Benetton Treviso v Ospreys Sat 17/09/11 UPDATED

This Saturday, the Italian side host the Ospreys at Stadio Comunale di Monigo. Unfortunately it's not being broadcast live, but there will be updates available through the BBC Sport website (apparently!)

Joe Bearman will undergo a late fitness as the back-rower hopes to make his Ospreys debut when they bid to extend their unbeaten record against Treviso. An abdominal strain has stopped the 32-year-old from playing since his summer move from the Dragons but Bearman hopes to feature in Saturday's Pro 12 clash. Bearman has featured in pre-season friendlies for the Ospreys but has yet to play a competitive game for them. Treviso have won four of their last six home league games but have lost their opening two games of the season, while the second-placed Ospreys have won their opening two games.

TREVISO:
15 Ludovico Nitoglia
14 Benjamin De Jager
13 Ezio Galon
12 Luca Morisi
11 Brendan Williams
10 Kristopher Burton
9 Alberto Chillon

8 Marco Filippucci
7 Francesco Minto
6 Gonzalo Padrò
5 Benjamin Vermaak
4 Antonio Pavanello (Captain)
3 Pedro Di Santo
2 Diego Vidal
1 Michele Rizzo

Replacements:
16 Enrico Ceccato
17 Matteo Muccignat
18 Augusto Allori
19 Valerio Bernabò
20 Manoa Vosawai
21 Willem De Waal
22 Simon Picone
23 Michele Sepe


OSPREYS
15 Richard Fussell
14 Tom Isaacs
13 Sonny Parker
12 Andrew Bishop
11 Hanno Dirksen
10 Dan Biggar
9 Rhys Webb

1 Duncan Jones
2 Mefin Davies
3 Cai Griffiths
4 Ian Gough
5 Ian Evans
6 Tom Smith
7 Justin Tipuric (Captain)
8 Jonathan Thomas


Replacements from:

Scott Baldwin
Aaron Jarvis
Joe Rees
James Goode
James King
Morgan Allen
Matthew Morgan
Kristian Phillips
Barry Davies

Not sure exactly who'll sub who as that is how it was announced...

REFEREE: Neil Hennessy

I predict this could be our first loss of the season. We looked poor aginst Edinburgh and the fact that we're coupled in the same HC group will add extra spice to the occasion which i see Treviso rising to more so than ourselves.

Saying that I'd like MM to get some proper gametime so he can grow at the same rate that the other young backs are. Right now it seems like he'll only be given a shot from the bench if the game is in the bag which isn't fair at all.

Phillips needs to get more game awareness as well. He seems to still think he's playing sevens and going straight for the try line himself.

I have only watched the games on TV so I miss out on the bigger picture but Phillips does not look as sharp as he used to be.

Yey a Welsh referee, finally we don't have to put up with bent Irish officials!

Ospreys all the way in this one... The Blues cut Treviso to pieces the other day, and the defence is weak. If it wasn't for that stupid red headed scottish referee who didnt know how to referee a ruck or even to use a yellow card, then the Blues would of knocked up 50.

I can't see the Ospreys losing this to be honest.

Alyn, please stop accusing refs of being corrupt. They're human, that's all, you're beginning to sound like a football fan.

Alyn - if you think all referees have been told to cheat by the IRB then surely the nationality doesn't matter.



People like you fill me with despair when it comes to future of rugby. Zero respect for anyone else.

I make no apologies for my comments guys, refereeing standards in the Rabo Direct have been terrible so far this season. At times they have bordered on disgraceful.

Peter Fitzgibbons performance in the Ospreys V Leinster was the most blatant, biased refereeing I have seen in my 32 years. He was doing everything he could to stop the Ospreys stuffing Leinster, and he only gave up trying to help Leinster when it became clear that Leinster were never going to score.
I even saw one of the linesmen shake his head in disgust at one of the calls against the Ospreys, which says it all really.

Ireland have some great referee's but they do have a few complete incompetent tossers as well...

Andrew McMenemy (Scotland) I have seen several times this season, he isn't terrible, but he is far to lenient to teams who kill the ball. In the Blues V Treviso, the Italians basically got away with killing the game for 35 minutes in the second half with nothing even being said to them. He did the same in Scarlets V Aironi, the bottom line is that is is no good whistling for the whole game and yellow carding a player 2 minutes from the end after the game has been ruined. He is a weak referee who doesn't stamp his authority on teams.

Do crowds really have to be basically jumping the fence before referee's apply the rules of the game?

It's no wonder Welsh fans can't be bothered with Rabo direct rugby when these idiots come to our country to referee and ruin any chance of us seeing an exciting game.

Refs aren't biased, Alyn, fans are.

Apart from the obvious libel, are you also suggesting physically attacking refs as a way to improve standards?

We'll just agree to disagree I think, we have very different opinions on this.

All I want is for referees to apply the laws, apply them fairly to BOTH teams, and to be quicker in using cards against teams who are under pressure because their killing the ball continually.

I think EVERY Magners game should have a neutral referee, the biggest problem is Scotland and Italy have no one decent between them.

Still worry that we could lose this one and the team announcement has done nothing to ease that. Bearman's injury is a worry, looks like he may maintain his Dragons track record. I see finishers in the backline but not much creativity. Beck is going to be a loss. Surely we must be in the market for a centre? We can't challenge with our current crop.

No surprises from the Ospreys camp, although it's a little unusual that they haven't specified the numbers of the replacement players. They should win this fixture I think.

Weather in Treviso tomorrow 26°C with light winds

Should win it pretty comfortably I think. Think you'll get a BP too.

If we show the drive and determination to play heads up rugby as we did in the first half of the Leinster game then we could come away with a bonus point. If we show the ineptitude we played with last week, I can see us losing.
As for the comments about the refereeing, Alyn I do agree that the standard has been poor for our two home games so far, however I wouldn't go as far as suggesting it's a directive. I think we all know there are certain Refs we would prefer to see, but we can't have them for every game. I personally don't like blaming the ref for losing a game, because the more switch on and savvy teams adapt to how the Ref will manage the game. Richie McCaw is a grand master at it. Perhaps we need to be a little more savvy at time????

TBJ9625 wrote:I personally don't like blaming the ref for losing a game...

And why should you? No one credits them when their team wins a game.

it's a good point Cari, liking your thinking lol. Just annoys me when I hear supporters blaming the ref for costing us the game!!! We're all human, we all make mistakes, why should they be any different. No matter what decision a ref makes, there's a strong possibility that 50% of the crowd wont like it lol!!!! (assuming the crowd is split with equal numbers of supporters before someone picks me up on that!)

That's what I mean TB. They blame the ref if things go awry - why not just say "The other team were much better and they beat us..." instead of berating the referee all the time? They're quick enough to say "We were the better team..." when they've beaten someone.

Actually to be Fair the Ospreys have a 100% win record in the league, so for you guys to say I'm moaning about referees costing us games, havent read what I've posted and are jumping on the band wagon a bit. I have named the referees I think are poor, and why I think that. no one has countered my arguments, just using a general argument that referees are human.

Any back to whats important, which is the teams and the game!
I'm glad Kristian Phillips has been dropped he was poor last week and made far too many errors, it's good he has had a run but he is young and inconsistent.
I'm also suprised Richard Fussell has kept his place after a poor game last time out, though with Barrie Davies as our alternative maybe it's not so suprising.

Treviso fly Half Kristopher Burton looks a cracking player from what I have seen in the Blues game, I wonder if he will spend the game banging over drop goals.

If we have decent weather I expect the Ospreys to win easily.

sorry Alyn wasn't trying to imply that you blamed the refs for losing games. i was just saying i didn't like when people do!

Ospreys win 27 - 32.

AlynDavies wrote:no one has countered my arguments, just using a general argument that referees are human.

It wasn't countered because there was no point. You yourself said we would agree to disagree.

When you watch your team you only notice the oppositions lawbreaking, not your own, you can't have an equitable opinion of the ref when you're only looking at one side.

I don't care if you think a ref is bad, that's fine. It's your attitude that they are actively corrupt that I find unacceptable.

Highlights on S4C after the Dragons match.

AlynDavies wrote:I make no apologies for my comments guys, refereeing standards in the Rabo Direct have been terrible so far this season. At times they have bordered on disgraceful.

What is most surprising is that the referees are sponsored by Specsavers...!

Missed the game, will have to try and get a copy of it somewhere, was in the Dragons club house watching Newcastle vs Leicester and having a bit of banter with the pensioner Dragons supporters club.
Great bunch of lads too, pity the other regions fans aren't like that.