven KITSHOFF ; Benat AUZQUI ; Jefferson POIROT ; Matthew CLARKIN ; Jandre MARAIS ; Clément MAYNADIER ; Francisco GOMEZ KODELA ; Marco TAULEIGNE ; Hugh CHALMERS ; Ole AVEI ; Berend BOTHA ; Sekope KEPU ; Loann GOUJON ; Julien LEDEVEDEC ; Louis-Benoît MADAULE.

Backs :

Félix LE BOURHIS ; Heini ADAMS ; Baptiste SERIN ; Sofiane GUITOUNE ; Pierre BERNARD ; Julien REY ; Darly DOMVO ; Yann LESGOURGUES ; Adam ASHLEY COOPER ; Jean-Marcellin BUTTIN ; Metuisela TALEBULA.

that's 11 players that were not included in last week squad with likes of Avei, Marais, Goujon, Madaule, Lesgourgues, Guitoune, Rey, Talebula being usual first choice. Also AAC is meant to play gis first game this weekend (I assume at 13).

Thanks whocares, we don't normally release our squad for any match, we normally release our first team and bench at around 12 midday the day before the match (local time). That is back to the first team squad then, in a report in the local press, Brendon Leonard the scrum half could be left behind as his wife is expecting a baby, so the bloke who came on in the match last week Tom Habberfield will start, I would have had him starting anyway, it doesn't really weaken us.
Going by how we played last week, and UBB strengthening the team, unless we change a few of our team and improve dramatically, it will be a long evening for us.

by mikey_dragon Fri Dec 18, 2015 12:51 pm

Wayne it looks as if your team for BB will be the same. Fia, Beard and Bernardo are each starting for PS XV. At least Fia is now where he should be, which is where I said last week.

by mikey_dragon Fri Dec 18, 2015 2:13 pm

Just seen the team anyway, it's unchanged, except the bench this week is weaker. Regardless of the result I actually now believe Steve Tandy is a worse coach than Lyn 'Tombola' Jones.

by VinceWLB Fri Dec 18, 2015 2:15 pm

Ospreys can say goodbye to the final stage then.

by wayne Fri Dec 18, 2015 3:44 pm

mikey_dragon wrote:Just seen the team anyway, it's unchanged, except the bench this week is weaker. Regardless of the result I actually now believe Steve Tandy is a worse coach than Lyn 'Tombola' Jones.

Mikey, have a look at the team again, it's not unchanged, yes the bench is weaker, not through selectorial (is that a word) issues, all to do with injuries and pregnancy, and don't be silly Tandy is a miles better coach than the Lip, look at the squads each of them had with us, and who really under performed.

by wayne Fri Dec 18, 2015 3:51 pm

VinceWLB wrote:Ospreys can say goodbye to the final stage then.

Some of us never expected us to reach the QF, from the very beginning, we've exceeded what I'd hoped for already in this competition, with the squad money at the disposal of the 3 other teams in our pool far exceeding, what we have at our disposal, I think we have had a fantastic start to our Pool.

by mikey_dragon Fri Dec 18, 2015 3:53 pm

Well I didn't really notice any more changes unless your scrum-half is different(?), as I was more observant to the changes that should have been made (Ashley, King and bench). It's not a question of who underperformed then but who is underperforming now - so saying Tandy is miles better than Lip isn't true and wouldn't even make a good joke.

by mikey_dragon Fri Dec 18, 2015 3:56 pm

wayne wrote:
VinceWLB wrote:Ospreys can say goodbye to the final stage then.
Some of us never expected us to reach the QF, from the very beginning, we've exceeded what I'd hoped for already in this competition, with the squad money at the disposal of the 3 other teams in our pool far exceeding, what we have at our disposal, I think we have had a fantastic start to our Pool.

But the Ospreys have 15-23 players capable of competing with and beating the best. Those players either aren't picked or are not properly utilised - from that perspective you have to look at the coaches and the entire set-up, because beneath the pro game your premiership teams and PS aren't exactly going well.

by wayne Fri Dec 18, 2015 4:03 pm

mikey_dragon wrote:Well I didn't really notice any more changes unless your scrum-half is different(?), as I was more observant to the changes that should have been made (Ashley, King and bench). It's not a question of who underperformed then but who is underperforming now - so saying Tandy is miles better than Lip isn't true and wouldn't even make a good joke.

Habberfield, John and Hassler, we'll have to agree to disagree about the Lip, there are even some of your teams followers on here who wants rid of the Lip, why is it that no team worth any substance (sorry) has come in for him, since he left us. He'll fetch players through to a decent standard, then he'll stagnate. I said this on last years Ospreys thread and you'll find out the same.

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