Judgement Day

First topic message reminder :

The WRU say 70,000 tickets have been sold... but, as this party run its course.

I ask, as don't recollect anyone discussing here, and I remember last year all too well, where the games started to slow up and the major excitement around where I was in the stadium was who could get their paper plane to fly the furthest...

I guess, the WRU will paint it as a successful event again, and it is in marketing terms as selling 70k tickets is a great achievement, but is it a success in rugby terms..

Thoughts...

Does anyone know what happened to Nicky smith? Just collapsed on the pitch and needed a lot of treatment.

LordDowlais wrote:Just getting back home, OMG, this taking ages to type, very festival, what a day, in the words of comic book guy, BEST JD EVER !!! OMG still spel checking.........

Two of the best games I have seen in ages, speak to all tomorrow.

God help you, if you didn't spell check

Good job you have proof readers.

Well I had an absolute ball, great day. Thought it was all over at 17-7 down but credit to the squad, especially the subs, changed the game for us. Beast of a game by King, Webb and Dirksen. Superb laugh with the blues fans around us and managed to be a true milennium stad fan by being a drunken fool on the big screen.

Enjoyed it myself. I've seen a few complaints about drunken people and swearing round kids, but I didn't see that by where I was.

Good to meet up with Penfro, his partner and Cari too. That started the day off well.

There seems to be a few suggestions about family zones and I still think the season ticket point thing is valid, but I had no issues with my seat.

RiscaGame wrote:Enjoyed it myself. I've seen a few complaints about drunken people and swearing round kids, but I didn't see that by where I was.

Good to meet up with Penfro, his partner and Cari too. That started the day off well.

There seems to be a few suggestions about family zones and I still think the season ticket point thing is valid, but I had no issues with my seat.

Risca, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the day, apart from drunks tipping beer behind me and my coat, hat and matchday program being soaked, and have to say I was sat in a section with a load of swearing Ospreys supporters when my brother in law had his 7 year old grandson with him.
This is the first Judgement Day that I took the option to sit with other Osprey supporters and it will be the last, I was in the middle tier for the first time, the other years we've sat in the lower tier, we've made the decision to go back there next year

Ospreys forwards are well drilled and that was something highlighted on Scrum V. It also goes to show that the pack performs much better when they actually have locks starting, Beard didn't look out of place at all, he's a fantastic prospect and possibly better than Thornton. I attribute a lot of this good work to Gibbes like I have done in the past and this just further convinces me that I'm right. One thing I can't explain is the set piece at scrum time. It's looking terrible, Ospreys won't get far with that in Europe.

mikey_dragon wrote:Ospreys forwards are well drilled and that was something highlighted on Scrum V. It also goes to show that the pack performs much better when they actually have locks starting, Beard didn't look out of place at all, he's a fantastic prospect and possibly better than Thornton. I attribute a lot of this good work to Gibbes like I have done in the past and this just further convinces me that I'm right. One thing I can't explain is the set piece at scrum time. It's looking terrible, Ospreys won't get far with that in Europe.

Mikey if you give credit to something that Gibbes is supposed to have done, you also have to slate him for things that have gone wrong, do you honestly think Tandy selects his forwards for any game without Gibbes's input? the same applies to Tandy and Rees as far as the backs are concerned, what about the lineout malfunctions, and please don't blame Baldwin for them all, and finally except for very few occasions this season the lack of a consistent rolling maul is not anything to be proud of. I must admit we've never had a decent rolling maul in the period of the last 2 forward coaches, something really needs to be done in that department
As for the scrum malfunctions they were up against 3 very wiley and experienced players on Saturday, the same 3 that also had the upper hand against 2 of the 3 front row forwards for the Scarlets a week or so ago, and the 3rd is the reserve Welsh hooker, and don't forget we were missing Paul James not too bad a scrummager himself.

Yes, the Ospreys front 5 is working so much better when locks are selected in the right position, also Lloyd Peers not playing surely helped. Like Coombes at the Dragons he is a slow blindside but never a lock, as Bernardo been confirmed going to the Scarlet? Also wanted to point out i have been disappointed by Nicky Smith's scrummaging, i think he hasn't quite developed as hoped. And to my surprise Jarvis looked dominant at one scrum but he must have been facing an U18 loosehead.

Sounded like it was a great day outhere, shame it looked like a lot of fans left after the first (albeit the most interesting) game.

I'm not sure Wayne. I thought Gibbes worked with Tandy towards the same objective but I also thought that Tandy has the final say on selection, etc. He kept on selecting Peers at 2nd row and made him one of the captains, I'm not sure Gibbes had any influence there. Yeah that's another department that needs work, but when it comes to carrying and building phases they're extremely efficient. They've got good handling skills for forwards as well.
I think the Ospreys scrum has been a bit of a misfire all season. I'm not yet convinced that Smith is that good in this area. And yes you can certainly see the difference in the Blues scrum since Wilson came in. If he can transform their set piece in such a short space of time then I think Ospreys should be able to sort theirs out.

mikey_dragon wrote:I'm not sure Wayne. I thought Gibbes worked with Tandy towards the same objective but I also thought that Tandy has the final say on selection, etc. He kept on selecting Peers at 2nd row and made him one of the captains, I'm not sure Gibbes had any influence there. Yeah that's another department that needs work, but when it comes to carrying and building phases they're extremely efficient. They've got good handling skills for forwards as well.
I think the Ospreys scrum has been a bit of a misfire all season. I'm not yet convinced that Smith is that good in this area. And yes you can certainly see the difference in the Blues scrum since Wilson came in. If he can transform their set piece in such a short space of time then I think Ospreys should be able to sort theirs out.

Yes I would think you are right that Tandy would have the final say, but the playing of the likes of Ashley/Peers and King, Ardron in the 2nd row wouldn't have been tolerated by a strong forwards coach if he wasn't in agreement with it. Let me just add that Thornton at the time of him signing his Welsh DC, in an interview on Ospreys TV, Thornton said he was happy to sign this contract and stay with us, to work with and learn off the likes of AWJ and Lloyd, so obviously not only the coaches rate him (in the end of seasons awards Lloyd was one of 3 nominated for player of the season) youngsters within the system do also. I answered somebody else about Nicky, as I said earlier we are really missing Assey and he would have had the expertise to nullify what the Blues were up to.
To clarify my point about it being a team effort, when Andrew Hore was here, there was a committee to identify and sign overseas players, if we had an experienced DOR, which Steve obviously isn't, with a wide Rugby knowledge, this could be left to the one person. Steve has only coached at Premiership level (Bridgend), for me he has done an excellent job in very trying circumstances. From what I understand things are going to be altering in that direction, and if I've understood the signs correctly, there is quite a surprise on the way.

Wayne ....Lyn the Lip and Scott J are on their way back...........

Allty wrote:Wayne  ....Lyn the Lip and Scott J are on their way back...........

Allty, I'm renewing my ST this weekend, if either of those 2 get a job ABOVE latrine attendant, I'll be cancelling

Lyn would be perfect for the Toilet job but at a club far away

Allty wrote:

Lyn would be perfect for the Toilet job but at a club far away

Do you mean across the Lougher   sorry SS, couldn't resist

wayne wrote:

Allty wrote:

Lyn would be perfect for the Toilet job but at a club far away

Do you mean across the Lougher   sorry SS, couldn't resist

We have holes in the floor mate, non of your city boy indoor plumbing.

wayne wrote:

Allty wrote:Wayne  ....Lyn the Lip and Scott J are on their way back...........

Allty, I'm renewing my ST this weekend, if either of those 2 get a job ABOVE latrine attendant, I'll be cancelling

The chief exec's job at the Dregs isn't it?