Champions Cup Round 5 & 6

For the chats

Sarries down to 14 men
Carre sent off for a high no arms tackle. Will be interesting to see if they can win or will Ospreys finally pick up a win (it's been a while)

Referee is very vocal, stops the game constantly 11 penalties so far after 30 minutes

Sarries down to 13 and the Ospreys immediately cross the line.

A lot of penalties. Ospreys have been incompetent so far. Sarries now down to 13 following an accumulation of penalties Clark goes to the bin for a stupid one.

And Ospreys finally score a try. Still behind Sarries who have efficiently kept the scoreboard ticking over.

Watching Sarries makes me feel sick, 3 stars on their shirts, what a joke!

Ospreys have looked better in the last 2 weeks but I don’t think they have what it takes to win today. The fly-half (Price) is a liability.

AWJ is a liability, yellow waiting to happen.

mikey_dragon wrote:Ospreys have looked better in the last 2 weeks but I don’t think they have what it takes to win today. The fly-half (Price) is a liability.

not as much as Mackenzie is I agree the selection is lesser of two awful evils. That Safar Venter looks better at nine.

With Webb and Anescombe and a few other fit players they will change their form.

It’s going to be a scrappy afternoon otherwise

TightHEAD wrote:AWJ is a liability, yellow waiting to happen.

AWJ is in grey, Kruis is the one in red.

TightHEAD wrote:AWJ is a liability, yellow waiting to happen.

Careful how you speak about the national treasure .

Has AWJ lost weight in his time off, or does he just look small next to Skelton?

I glad the ref had a word with AWJ, all too often he is allowed to get away with it because he is AWJ.

I'll be interested to see the attendance for this game. So many internationals on show, surprised its so empty.

mikey_dragon wrote:Has AWJ lost weight in his time off, or does he just look small next to Skelton?

To be fair, most people look small next to Skelton, even the new slimline version!

Great tackle by North!

Nice passing by North he’s looking alright at thirteen

Jeez that was poor from Ospreys, running back to the collision and getting isolated.

mikey_dragon wrote:Jeez that was poor from Ospreys, running back to the collision and getting isolated.

Luke Morgan isn’t playing well this season

Great try Saracens. Brilliant by Lewington

maestegmafia wrote:Nice passing by North he’s looking alright at thirteen

I agree, that’s in spite of what the silly commentator said. I said before I would shunt him in there to see if he gets more involved, and because we have better wingers available.

mikey_dragon wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Nice passing by North he’s looking alright at thirteen

I agree, that’s in spite of what the silly commentator said. I said before I would shunt him in there to see if he gets more involved, and because we have better wingers available.

Wales do but poor old Ospreys don’t at the moment.

When the camera pans back you get an idea of the weather. Absolutely tipping it down

Bad decision to take AWJ off, it should have been Beard who’s been poor.

mikey_dragon wrote:Bad decision to take AWJ off, it should have been Beard who’s been poor.

First game back after a groin injury it’s slippery out there so I guess that’s a precautionary substitution

maestegmafia wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Bad decision to take AWJ off, it should have been Beard who’s been poor.

First game back after a groin injury it’s slippery out there so I guess that’s a precautionary substitution

Brining Aled Davies on was a far worse decision. He really is a liability.

Well done Saracens. A deserved result. The Ospreys have undoubtedly got a hell of a lot of work to do to get to where we expect them to be.

Roman has it in for the Chiefs, must be a Sarries fan

Osprey extend their unwinning run. Can see them getting a better chance this year.

Could be a few changes in the top 8 after this weekend.

Well the ref missed the forward pass for the 1st try and now they've got away with a yellow. Bit shocking.

Not shocking - it's Poite ...

I normally like Poite but for things like replays it should normally result in the correct decision. Didn't hear the conversation but I dont understand what mitigation there could have been.

French Refs should be banned from these games. Dreadful

What's the point of appointing French Refs to ruin a game?

Cracking Weegies vs Chiefs match

Catch that one.

Roman cannot be allowed to Ref in the 6 nations!

maestegmafia wrote:Well done Saracens. A deserved result. The Ospreys have undoubtedly got a hell of a lot of work to do to get to where we expect them to be.

It must be worrying times for Ospreys when they can't beat a Sarries side missing most of their key players who are playing most of the game with 14 (and ten minutes with 13). Sarries defence is excellent and they are very resilient but the inability to wear them down does not reflect well. What is going wrong at Ospreys?

Looking at that Sarries side, with the exception of Kruis, that is very much a team of second and third choices. Either shows the strength in depth of Sarries or says a lot about Ospreys.

Looking forward to tomorrow now, Saints vs Benetton, squeaked it at the last minute in Italy, now we have put out a 50/50 first/second side for the home fixture. I hope it is not over confidence on Boyd's part.

The return of Prince Harry on the wing this time is welcome, lets hope he doesn't decide to semi retire like his name sake.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Well done Saracens. A deserved result. The Ospreys have undoubtedly got a hell of a lot of work to do to get to where we expect them to be.

It must be worrying times for Ospreys when they can't beat a Sarries side missing most of their key players who are playing most of the game with 14 (and ten minutes with 13). Sarries defence is excellent and they are very resilient but the inability to wear them down does not reflect well. What is going wrong at Ospreys?

That's kind of what we've been saying for a while though??? The problems go back a few years. Tandy should not have been made head coach in 2012, that was the ideal time to look for kiwi influence. It was the ideal time to do it because they had a settled team with a strong set of forwards, and some good young players coming in. They hired Tandy and from then on didn't really resolve the coaching and managing players' issues. Key players left and were not adequately replaced, the coaching situation continued and became what it is now. I still see the potential there so it might not be too late to turn things around, I expect they will after what AWJ recently said.

Not that I'm taking anything away from Sarries. They can put out two XV's that are very good. They've rotated a lot in this competition and could still top the pool, they're just a world class outfit.

mikey_dragon wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Well done Saracens. A deserved result. The Ospreys have undoubtedly got a hell of a lot of work to do to get to where we expect them to be.

It must be worrying times for Ospreys when they can't beat a Sarries side missing most of their key players who are playing most of the game with 14 (and ten minutes with 13). Sarries defence is excellent and they are very resilient but the inability to wear them down does not reflect well. What is going wrong at Ospreys?

That's kind of what we've been saying for a while though??? The problems go back a few years. Tandy should not have been made head coach in 2012, that was the ideal time to look for kiwi influence. It was the ideal time to do it because they had a settled team with a strong set of forwards, and some good young players coming in. They hired Tandy and from then on didn't really resolve the coaching and managing players' issues. Key players left and were not adequately replaced, the coaching situation continued and became what it is now. I still see the potential there so it might not be too late to turn things around, I expect they will after what AWJ recently said.

Not that I'm taking anything away from Sarries. They can put out two XV's that are very good. They've rotated a lot in this competition and could still top the pool, they're just a world class outfit.

Pretty much. Ambition in management left the Ospreys a while ago. Misguided coaching signings that I think go further back to Holley and maybe even Lyn Jones right at the start.

Just look at what impact that talented men like Brad Moor, Pivac and Dean Ryan have made at other regions.

Hopefully things are moving forward and the future will be brighter. The new PRB/WRU system post project reset should benefit all the regions.

1/2P is having an absolute shocker tonight.

Not a nice night to be a FB to be fair, weather is awful

Not at all, but it's a bit unfortunate after all the articles talking him up in the last week!

No idea what h to we thinking when he carried back over the line - there was no one near him.

You RDW wrote:Not at all, but it's a bit unfortunate after all the articles talking him up in the last week!

No idea what h to we thinking when he carried back over the line - there was no one near him.

Talking him up? There is a challenge cup thread by the way... Halfpenny, well the Scarlets in general have been quite sloppy. Toulon’s driving lineout looks difficult to stop.

Bordeaux and Toulon seem to be taking the challenge cup quite seriously this year and at the moment look like likely finalists. Two very strong teams to be playing in the secondary competition!

Just tongue in cheek Mikey - there's been a few articles about him this week. His coach in particular talking him up - can't imagine he was so pleased with the first half!

I didn’t see them. He’s been playing very well up to now, where he’s been quite sloppy. The match isn’t going as expected so far.

Rees-Zammit touched down for Glaws again. Did anyone see? Do the england rugby fans think he is a good defender? Apparently his defence is awful, although I suspect the person that told us hasn’t watched him.

mikey_dragon wrote:Rees-Zammit touched down for Glaws again. Did anyone see? Do the england rugby fans think he is a good defender? Apparently his defence is awful, although I suspect the person that told us hasn’t watched him.

He did not have much defending to do today to be fair, but looked dangerous every time he got the ball.

I think at International level, he probably does have a lot to learn defensively, but what 18 year old winger, who no doubt has been the star player in every team he has played for, would be any different.

The only way to get him to learn that is to expose him to it, I am sure he has the tools, just needs to develop them.