Ospreys 2015/16 Season

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.

Yeah they do want to get shot of Tombola I know, and can agree with them, but that isn't exactly a criterion which shows Tandy is better. Tandy is underachieving and with more quality players available makes some daft decisions.

Ospreys P S XV to play Munster A at the Brewery Field on Sunday 3PM
R Fussell, Tom Williams, Joe Thomas, Owen Watkin, K Phillips, Luke Price, Mathew Aubrey, Marc Thomas, Mathew Dwyer, Ma'afu Fia, Adam Beard,
Rynier Bernardo, Sam Underhill, Luke Evans, Ifereimi Boladau, with Dale Rogers, Dan Suter, Gareth Thomas, Rhys Jones, Reuben Morgan Williams and Joel Matavesi on the bench.
Good to see Fia and Bernardo getting starts, I'll probably go to see this match, to run my eye over these youngsters, by all accounts we were in the match up to the 60th minute in the away fixture last week, hope it's entertaining.

Late shock, Matavesi out with calf problem, John goes to 12 Sam Davies from the bench in to 13 and Cracknell onto bench to make it a 6 2 split , any chance of a losing BP now gone, a long night in store.

An excellent display of attacking intent from the Ospreys - had they cut out the errors they would have won that.

Same old story then.

GavinDragon wrote:An excellent display of attacking intent from the Ospreys - had they cut out the errors they would have won that.

Yes you are right Gavin some terrible mistakes by us, but overall a brilliant game plan, some of our offloading game was tremendous.
I'll have to watch it back on the tele tomorrow, as from what I could see today, that Ref was pathetic, why wasn't the slap down in the first half after their first yellow wasn'tanother was beyond me, when Tipuric took the quick tap aprox 8 metres out and the tackling player was in front of the try line by at least a metre wasn't that at least a yellow and a penalty try is beyond me. Don't anybody come on here and complain about the Refs in our League, when you see as much ineptness as was shown today.
Yet if anybody had told me we would have had 4 points from 2 away matches in France at the start of this competition, I would have bitten their hands off, FANTASTIC EFFORT.

Good result Ospreys, even though it wasn't a win. 2 points out there is no mean feat.

Quite an entertaining game. Kudos to Ospreys for playing attacking rugby there. I agree that Guitoune could have got a yellow in the 1st half but for the rest the ref was equally bad to us specially around the rucks and being lenient on offsides. Happy with the win. Don't expect UBB to come out of the pool but as long as they are competitive and win at home am happy with that.

whocares wrote:Quite an entertaining game. Kudos to Ospreys for playing attacking rugby there. I agree that Guitoune could have got a yellow in the 1st half but for the rest the ref was equally bad to us specially around the rucks and being lenient on offsides. Happy with the win. Don't expect UBB to come out of the pool but as long as they are competitive and win at home am happy with that.

Yes it was an entertaining game whocares, really good, the Tipuric incident I took from a normally good poster on our board and he was nowhere near 10 yards back, Tips would have scored if he had been, I was watching the second half on my computer I'll watch it back tomorrow, some of our tackling was abysmal, Walker on your South sea Islander was pathetic and how that try was given is beyond me. Dan Evans was pushed in the back and his knee hit the ball back behind the line, it should have been a penalty to us, they even reviewed it and still awarded the try.
Even so I'm relatively pleased with what we've realised in our 2 matches in France.

Shame Walker does not tackle and the replacement props could not hold their side up, should have won that with all the territory and possession. Javis is a waste of space in the scrum, I suspect he will not be at the Ospreys next season.

wayne wrote:
Yet if anybody had told me we would have had 4 points from 2 away matches in France at the start of this competition, I would have bitten their hands off, FANTASTIC EFFORT.

I'm getting a sense of deja vu here.

Luke Pearce the referee is from Exeter?.How is this allowed

thespreys wrote:Luke Pearce the referee is from Exeter?.How is this allowed

Indeed that's way too close to Wales for my liking

As there is no individual topic, have to start the Scarlets v Ospreys match here. Ospreys team is
Dan Evans, Jeff Hassler, Ben John, Josh Matavesi, Hanno Dirksen, Dan Biggar, Tom Habberfield, Paul James, Scott Baldwin, Dmitri Arhip, Lloyd Ashley, AWJ, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric and James King with Sam Parry, Nicky Smith, Aaron Jarvis, Rory Thornton, Dan Baker, Martyn Roberts, Sam Davies and Eli Walker on the bench. Can't remember all of the Scarlets team so will leave it to SS to put theirs up. There are 2 in their team with a point to prove, Gareth Owen and Morgan Allen, the 2 Canadians Hassler and DTH will be opposite each other, 2 battles in the front row will be interesting to say the least, Paul James against Samson Lee and Scott Baldwin against Ken Owens.
This could turn out to be extremely brutal and I wouldn't mind betting a few yellows will be issued by Nige, I think it will end up 4-1 in League points, but who gets what is open to question in my eyes.

wayne wrote:As there is no individual topic, have to start the Scarlets v Ospreys match here. Ospreys team is
Dan Evans, Jeff Hassler, Ben John, Josh Matavesi, Hanno Dirksen, Dan Biggar, Tom Habberfield, Paul James, Scott Baldwin, Dmitri Arhip, Lloyd Ashley, AWJ, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric and James King with Sam Parry, Nicky Smith, Aaron Jarvis, Rory Thornton, Dan Baker, Martyn Roberts, Sam Davies and Eli Walker on the bench. Can't remember all of the Scarlets team so will leave it to SS to put theirs up. There are 2 in their team with a point to prove, Gareth Owen and Morgan Allen, the 2 Canadians Hassler and DTH will be opposite each other, 2 battles in the front row will be interesting to say the least, Paul James against Samson Lee and Scott Baldwin against Ken Owens.
This could turn out to be extremely brutal and I wouldn't mind betting a few yellows will be issued by Nige, I think it will end up 4-1 in League points, but who gets what is open to question in my eyes.

Can't see Scarlets winning with Nige as referee, it's the only game he can't seem to manage to be impartial for.

Seagultaf wrote:

wayne wrote:As there is no individual topic, have to start the Scarlets v Ospreys match here. Ospreys team is
Dan Evans, Jeff Hassler, Ben John, Josh Matavesi, Hanno Dirksen, Dan Biggar, Tom Habberfield, Paul James, Scott Baldwin, Dmitri Arhip, Lloyd Ashley, AWJ, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric and James King with Sam Parry, Nicky Smith, Aaron Jarvis, Rory Thornton, Dan Baker, Martyn Roberts, Sam Davies and Eli Walker on the bench. Can't remember all of the Scarlets team so will leave it to SS to put theirs up. There are 2 in their team with a point to prove, Gareth Owen and Morgan Allen, the 2 Canadians Hassler and DTH will be opposite each other, 2 battles in the front row will be interesting to say the least, Paul James against Samson Lee and Scott Baldwin against Ken Owens.
This could turn out to be extremely brutal and I wouldn't mind betting a few yellows will be issued by Nige, I think it will end up 4-1 in League points, but who gets what is open to question in my eyes.

Can't see Scarlets winning with Nige as referee, it's the only game he can't seem to manage to be impartial for.

Come on Seagul, don't get the excuses in beforehand, this should be close with either team nicking it.

wayne wrote:

Seagultaf wrote:

wayne wrote:As there is no individual topic, have to start the Scarlets v Ospreys match here. Ospreys team is
Dan Evans, Jeff Hassler, Ben John, Josh Matavesi, Hanno Dirksen, Dan Biggar, Tom Habberfield, Paul James, Scott Baldwin, Dmitri Arhip, Lloyd Ashley, AWJ, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric and James King with Sam Parry, Nicky Smith, Aaron Jarvis, Rory Thornton, Dan Baker, Martyn Roberts, Sam Davies and Eli Walker on the bench. Can't remember all of the Scarlets team so will leave it to SS to put theirs up. There are 2 in their team with a point to prove, Gareth Owen and Morgan Allen, the 2 Canadians Hassler and DTH will be opposite each other, 2 battles in the front row will be interesting to say the least, Paul James against Samson Lee and Scott Baldwin against Ken Owens.
This could turn out to be extremely brutal and I wouldn't mind betting a few yellows will be issued by Nige, I think it will end up 4-1 in League points, but who gets what is open to question in my eyes.

Can't see Scarlets winning with Nige as referee, it's the only game he can't seem to manage to be impartial for.

Come on Seagul, don't get the excuses in beforehand, this should be close with either team nicking it.

I rest my case, some real bloomers by Nigel in the second half. Matavesi should have been carded, he lifted the feet and head and shoulders hit the ground first. Laws say red but a lenient yellow would have sufficed, no card after Ball was rightly carded after a marginally late tackle was shocking. Minutes later he creates the winning try, talk about adding insult to injury! Also the decision to penalise the Scarlets under the Ospreys posts when they had counter rucked and Roberts was holding on was perverse. I bet the Scarlets supporters are livid!

Seagultaf wrote:

wayne wrote:

Seagultaf wrote:

wayne wrote:As there is no individual topic, have to start the Scarlets v Ospreys match here. Ospreys team is
Dan Evans, Jeff Hassler, Ben John, Josh Matavesi, Hanno Dirksen, Dan Biggar, Tom Habberfield, Paul James, Scott Baldwin, Dmitri Arhip, Lloyd Ashley, AWJ, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric and James King with Sam Parry, Nicky Smith, Aaron Jarvis, Rory Thornton, Dan Baker, Martyn Roberts, Sam Davies and Eli Walker on the bench. Can't remember all of the Scarlets team so will leave it to SS to put theirs up. There are 2 in their team with a point to prove, Gareth Owen and Morgan Allen, the 2 Canadians Hassler and DTH will be opposite each other, 2 battles in the front row will be interesting to say the least, Paul James against Samson Lee and Scott Baldwin against Ken Owens.
This could turn out to be extremely brutal and I wouldn't mind betting a few yellows will be issued by Nige, I think it will end up 4-1 in League points, but who gets what is open to question in my eyes.

Can't see Scarlets winning with Nige as referee, it's the only game he can't seem to manage to be impartial for.

Come on Seagul, don't get the excuses in beforehand, this should be close with either team nicking it.

I rest my case, some real bloomers by Nigel in the second half. Matavesi should have been carded, he lifted the feet and head and shoulders hit the ground first. Laws say red but a lenient yellow would have sufficed, no card after Ball was rightly carded after a marginally late tackle was shocking. Minutes later he creates the winning try, talk about adding insult to injury! Also the decision to penalise the Scarlets under the Ospreys posts when they had counter rucked and Roberts was holding on was perverse. I bet the Scarlets supporters are livid!

Seagul you need better glasses it was his hand and shoulders that hit the ground NOT his head, Ball was not marginally late even a known Scarlet like Jiffy said it was late and worth a yellow, it wasn't a penalty for the Scarlets because one of their players who made the tackle  on Roberts didn't release him and brought the ball back to his own side a clear penalty for us, what was worth a yellow for your lot was the Lydiate tackle at the end.
What a cracking game and a really good advertisement for Guinness League Rugby, why can't the Welsh paying public realise if they get a good atmosphere in a decent Stadium, it also lifts the players and you get the sort of spectacle that was witnessed today, let me just say when Gatland selects his 6N squad in a couple of weeks I hope he selects Rob Evans and Nicky Smith as his loose head options, Rob was outstanding in the loose and was not found wanting in the scrum.

wayne wrote:

Seagultaf wrote:

wayne wrote:

Seagultaf wrote:

wayne wrote:As there is no individual topic, have to start the Scarlets v Ospreys match here. Ospreys team is
Dan Evans, Jeff Hassler, Ben John, Josh Matavesi, Hanno Dirksen, Dan Biggar, Tom Habberfield, Paul James, Scott Baldwin, Dmitri Arhip, Lloyd Ashley, AWJ, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric and James King with Sam Parry, Nicky Smith, Aaron Jarvis, Rory Thornton, Dan Baker, Martyn Roberts, Sam Davies and Eli Walker on the bench. Can't remember all of the Scarlets team so will leave it to SS to put theirs up. There are 2 in their team with a point to prove, Gareth Owen and Morgan Allen, the 2 Canadians Hassler and DTH will be opposite each other, 2 battles in the front row will be interesting to say the least, Paul James against Samson Lee and Scott Baldwin against Ken Owens.
This could turn out to be extremely brutal and I wouldn't mind betting a few yellows will be issued by Nige, I think it will end up 4-1 in League points, but who gets what is open to question in my eyes.

Can't see Scarlets winning with Nige as referee, it's the only game he can't seem to manage to be impartial for.

Come on Seagul, don't get the excuses in beforehand, this should be close with either team nicking it.

I rest my case, some real bloomers by Nigel in the second half. Matavesi should have been carded, he lifted the feet and head and shoulders hit the ground first. Laws say red but a lenient yellow would have sufficed, no card after Ball was rightly carded after a marginally late tackle was shocking. Minutes later he creates the winning try, talk about adding insult to injury! Also the decision to penalise the Scarlets under the Ospreys posts when they had counter rucked and Roberts was holding on was perverse. I bet the Scarlets supporters are livid!

Seagul you need better glasses it was his hand and shoulders that hit the ground NOT his head, Ball was not marginally late even a known Scarlet like Jiffy said it was late and worth a yellow, it wasn't a penalty for the Scarlets because one of their players who made the tackle  on Roberts didn't release him and brought the ball back to his own side a clear penalty for us, what was worth a yellow for your lot was the Lydiate tackle at the end.
What a cracking game and a really good advertisement for Guinness League Rugby, why can't the Welsh paying public realise if they get a good atmosphere in a decent Stadium, it also lifts the players and you get the sort of spectacle that was witnessed today, let me just say when Gatland selects his 6N squad in a couple of weeks I hope he selects Rob Evans and Nicky Smith as his loose head options, Rob was outstanding in the loose and was not found wanting in the scrum.

I agree great game and great advertisement for the Pro 12 but it's disapointing that at the end I felt that it was Nigel's two blunders in the second half that settled the result. It was a tip tackle and the Law is very clear and for that incident (head or upper body hit the ground first) it says Red card, (for me yellow would have sufficed) and the commentators agreed that Nigel's call on the incident under the posts was wrong as the Scarlets had rucked over the ball carrier, although Nigel was unsighted he was still wrong.

Nigel is my favourite Ref, I really enjoy watching him play but as he trains with the Ospreys he is too close to them and this affects his usually sound judgement. He had a good first half a few errors against both sides, but they balanced out. Two big errors in the second half changed the result of the game. As I said Scarlets supporters must be livid ...... and Ospreys supporters very relieved![/quote]

Seagultaf wrote:

wayne wrote:

Seagultaf wrote:

wayne wrote:

Seagultaf wrote:

wayne wrote:As there is no individual topic, have to start the Scarlets v Ospreys match here. Ospreys team is
Dan Evans, Jeff Hassler, Ben John, Josh Matavesi, Hanno Dirksen, Dan Biggar, Tom Habberfield, Paul James, Scott Baldwin, Dmitri Arhip, Lloyd Ashley, AWJ, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric and James King with Sam Parry, Nicky Smith, Aaron Jarvis, Rory Thornton, Dan Baker, Martyn Roberts, Sam Davies and Eli Walker on the bench. Can't remember all of the Scarlets team so will leave it to SS to put theirs up. There are 2 in their team with a point to prove, Gareth Owen and Morgan Allen, the 2 Canadians Hassler and DTH will be opposite each other, 2 battles in the front row will be interesting to say the least, Paul James against Samson Lee and Scott Baldwin against Ken Owens.
This could turn out to be extremely brutal and I wouldn't mind betting a few yellows will be issued by Nige, I think it will end up 4-1 in League points, but who gets what is open to question in my eyes.

Can't see Scarlets winning with Nige as referee, it's the only game he can't seem to manage to be impartial for.

Come on Seagul, don't get the excuses in beforehand, this should be close with either team nicking it.

I rest my case, some real bloomers by Nigel in the second half. Matavesi should have been carded, he lifted the feet and head and shoulders hit the ground first. Laws say red but a lenient yellow would have sufficed, no card after Ball was rightly carded after a marginally late tackle was shocking. Minutes later he creates the winning try, talk about adding insult to injury! Also the decision to penalise the Scarlets under the Ospreys posts when they had counter rucked and Roberts was holding on was perverse. I bet the Scarlets supporters are livid!

Seagul you need better glasses it was his hand and shoulders that hit the ground NOT his head, Ball was not marginally late even a known Scarlet like Jiffy said it was late and worth a yellow, it wasn't a penalty for the Scarlets because one of their players who made the tackle  on Roberts didn't release him and brought the ball back to his own side a clear penalty for us, what was worth a yellow for your lot was the Lydiate tackle at the end.
What a cracking game and a really good advertisement for Guinness League Rugby, why can't the Welsh paying public realise if they get a good atmosphere in a decent Stadium, it also lifts the players and you get the sort of spectacle that was witnessed today, let me just say when Gatland selects his 6N squad in a couple of weeks I hope he selects Rob Evans and Nicky Smith as his loose head options, Rob was outstanding in the loose and was not found wanting in the scrum.[/quote

I agree great game and great advertisement for the Pro 12 but it's disapointing that at the end I felt that it was Nigel's two blunders in the second half that settled the result. It was a tip tackle and the Law says Red card, (yellow would have sufficed) and the commentators agreed that Nigel's call on the incident under the posts was wrong although Nigel was unsighted he was still wrong.

Nigel is my favourite Ref, I really enjoy watching him play but as he trains with the Ospreys he is too close to them and this affects his usually sound judgement. He had a good first half a few errors against both sides, but they balanced out. Two big errors in the second half changed the result of the game. As I said Scarlets supporters must be livid ...... and Ospreys supporters very relieved!

Seagul, Nige doesn't just train with the Os, he trains and helps with interpretation of the Laws with all 4 Welsh teams, the law does not say Red, go and read what what the Law states about what card should be issued for the kind of tackle that took place, I explained about the incident under the posts, it was a clear penalty for us, a player that makes a tackle HAS to release the tackled player to be able to play the ball, your player didn't.
Finally, he is not my favourite, how many decisions did he change today after what he saw on the big screen, 3 or 4 or perhaps even more, he does make for a more free flowing game, but for an old timer like me I like to see the Laws adhered to.

Sorry Wayne I say what I saw, a tip tackle (as described in the IRB ruling) unpunished and a shockingly poor descision under the posts. And Nigel trains at Llandarcy, with the Ospreys, as stated by Jiffy during today's game!

If Nigel had let Ball off for his late hit on Biggar, I would have had more sympathy with his descision to let off Josh, a Ref should be consistent, Nige wasn't.

glamorganalun wrote:Shame Walker does not tackle and the replacement props could not hold their side up, should have won that with all the territory and possession. Javis is a waste of space in the scrum, I suspect he will not be at the Ospreys next season.

jarvis has been a nightmare year after year, poor at scrumaging and average everywhere else. still at least we won today

Seagultaf wrote:Sorry Wayne I say what I saw, a tip tackle (as described in the IRB ruling) unpunished and a shockingly poor descision under the posts. And Nigel trains at Llandarcy, with the Ospreys, as stated by Jiffy during today's game!

If Nigel had let Ball off for his late hit on Biggar, I would have had more sympathy with his descision to let off Josh, a Ref should be consistent, Nige wasn't.

I'm pretty sure Nige has stated previously that he's a Scarlets fan. Not sure that his training venue then matters too much.

He lifted him up but not beyond the horizontal, and put him down under control,clearly explained by Owens. Scarlet fever is blaming Owens. Worse than that old bag skank on TV flicking Vs at Ospreys fans after the first try.

Griff wrote:

Seagultaf wrote:Sorry Wayne I say what I saw, a tip tackle (as described in the IRB ruling) unpunished and a shockingly poor descision under the posts. And Nigel trains at Llandarcy, with the Ospreys, as stated by Jiffy during today's game!

If Nigel had let Ball off for his late hit on Biggar, I would have had more sympathy with his descision to let off Josh, a Ref should be consistent, Nige wasn't.

I'm pretty sure Nige has stated previously that he's a Scarlets fan. Not sure that his training venue then matters too much.

Griff, thanks for the moral help, Nige lives in Pontyberem have a look how close that is to Llanelli compared to Llandarcy, and the fact that I know he gets fit at all the Regions, not just us. He also advises all the Regions on Law interpretation.
It was also good to see Pivac saying in his press conference after the game that Owens wasn't the reason we won today.

Exactly, Nigel Owens gave them a 3 point chance at the end and they fluffed it. So it (the loss) was down to the kicker as far as I can see.

Just to add, Scarlets are my second team by the way so I'd have loved nothing better than to see them win. But I just don't think Owens was the reason for the loss.

FWIW I think the tip tackle was a yellow, just going on what I've seen given elsewhere.

Breadvan wrote:He lifted him up but not beyond the horizontal, and put him down under control,clearly explained by Owens. Scarlet fever is blaming Owens. Worse than that old bag skank on TV flicking Vs at Ospreys fans after the first try.

Look at the replay, whilst there didn't look to be any malice in the tackle, he was lifted above the horizontal and dropped on his head/shoulder. According to the Laws that is a straight red. For me a yellow would have been fair but no card was not. I think Nigel realised that it should be a red. After giving Ball a yellow which was probably deserved, that was a cop out.

Griff wrote:

Seagultaf wrote:Sorry Wayne I say what I saw, a tip tackle (as described in the IRB ruling) unpunished and a shockingly poor descision under the posts. And Nigel trains at Llandarcy, with the Ospreys, as stated by Jiffy during today's game!

If Nigel had let Ball off for his late hit on Biggar, I would have had more sympathy with his descision to let off Josh, a Ref should be consistent, Nige wasn't.

I'm pretty sure Nige has stated previously that he's a Scarlets fan. Not sure that his training venue then matters too much.

If he spends his days training with the Ospreys how does that not make any difference? Surely that means he is closer to the Ospreys players and knows them better?

Good game, but the thing I dislike about this fixture as I do every single year is Scarlets fans moaning about the ref if they lose - they've lost this year so the ref-blaming is rising up here there and everywhere. It's pretty irritating to be honest.

As for the game, it showed that the Scarlets can still be outmuscled up front - when you consider all of the internationals the Scarlets have up front then that is particularly worrying. I do put this in part down to the Ospreys forwards who are a very well drilled unit by their coach Gibbes, whom I believe has a bright future in rugby coaching. The supposed 'tip tackle' - well I thought it was the correct outcome and it was a good tackle. The laws may state otherwise, but I will have to review those laws and then some more footage of the tackle. Ball's charge on Biggar was without doubt a YC; it was dangerous, it was off the ball and looked as if it had the intent to cause injury. Now Scarlets fans don't accuse me of bias because wherever else I comment I get called anti-osprey, I'm just calling this one how I see it. You had the opportunity to win the game at the death, so why you would give the kickable penalty to a crap player like Shingler I don't know. I bet Pivac can't wait for next season's signings.

I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the game yesterday, great atmosphere and a nail biting finish. Ospreys did their homework o Scarlets and did not let them play their free flowing game. A cracking match and a massive tribute to welsh and pro 12 rugby.

I then watched the Connacht and Ulster game on BBC 2 NI. What a bore fest, two teams concentrating more on cheating than actually playing rugby, and with Fitzgibbon I charge we were never in a snowballs chance in hell of getting a decent game. It kind of puts into perception how the mind sets of the two different unions approach the game. It's like night and day.

Anyway, two games today, I am going to Newport today to watch the game, and I have sky+ the Irish game to watch when I get home! hope today's games are as good as the Ospreys v Scarlets game yesterday.

By all accounts, the Rugby Paper is speculating that both AWJ and Webby will be signing DCs this week, the only problem appears that AWJ is signing a short term contract, if that takes him through to the end of the 16/17 season I'll be happy, it'll give us time to get Thornton, Beard and Hughes up to speed.
What did everyone think of our new winger yesterday? the burst of speed to outflank the the defence and then the pass to put Eli in for the try pure skill

To be honest there were a few things during the game that I thought were missed/ignored by Nigel. But I don't think he screwed us at all.

I was very miffed that Parkes was taken out behind the tuck, leaving Arhip a sprint down the wing unopposed for the winning try. But I do have to admit that even if he wasn't, the Ospreys were looking likely to have worked their way down to the try line and scored anyway.

Me and my dad, another one-eyed Turk, both agreed that the Ospreys are definitely a far smarter side, when it comes to these 'big' games.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:To be honest there were a few things during the game that I thought were missed/ignored by Nigel.  But I don't think he screwed us at all.

I was very miffed that Parkes was taken out behind the tuck, leaving Arhip a sprint down the wing unopposed for the winning try.  But I do have to admit that even if he wasn't, the Ospreys were looking likely to have worked their way down to the try line and scored anyway.

Me and my dad, another one-eyed Turk, both agreed that the Ospreys are definitely a far smarter side, when it comes to these 'big' games.

SS, the most disappointing thing for me yesterday with my Welsh International Cap on was the 2 ridiculous brain farts of Jake Ball hitting Biggar off the ball, and Lydiate's tackle on Shingler, that could have cost us the match.
As for your final sentence, I think we knew how to win a game like that in those circumstances, it could have gone either way, but funnily I felt all along we were going to nick it, and Steve was going to miss that final kick.
Finally I wouldn't worry to much if I was you, I still think you'll finish top Welsh team in the Guinness come seasons end.

After watching that game back, have to add, I bet Morgan Allen wished he hadn't spoken that load of tripe last week, if anybody had an ineffectual game it was him, every time he took the ball into contact he was smashed, never making any yards, and was totally outshone by both King and Baker, with also Tyler Ardron to come back it was no wonder we let him go.

Can't remember if it was him or Condy who were looking good.

mikey_dragon wrote:Can't remember if it was him or Condy who were looking good.

Condy had a very good game when he came on for Barclay, he unlike Allen was looking for gaps and finding he was making yards, looks a very good prospect.

mikey_dragon wrote:Can't remember if it was him or Condy who were looking good.

Condy was 'poached' from you lot.

Certainly another we let slip away, but we don't really have any room in the back-row for now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/35193285 - a few things they could have cited and they cite this, I thought it was an okay tackle.

mikey_dragon wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/35193285 - a few things they could have cited and they cite this, I thought it was an okay tackle.

That happened right in front of me, at the time I could not believe Nigel played on. And then when he saw it on the screen I could not believe it was not a yellow (I would say red, but given he only gave Ball a yellow, yellow would have been fair). I guess if it had been dealt with on the field, as Jiffy claims, then a citing may well have not happened. I can't see a ban coming for it, at worst I can see one of those retrospective yellow cards

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/35193285 - a few things they could have cited and they cite this, I thought it was an okay tackle.

That happened right in front of me, at the time I could not believe Nigel played on.  And then when he saw it on the screen I could not believe it was not a yellow (I would say red, but given he only gave Ball a yellow, yellow would have been fair).  I guess if it had been dealt with on the field, as Jiffy claims, then a citing may well have not happened.  I can't see a ban coming for it, at worst I can see one of those retrospective yellow cards

According to the IRB interpretation of the tip tackle it was a straight Red, but I expect the WRU citing to issue a retrospective yellow (although on past record can't really be sure what they might do). After giving Ball a yellow for a late hit, then Nigel should have given Josh a yellow, only he knows why he didn't.

Personally as I've already stated, I think the right decision was arrived at on the field Josh never at any point had Gareths legs above the horizontal and placed him down, if there was a yellow to be issued IMO it was to Dan Lydiate for the dropping of Shingler.
Does anybody know who the disciplinary committee is made up of?

wayne wrote:Personally as I've already stated, I think the right decision was arrived at on the field Josh never at any point had Gareths legs above the horizontal and placed him down, if there was a yellow to be issued IMO it was to Dan Lydiate for the dropping of Shingler.
Does anybody know who the disciplinary committee is made up of?

Look at the replay Owen was lifted above horizontal and landed on his shoulder and head. As opposed to the Lydiate tackle where Shingler was dumped on his back. Probably why Josh has been cited and Dan has not?

Whilst the letter of the Law says Josh should have been shown a red, a yellow would have dealt with the offence to everyone's satisfaction.

As soon as Nigel left it go as no punishment it was always going to be a Citing, absolutely any other ref would of issued a card of some sort.
As far as the Scarlets are concerned though it makes not 1 iota of a difference as he was allowed to play on at the time and made an important contribution whilst he should of been off the field, maybe its time the officials were the ones cited instead and retrained.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:
Me and my dad, another one-eyed Turk, both agreed that the Ospreys are definitely a far smarter side, when it comes to these 'big' games.

Our big game is Cardiff!
How dare you lot down west call yourselves a big fixture when your against us...


Joking aside, in a very close game between 2 teams like that we were always going to be talking about the referee if it was less than a 3 point game.

Shifty wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:
Me and my dad, another one-eyed Turk, both agreed that the Ospreys are definitely a far smarter side, when it comes to these 'big' games.

Our big game is Cardiff!
How dare you lot down west call yourselves a big fixture when your against us...


Joking aside, in a very close game between 2 teams like that we were always going to be talking about the referee if it was less than a 3 point game.  

Shifty, the 'big' was in inverted commas because it was a big game for you lot against the table topping side but not so much for us against a bottom half side. As Toby Booth once said after his LI side lost to us, "it's hard to motivate yourselves to play against such lesser opposition"

But like you say in such a close game, it is always going to be the ref who gets the most stick. Also handling errors too. After all if not for Matavesi failing to catch the ball early in the second half inches from the try line the Ospreys would probably wound up with a four try bonus point etc.

Our Forum is rather upset at this development, that is putting it mildly, one poster who is not a Nigel fan at most times, has stated that the supposed best Referee in the world was less than 5 metres away from the action has given a decision after reviewing it on the TV screen in the stadium, and yet the Citing Officer who is a former Board member for the Bridgend Area of the WRU, who resigned after the Lewis debacle and is nearly 80 years of age and has taken over 2 and a half days to come to this decision. Just to say this person is one Aurwel Morgan who has NO refereeing experience whatsoever.
The mind boggles, I anticipate Josh getting a mid range verdict and will not be available for anything between 2 to 4 weeks for us, because as we know these South Sea Islanders are dirty barstewards and moreover is also playing for the Ospreys.

wayne wrote:Our Forum is rather upset at this development, that is putting it mildly, one poster who is not a Nigel fan at most times, has stated that the supposed best Referee in the world was less than 5 metres away from the action has given a decision after reviewing it on the TV screen in the stadium, and yet the Citing Officer who is a former Board member for the Bridgend Area of the WRU, who resigned after the Lewis debacle and is nearly 80 years of age and has taken over 2 and a half days to come to this decision. Just to say this person is one Aurwel Morgan who has NO refereeing experience whatsoever.
The mind boggles, I anticipate Josh getting a mid range verdict and will not be available for anything between 2 to 4 weeks for us, because as we know these South Sea Islanders are dirty barstewards and moreover is also playing for the Ospreys.

Don't get too upset Wayne, with their track record, the WRU citing board are just as likely to ban Gareth Owen for butting the turf!

Seagultaf wrote:

wayne wrote:Our Forum is rather upset at this development, that is putting it mildly, one poster who is not a Nigel fan at most times, has stated that the supposed best Referee in the world was less than 5 metres away from the action has given a decision after reviewing it on the TV screen in the stadium, and yet the Citing Officer who is a former Board member for the Bridgend Area of the WRU, who resigned after the Lewis debacle and is nearly 80 years of age and has taken over 2 and a half days to come to this decision. Just to say this person is one Aurwel Morgan who has NO refereeing experience whatsoever.
The mind boggles, I anticipate Josh getting a mid range verdict and will not be available for anything between 2 to 4 weeks for us, because as we know these South Sea Islanders are dirty barstewards and moreover is also playing for the Ospreys.

Don't get too upset Wayne, with their track record, the WRU citing board are just as likely to ban Gareth Owen for butting the turf!

Well, with all these people going around the different news outlets spouting the same rubbish, as if it is going to influence anyone at all. Especially with the Scarlets coach taking the opposite view, if I was Josh I would ask Nige to be my rep in there, and who would the disciplinary committee believe, an 80 year old whose nearest point to elite rugby is having played for Glyneath nearly 50 years ago or the man voted by World Rugby the best in the World (by Refereeing the Final)recently.
Would love to be a fly on that wall in that room