Ospreys v Leinster Rugby, 8 January 2016 19:45, Liberty Stadium

    
Ospreys v Leinster Rugby
Friday 8 January 2016
KO: 19.45
Liberty Stadium, Swansea

Live on Sky Sports and BBC Wales

Referee: David Wilkinson (IRFU, 37th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Ben Whitehouse, Simon Rees (both WRU)
Citing Commissioner: Aurwel Morgan (WRU)
TMO: Jon Mason (WRU)

Ospreys achieved a fifth successive Guinness PRO12 victory at home to Newport Gwent Dragons on New Year's Day.

The Welshmen have not been beaten at Liberty Stadium since Connacht were the visitors in October.

Leinster have won their last six Guinness PRO12 encounters since their 14-25 defeat to Scarlets in Llanelli in round 4.

The Leinstermen are winless on their last four visits to Wales since beating Blues at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park on 10 January 2015.

Ospreys have won just one of their last seven fixtures against Leinster in all tournaments: 25-19 at Liberty Stadium in the PRO12 in April 2015, however Leinster have not been triumphant at the venue in the Guinness PRO12 since September 2009.

Teams:

Ospreys

15 Dan Evans
14 Jeff Hassler
13 Jonathan Spratt
12 Owen Watkin
11 Hanno Dirksen
10 Dan Biggar
9 Brendon Leonard

1 Paul James (Capt)
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Aaron Jarvis
4 Lloyd Ashley
5 Rory Thornton
6 James King
7 Sam Underhill
8 Dan Baker

16 Scott Otten
17 Nicky Smith
18 Ma’afu Fia
19 Alun Wyn Jones
20 Justin Tipuric
21 Tom Habberfield
22 Sam Davies
23 Eli Walker

Leinster Rugby

15. Rob Kearney
14. Isa Nacewa CAPTAIN
13. Ben Te'o
12. Luke Fitzgerald
11. Dave Kearney
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Luke McGrath

1. Jack McGrath
2. Richardt Strauss
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Devin Toner
5. Mike McCarthy
6. Rhys Ruddock
7. Sean O'Brien
8. Jamie Heaslip

16. Sean Cronin
17. Peter Dooley
18. Marty Moore
19. Tom Denton
20. Dominic Ryan
21. Eoin Reddan
22. Ian Madigan
23. Noel Reid

I was quite confident with an Ospreys win for this game until I saw who was the referee. Oh well then, another frustrating night in Swansea for Ospreys, Leinster will be allowed to get away with murder.

LordDowlais wrote:I was quite confident with an Ospreys win for this game until I saw who was the referee. Oh well then, another frustrating night in Swansea for Ospreys, Leinster will be allowed to get away with murder.

Lord look who the Citing Commissioner is as well, the 80 year old, with NO REFEREEING experience whatsoever, another gravy train appointment for an ex WRU committee man.
With the news that Dmitri is practically certain to be out, and the fact Lydiate and Matavesi are doubtful, according to forwards coach Chris Gibbes in this weeks Press conference things are not looking optimistic.

That's your standard line LD.
Last season Wilkinson officiated Munster once (loss for Munster) and Connacht twice (two wins). Didn't ref a Leinster game.
Officiated Osprey's once (they won).

He also seems to keep his card in his pocket against both Irish and Welsh sides (one yellow card issued against each in all of last season).  

Pity for the Italians, out of four sides playing under his whistle, he issued 7 yellows and 1 red.

Tough away game for Leinster going to Ospreys.  We have a strong defence this season but I can see it being too tough to keep within a LBP.

thebandwagonsociety wrote:That's your standard line LD.
Last season Wilkinson officiated Munster once (loss for Munster) and Connacht twice (two wins). Didn't ref a Leinster game.
Officiated Osprey's once (they won).

He also seems to keep his card in his pocket against both Irish and Welsh sides (one yellow card issued against each in all of last season).  

Pity for the Italians, out of four sides playing under his whistle, he issued 7 yellows and 1 red.

Tough away game for Leinster going to Ospreys.  We have a strong defence this season but I can see it being too tough to keep within a LBP.

BWS, I have more issues with the Citing Commissioner appointment than with the Referee, at least Wilkinson has had instructions on the laws of the game, Morgan has not

The Welshmen have not been beaten at Liberty Stadium since Connacht were the visitors in October.


Yep, plenty of crumbs for comfort there.

mikey_dragon wrote:The Welshmen have not been beaten at Liberty Stadium since Connacht were the visitors in October.


Yep, plenty of crumbs for comfort there.

Indeed - they've played 3 times since then - against Zebre, Blues and Dragons. And lost first two home games to Munster and Connacht.

But they're on the up facing a team also on the up after stumbling starts to their season.

Should be a good one.

Pot Hale wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:The Welshmen have not been beaten at Liberty Stadium since Connacht were the visitors in October.


Yep, plenty of crumbs for comfort there.

Indeed - they've played 3 times since then - against Zebre, Blues and Dragons.   And lost first two home games to Munster and Connacht.

But they're on the up facing a team also on the up after stumbling starts to their season.

Should be a good one.

We've also beaten Exeter Chiefs and Bordeaux Begles in the RCC, we're on a decent run at home ATM, the problem for us is the trio I mentioned earlier, we can ill afford to be without Arhip and especially Matavesi. King can cover Lydiate with Baker at 8. I don't think there will be more than 7 between them, with either team capable of winning.

How long is Arhip out for? Could decide whether O's can progress in Europe or not.

At least we should see the new prop although from what i saw against Zebre i'm not sure he is a scrummaging prop but more one that is getting around the field well.

VinceWLB wrote:How long is Arhip out for? Could decide whether O's can progress in Europe or not.

At least we should see the new prop although from what i saw against Zebre i'm not sure he is a scrummaging prop but more one that is getting around the field well.

Going by Gibbes PC, it is not a break, but bruising or something similar, he didn't give any time frame, I agree with what was seen in the Zebre game he didn't look very conditioned, but seeing him doing work during the warm up with the rest of the squad, and behind the posts when the squad went in to the dressing room before the game, he looks to be in a much better shape now, if he's in a good position conditioning wise, he showed enough when in NZ to be good enough for us.

wayne wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:How long is Arhip out for? Could decide whether O's can progress in Europe or not.

At least we should see the new prop although from what i saw against Zebre i'm not sure he is a scrummaging prop but more one that is getting around the field well.

Going by Gibbes PC, it is not a break, but bruising or something similar, he didn't give any time frame, I agree with what was seen in the Zebre game he didn't look very conditioned, but seeing him doing work during the warm up with the rest of the squad, and behind the posts when the squad went in to the dressing room before the game, he looks to be in a much better shape now, if he's in a good position conditioning wise, he showed enough when in NZ to be good enough for us.

Thanks Wayne. Lets hope Arhip can come back as soon as possible. As for Fia, conditioning is one thing but he will need some game time for his confidence and getting used to the scrummage in the NH. Most props thrive on gametime. What's sure is that at 5' 11" and 18 stone he has the right built for a modern day tighthead.

VinceWLB wrote:

wayne wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:How long is Arhip out for? Could decide whether O's can progress in Europe or not.

At least we should see the new prop although from what i saw against Zebre i'm not sure he is a scrummaging prop but more one that is getting around the field well.

Going by Gibbes PC, it is not a break, but bruising or something similar, he didn't give any time frame, I agree with what was seen in the Zebre game he didn't look very conditioned, but seeing him doing work during the warm up with the rest of the squad, and behind the posts when the squad went in to the dressing room before the game, he looks to be in a much better shape now, if he's in a good position conditioning wise, he showed enough when in NZ to be good enough for us.

Thanks Wayne. Lets hope Arhip can come back as soon as possible. As for Fia, conditioning is one thing but he will need some game time for his confidence and getting used to the scrummage in the NH. Most props thrive on gametime. What's sure is that at 5' 11" and 18 stone he has the right built for a modern day tighthead.

Vince I might be clutching at straws, with how he looks, a forum member seen him in action in the B&I game against Munster A and he wasn't very impressive, but Gibbes implied in the PC that if he was needed he would be used, we'll just have to wait and see.

wayne wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:

wayne wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:How long is Arhip out for? Could decide whether O's can progress in Europe or not.

At least we should see the new prop although from what i saw against Zebre i'm not sure he is a scrummaging prop but more one that is getting around the field well.

Going by Gibbes PC, it is not a break, but bruising or something similar, he didn't give any time frame, I agree with what was seen in the Zebre game he didn't look very conditioned, but seeing him doing work during the warm up with the rest of the squad, and behind the posts when the squad went in to the dressing room before the game, he looks to be in a much better shape now, if he's in a good position conditioning wise, he showed enough when in NZ to be good enough for us.

Thanks Wayne. Lets hope Arhip can come back as soon as possible. As for Fia, conditioning is one thing but he will need some game time for his confidence and getting used to the scrummage in the NH. Most props thrive on gametime. What's sure is that at 5' 11" and 18 stone he has the right built for a modern day tighthead.

Vince I might be clutching at straws, with how he looks, a forum member seen him in action in the B&I game against Munster A and he wasn't very impressive, but Gibbes implied in the PC that if he was needed he would be used, we'll just have to wait and see.

That doesn't sound great does it. It would appear there is not much faith in him. Jarvis isn't a very good prop (although he did impress me at times this season), if he was any good Fia should be walking into the bench with Arhip starting.

Just to add, it appears to me that Josh, will be out of this game, as the young centre Owen Watkin is in the squad selected for this match, it will probably be Spratt and John in the centre, and that will be a real blow for us.

its about time our coaching staff realised we need 2 quality centres.

thespreys wrote:its about time our coaching staff realised we need 2 quality centres.

They realised ages ago, but have failed to entice 3 quality signings to put pen to paper, apparently.

Chunky Norwich wrote:

thespreys wrote:its about time our coaching staff realised we need 2 quality centres.

They realised ages ago, but have failed to entice 3 quality signings to put pen to paper, apparently.

Only if you believe what is written in Gwlad, it is worse than the Fail for being accurate.

wayne wrote:

Chunky Norwich wrote:

thespreys wrote:its about time our coaching staff realised we need 2 quality centres.

They realised ages ago, but have failed to entice 3 quality signings to put pen to paper, apparently.

Only if you believe what is written in Gwlad, it is worse than the Fail for being accurate.

I don't recall reading that on Gwlad.

until we get quality centres we will always struggle to compete

Chunky Norwich wrote:

wayne wrote:

Chunky Norwich wrote:

thespreys wrote:its about time our coaching staff realised we need 2 quality centres.

They realised ages ago, but have failed to entice 3 quality signings to put pen to paper, apparently.

Only if you believe what is written in Gwlad, it is worse than the Fail for being accurate.

I don't recall reading that on Gwlad.

No, well there we are then.

A fan on here mentioned that you're after JJ Englebrecht?

mikey_dragon wrote:A fan on here mentioned that you're after JJ Englebrecht?

who the feck is he ?

Former Springbok, a good attacking 13 from what I know.

mikey_dragon wrote:Former Springbok, a good attacking 13 from what I know.

I have never heard of him. FFS, center is not exactly the strong point in South African rugby, if he was any good he would not be coming up here, but then again, he's South African, so he must be good.

Que somebody listing a bunch of SA centers to prove me wrong.

Not sure what the deal is with him these days, but he's still a S15 regular, so would be a high quality player to have available all season. He isn't the best SA 13 now but he's certainly much better than Spratt and John, and would compliment Matavesi very well. I think it's just rumoured for now, but would be great if true.

mikey_dragon wrote:A fan on here mentioned that you're after JJ Englebrecht?

I haven't seen on here about JJ Engelbrecht, it has been mentioned on our board a few times, he's in Japan atm, but their season ends very soon, from highlights shown he is FAR superior to either John or Spratt and would make a good player alongside Matavesi, and exactly the kind of player to fetch out the best of our youngsters.

LordDowlais wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Former Springbok, a good attacking 13 from what I know.

I have never heard of him. FFS, center is not exactly the strong point in South African rugby, if he was any good he would not be coming up here, but then again, he's South African, so he must be good.

Que somebody listing a bunch of SA centers to prove me wrong.

In NH terms I'd compare him to someone like a Kyle Eastmond, Darren Cave type player

Very good club player, but not quite good enough to be an international.

BamBam wrote:Very good club player, but not quite good enough to be an international.

This tells a thousand stories.

BamBam wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Former Springbok, a good attacking 13 from what I know.

I have never heard of him. FFS, center is not exactly the strong point in South African rugby, if he was any good he would not be coming up here, but then again, he's South African, so he must be good.

Que somebody listing a bunch of SA centers to prove me wrong.

In NH terms I'd compare him to someone like a Kyle Eastmond, Darren Cave type player

Very good club player, but not quite good enough to be an international.

Bam Bam, that is something like a poster on our forum portrays him, he was dropped out of the Springbok squad they reckon because his distribution skills weren't up to International standard, but plenty good enough for S15 standard, so he would be plenty good enough for us IMO.

LordDowlais wrote:

BamBam wrote:Very good club player, but not quite good enough to be an international.

This tells a thousand stories.

Lord he is a 26 year old, (27 soon) and is a much higher calibre of player than many we've signed and definitely much better than a lot of Regions signings in the recent past, because he is a former Springbok he could be with us all season, unlike a few of our NWQ at the moment. I would be more than happy with him.

Ospreys team is as follows
Evans, Hassler, Watkin, Spratt, Dirksen, Biggar, Leonard, James (C) Baldwin, Jarvis, Ashley, Thornton, King, Underhill, Baker with Otten, Smith, Fia, AWJ, Tipuric, Habberfield, Davies and Walker on the bench. Arhip, Lydiate and Matavesi all out injured. Can't see us getting much more than a point out of this game with that team, unless Leinster select a weak team as well.

Leinster will be without McFadden for Friday nights game:-

http://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/35250793

LEINSTER:

15. Rob Kearney
14. Isa Nacewa CAPTAIN
13. Ben Te'o
12. Luke Fitzgerald
11. Dave Kearney
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Luke McGrath
1. Jack McGrath
2. Richardt Strauss
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Devin Toner
5. Mike McCarthy
6. Rhys Ruddock
7. Sean O'Brien
8. Jamie Heaslip

16. Sean Cronin
17. Peter Dooley
18. Marty Moore
19. Tom Denton
20. Dominic Ryan
21. Eoin Reddan
22. Ian Madigan
23. Noel Reid

Ospreys are going to get man shamed on Friday night.

Pretty strong leinster team. lots of internationals there. In Wales!!!

Quite a strong Leinster team selected.
Decent front row and replacements.
Okay locks, Toner is strong and McCarthy always gives 100%. Don't rate Denton on the bench.
Back row is strong but will be a tough ask on the road. Dominator on the bench is a good option but bit of a penalty magnet.
Half backs are strong (only if they are focused and up for the game which hasn't been the case often this season).
I like Luke at 12. They must be resting Ringrose. McFadden out means the back 3 is as expected.
Reid on the bench means Luke covers the wings as a replacement I suppose.

Still think LBP at best for Leinster.

thebandwagonsociety wrote:Quite a strong Leinster team selected.
Decent front row and replacements.
Okay locks, Toner is strong and McCarthy always gives 100%. Don't rate Denton on the bench.
Back row is strong but will be a tough ask on the road. Dominator on the bench is a good option but bit of a penalty magnet.
Half backs are strong (only if they are focused and up for the game which hasn't been the case often this season).
I like Luke at 12. They must be resting Ringrose. McFadden out means the back 3 is as expected.
Reid on the bench means Luke covers the wings as a replacement I suppose.

Still think LBP at best for Leinster.

BWS, that is not QUITE a strong team, it is a very strong team with who you have available, are we trying to find who can find the bottom ground in our estimates to what we'll get out of this game?
I would have started with our strongest team and kept some of the youngsters on the bench, but I suppose Tandy is hoping he doesn't have to fetch the big guns on, if that is what he is trying to do it could backfire enormously, then again the thinking could be along the lines that we don't expect much out of this game WHOEVER we start, that they expected you to fetch a very strong team, as basically you are already out of Europe and need to concentrate on getting a good seeding for the RCC next year

LordDowlais wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Former Springbok, a good attacking 13 from what I know.

I have never heard of him. FFS, center is not exactly the strong point in South African rugby, if he was any good he would not be coming up here, but then again, he's South African, so he must be good.

Que somebody listing a bunch of SA centers to prove me wrong.

Because hes better than Spratt and Ben John and available all year round unlike Scott Williams would have been........

Whats the logic in playing Tipuric, AWJ and Lydiate against the Dragons but resting them against Leinster

True Raven wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Former Springbok, a good attacking 13 from what I know.

I have never heard of him. FFS, center is not exactly the strong point in South African rugby, if he was any good he would not be coming up here, but then again, he's South African, so he must be good.

Que somebody listing a bunch of SA centers to prove me wrong.

Because hes better than Spratt and Ben John and available all year round unlike Scott Williams would have been........

Whats the logic in playing Tipuric, AWJ and Lydiate against the Dragons but resting them against Leinster

Raven, Lydiate is out injured

yeah i know that but if he was rested against the Dragons, he'd be fiit for this game as wasn't his injury the head injury he obtained in that game?

Hes much more needed in this game than against the Dragons at home

Yes, but who's to say he would have been rested for this game, and as I said earlier, Tandy's thinking might be we would have lost this game even with our strongest team available, but in the eventuality that we are reasonably close near the hour mark, he can fetch on the cavalry, and that would include AWJ packing down behind Fia. Who knows?

If that is Tandy's thinking then you need a new coach. BTW, I've thought that you need a new coach for ages now. Ospreys bench looks strong though.

If that is his thinking then he should leave as people spend their hard earning money to watch their team compete and not give up before kick off......however i dont think that is his intention. I think he's resting them before the European double header as we have a chance to qualify but id rather the players had a tough workout against Leinster the week before rather than play in a rain soaked affair with the Dragons and then have two weeks without playing much competitive rugby.

Plus without being disrespectful to the Dragons, we could have beaten them at home without AWJ, Lydiate and Tipuric. I doubt we'd compete with Leinster now without those three in the pack but i'll still be hoping

LordDowlais wrote:

BamBam wrote:Very good club player, but not quite good enough to be an international.

This tells a thousand stories.

Well my intention with the comparison to Eastmond/Cave was whether you would take players of that calibre at Ospreys, but I worded it very badly!

True Raven wrote:If that is his thinking then he should leave as people spend their hard earning money to watch their team compete and not give up before kick off......however i dont think that is his intention.  I think he's resting them before the European double header as we have a chance to qualify but id rather the players had a tough workout against Leinster the week before rather than play in a rain soaked affair with the Dragons and then have two weeks without playing much competitive rugby.  

Plus without being disrespectful to the Dragons, we could have beaten them at home without AWJ, Lydiate and Tipuric.  I doubt we'd compete with Leinster now without those three in the pack but i'll still be hoping

I don't either, this has been put on our board by somebody, and I thought what would people say if it was put on here, I think AWJ has had one week off since the start of the WC, perhaps we were hoping for 5 points last week, he needs a rest, if we are within 10 points at the hour mark, I can see him coming on and that would not be one of the 16 matches under the DC protocols.
Mikey, you've been saying the same thing about Tandy in whichever guise you are for over 2 years, do you think if you carry on repeating it, it would gather more credence? because it doesn't with me, go and worry about your own team, there is a lot more to worry about down there.

BamBam wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:

BamBam wrote:Very good club player, but not quite good enough to be an international.

This tells a thousand stories.

Well my intention with the comparison to Eastmond/Cave was whether you would take players of that calibre at Ospreys, but I worded it very badly!

Bam Bam, I would take either of those 2 ahead of Spratt and John.

Blimey! Never seen so many Irish ints in a travelling Pro12 team before at the Liberty. Tough night ahead for us if Leinster click..

wayne wrote:

True Raven wrote:If that is his thinking then he should leave as people spend their hard earning money to watch their team compete and not give up before kick off......however i dont think that is his intention.  I think he's resting them before the European double header as we have a chance to qualify but id rather the players had a tough workout against Leinster the week before rather than play in a rain soaked affair with the Dragons and then have two weeks without playing much competitive rugby.  

Plus without being disrespectful to the Dragons, we could have beaten them at home without AWJ, Lydiate and Tipuric.  I doubt we'd compete with Leinster now without those three in the pack but i'll still be hoping

I don't either, this has been put on our board by somebody, and I thought what would people say if it was put on here, I think AWJ has had one week off since the start of the WC, perhaps we were hoping for 5 points last week, he needs a rest, if we are within 10 points at the hour mark, I can see him coming on and that would not be one of the 16 matches under the DC protocols.
Mikey, you've been saying the same thing about Tandy in whichever guise you are for over 2 years, do you think if you carry on repeating it, it would gather more credence? because it doesn't with me, go and worry about your own team, there is a lot more to worry about down there.

Odd post. You were slagging Lyn the Lip for saying something similar, and now you understandably believe that Tandy is thinking something similar? I'm aware I've mentioned it since the start of the season, but I thought Tandy was not a good coach long before that. I'm not trying to gather more credence by repeating it now, I'm merely expressing my point of view. The only thing to give that view credence would be your results, then again a loss in France is classed as a win in Ospreylia which is also odd, so I'll probably just leave it now.