Ospreys 17 - 12 Cardiff Blues

First topic message reminder :

For Ospreys:
Try: Bowe
Pen: Morgan 2, Biggar 2

For Cardiff Blues:
Pen: Halfpenny 3
Drop: Parks

Ospreys: 15 Barry Davies, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Shane Williams/Hanno Dirksen, 10 Matthew Morgan, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 George Stowers, 7 Justin Tipuric (Capt), 6 James King, 5 Jonathan Thomas, 4 Ryan Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Tom Smith, 20 Joe Bearman, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Tom Isaacs.

Cardiff Blues: 15 Gavin Henson, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Alex Cuthbert, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (c), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Ryan Tyrell, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Ryan Harford ,19 Michael Paterson, 20 Sam Warburton, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Dan Parks, 23 Harry Robinson.

Referee: Nigel Owens


Ospreys reapplied the pressure on Leinster at the PRO12 summit after defeating Cardiff Blues 17-12 in their Welsh derby clash on Sunday.

Indiscipline from the Blues during the opening exchanges gifted Ospreys an early lead. Matthew Morgan was on target twice with the boot in the first four minutes to give the home side a 6-0 lead.

The Blues rallied, however, and were back on level terms before the end of the first period, courtesy of two accurately struck penalties from Leigh Halfpenny.

Neither side was able to cross the whitewash before the interval or further trouble the scorers, meaning there was nothing between the two Welsh rivals when the whistle blew for half time.

Ospreys crossed the whitewash and delivered the game's first try ten minutes into the second half, when the ball was worked right straight from the scrum and Tommy Bowe crashed over. The conversion was missed but the hosts held an 11-6 lead.

The Blues reduced the deficit to just two points when Halfpenny struck for the third time after Ospreys had infringed at the ruck.

Then, after the home side missed a penalty, Cardiff kicked a drop-goal. The ball was flung from the ruck to the poised Dan Parks, who made no mistake from 20 metres out to give his side the lead.

But the slender advantage was cancelled out on 72 minutes when substitute Dan Biggar slotted over a penalty after Cardiff had infringed at the ruck.

Then, as the Blues desperately searched for a way back in to the game, Biggar cemented the win with a second penalty in the dying seconds.

Sadly he misses his first kick - awkward angle mind, but there'll be more chances...

flyhalffactory wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

Cari wrote:Biggar on for Morgs.

Halfpee kicks the penalty 11 - 9.

He has a hell of a lot to live up to, Morgan was much better than Biggar has been recently.

Can't agree with you there mate
Young Morgan has only played well in one facit of the flyhalf role that is in open play, 3 passes went to the wrong player, Bowe certainly had a clear cut chance, ands his lack of awareness is fairly obvious Barry Davies should have been away for 5 pts in the first half, and the worst thing is he cannot convert the points (8pts to date) that his forwards win for him

He is losing you the game rather than winning it

I could not disagree with you more, but I know from your previous threads about your admiration of Steven jones you have a very different opinion of flyhalf play to myself.

As soon as Biggar came on the back line stopped clicking. And he missed his kick now we are behind...

eh...he nailed that one all right.

14 - 12.

Backline has gone to stodge but weve somehow gotten into the lead. Cmon Ospreys!

gowales wrote:oh and Biggar misses a kick. Is he also losing the game for us?

Go
Do you think that Morgan kicks were hard to convert then?............ and do you think he should have put them over?

If you agree with the above then you must agree that he has lost you 8pts, and all his forwards would be cheesed off that they haven't been rewarded for all their hard work

That angle was quite acute for Biggar ............ totally different situ, and he wasnt far away

Plus the Os are looking just as sharp with Biggar at the helm

Parks moronically kicks good ball away, Davies sends it back and we get the line out

Excellent tackle on Rees by Biggar there too, to be fair. I know he's an unpopular choice, but he is the more experienced of the two.

Ryan jones man of the match.

Well done boys. Needed that win badly

I agree Cari. Valuable win there.

There was not enough aggression shown in that match it was not your typical local derby.

well said Cari - Morgan did do good things but did many bad things as well, just like Biggar but Biggar was what was needed in the 2nd half - the 1st kick he missed was from a very hard angle.

maestegmafia wrote:Ryan jones man of the match.

He was superb Maesteg, really like him as a flanker. Henson had another good match............ early days but I would like the Blues to try him at 10, he has found his mojo again, great positioing, awareness and as such appears to have that yard of space again


Good game good game

Not convinced by the quality of the regions at all based on the last fortnight. So many errors and lack of a killer instinct by many, not to mention the boring and ineffective approach they all seem to pick up.

flyhalffactory wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Ryan jones man of the match.

He was superb Maesteg, really like him as a flanker. Henson had another good match............ early days but I would like the Blues to try him at 10, he has found his mojo again, great positioing, awareness and as such appears to have that yard of space again


Good game good game

Henson has looked good in every game he has played since his sabbatical. Injury curses his game though. Always has.

Good back row play by a few men out there, Nalvidi is growing into the role well, Tuperic too. I thought Stowers had his best game so far for the ospreys.

Bradly Davies did well too.

The game was won by the Ospreys front 5, it could have been a different result had the blues had a full team out. It was a shame Webb did not service Morgan the Ospreys may have had a better cutting edge giving Morgan more time. Well deserved MOTM, normally S4C picks a Welsh speaker even if he plays rubbish.

i thought Henson should have done better for the try, if he'd tackled more aggresively then he could have slowed Bowe long enough for Navidi to get there which probably would have prevented the try

in fairness if I was coming back from a broken wrist I think I might go into tackles a bit less aggressively too. I'm sure once he gets a bit of confidence back he'll start hitting them again

Fair assumption McKay

Only his second game back. More positives than negatives

I suppose that's true and he does look good considering he's how long he's been out of the game - I suppose that I'm just a little annoyed after the S4C constantly talking up their stars Henson and Morgan in this case as if they didn't put a foot wrong - when the reality is they both did good and bad things, and there were better players on the pitch who didn't get barely a mention - like Beck, Bevington or Ryan Jones on the Ospreys side and Halfpenny and Bradley on the Blues side

What were your thoughts on being ton and Andrews?

I thought Andrews looked a little less impressive than he did last week. Bevington seemed to do well, but the scrum really became a weapon once Duncan came on.

I thought Bevington did really well particularly in the loose - but as you say the scrum was a real weapon after Duncs came on - hopefully he'll be in the 6N squad and give us a bit more depth (not good for the O's with 3 or 4 props being with Wales - A Jones, D Jones, P James, R Bev)

I'm not sure players like Duncan or iestyn are going to get in the welsh squad no matter how well they are playing.

I've got that fear but hope I'm wrong as Duncs (or Iestyn) would be great cover for Adam/Geth while we bring on Bevington and Andrews - or Rhodri Jones and Gardiner, though I think Bevington looks the most promising at the moment.

maestegmafia wrote:What were your thoughts on being ton and Andrews?

I thought Andrews looked a little less impressive than he did last week. Bevington seemed to do well, but the scrum really became a weapon once Duncan came on.

Well, the scrum wasn't disastrous like it normally is against the O's, he was also all over the park. He will feel hard done by if he isnt now 1st choice ahead of Filise.

wales606 wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:What were your thoughts on being ton and Andrews?

I thought Andrews looked a little less impressive than he did last week. Bevington seemed to do well, but the scrum really became a weapon once Duncan came on.

Well, the scrum wasn't disastrous like it normally is against the O's, he was also all over the park. He will feel hard done by if he isnt now 1st choice ahead of Filise.

I think your right, he really impressed me in his last few outings. Though to be fair Filise has been in a rejuvinated spirit too this year.

I hope he does succede for the blues, in the lose he was superb against the dragons, he has a similar constructive spirit too gethin Jenkins.

watched little morgans play today, not impressed. was it one of his poorer performances? got to nail those easy kicks at this level.

on the positive side halpenny ,henson, breeze looking good for blues.

It was unusual for Morgan to miss those kicks, he has been brilliant kicking this season.

Though I thought the positives of the way he sees and plays the game out weighs poor kicking tonight, he makes the ospreys click, they look more dangerous in attack.

what percentage of games has he played to be classed as 'brilliant'

again you seem to be looking at one aspect of play...broken play, little runs( coming to nothing, remind you of anyone?) look at the whole of his game, attack and defence and kicking percentages, as i said before lets be fair to all players.

if it had been biggar, you would have slated and named him for missing 3 kicks. its been done before when he has missed, so why not do it with morgan. 'the way he sees the game' you say outweighs missing kicks, we've got supporters 'seeing' the game, KICK THE POINTS

fairness is what is needed to make unbiased comments that are a true reflection of what is good and worthy of praise in a game. jinky runs and breaks that come to nothing just aint gonna cut it anymore.

biggar would have been hung out to dry on morgans performance, even if it was 2 breaks and 4 passes( which also ended in nothing)

lets be objective. on todays showing, morgan was not good enough.

The game started off well but became a bit disjointed with far to many errors. Morgan did ok and so did Dan when he came on. Its a shame the line breaks by both teams turned into nowt. I thought Khan had another ropey game. I lost count how many times the balll was out at the breakdown and no SH in sight and ENOUGH WITH THE BOX KICKS ALREADY! Lualua sidestepped past the O's all game and was the biggest threat. A wins a win but our backplay is pants compared to the good work and graft done by the forwards.
Btw, before anyone moans about the booing aimed at Henson, it was harmless pantomine villian stuff.

Morgan - Played well for 30 mins, ran well, but doesn't know when to pass. Also missed too many goal kicks and tackles, deserved to be subbed by Biggar.

Henson - Played well for 30 mins, ran well out of defence and good kick and chase. Second half, was he playing? 18 months was raining up and unders down on the Blues but where was the full back? Should have been subbed early in the second half.

Breadvan - I thought the locals were all right to Gavin, and any panto stuff didn't seem to phase him. He did well if he was nervous at all.

He got a slip taking a pass just outside his 22, there were a few jeers, he then put up a sublime up and under beating Barry Davies to the catch and offloaded to Patterson.

I don't think it phased him, might have actually encouraged him.

Smirnoffpriest wrote:i thought Henson should have done better for the try, if he'd tackled more aggresively then he could have slowed Bowe long enough for Navidi to get there which probably would have prevented the try

i thought so too. his break with the lazy running also suggested he inst playing hard enough. but he is looking like a good team player; his offload to rush.

ryan had a great game. seems to be recapturing the form that made him a stand out lion in 05

Either way Henson is playing bloody well for someone who's been out of the game for nearly 3 years.
Andrew Bishop has played almost every game this season and i've had to check the team sheet just to see if he was playing.

gowales wrote:Either way Henson is playing bloody well for someone who's been out of the game for nearly 3 years.
Andrew Bishop has played almost every game this season and i've had to check the team sheet just to see if he was playing.

Hasn't played for nearly 3 years? He played for Scaracens and Toulon last season! He looked OK first half but after that he was on the field but not in the game!

Second game back since mid August. I'd say he looked pretty good for it.

He played 4 times for Saracens 1 or 2 of those probably coming off the bench and 2 times for Toulon. Then 2 times for Wales in the summer... so yea im sticking with my statement. The more game time he gets the more he will improve and he could do with the Welsh public getting behind him.

Considering the reception he got leaving the coach at his old region the Ospreys I think there are many fans behind him succeeding at the Blues and hopefully successfully pulling on the welsh shirt a bit more often.

gowales wrote:He played 4 times for Saracens 1 or 2 of those probably coming off the bench and 2 times for Toulon. Then 2 times for Wales in the summer... so yea im sticking with my statement. The more game time he gets the more he will improve and he could do with the Welsh public getting behind him.

I think the Welsh public (and rugby fans in general) are, quite rightly, waiting to see if he pays back any previous loyalty by maybe playing a few games of rugby in a row first. Just a thought.

He didn't exactly not want to play before did he. He was injured...

And he was tired of getting constantly injured so he took a break from rugby which i can understand. He also asked the Ospreys to stop paying him because he was injured constantly and didn't feel it was right. So then he didn't have a source of income so he took up some offers for a few reality shows.

That was never going to be a high scoring game, but Ospreys backline certainly looked more potent than it has been all season. Morgan should get more starts at fly-half, he has taken every opportunity well this season in spite of being the weakest guy on the pitch. He still lacks a little bit of awareness but that will come in time and I much prefer an adventurous fly-half like the way Priestland is when playing for Wales.

Ryan Jones has been superb all season. Hopefully the Ryan of old is back to stay. I have not been a fan of him at 2nd row but he has convinced me otherwise and should perhaps partner Davies there if Ian Evans doesn't recover?

Bevington played like a flanker but is still a weak scrummager, I think Gethin is better in both departments there. IMO, Gatland needs to look outside Wales at Craig Mitchell and Rhys Gill for this forthcoming 6 Nations (behind Geth and Adam) and that way we are on our way to building some strength in depth in the front row. I can't see Paul James making it, needs a few games for the Ospreys to regain form/fitness before being considered.

Rhys Gill did well in the Ospreys Saracens matches. Could be an interesting option. Can't see the PRL releasing either him or Mitchell without large financial assistance from the WRU.

That will not happen.

I fear for the scrum if were stuck with Scott Andrews if Jones gets injured.

gowales wrote:I fear for the scrum if were stuck with Scott Andrews if Jones gets injured.

Unfortunately that is something we have to deal with if it happens.

I dont see us having the option of England based players as it is to difficult to get them to train with the squad.

Lets hope Scot Andrews can improve given the chances. His loose work has been very good, so there is some promise.

Mitchell should have a clause in his contract. I can't see why Sarries would not agree to releasing Gill, they have other options there and would surely like another experienced international playing for them. I think they are both the best options behind our first choice, we won't be in such big trouble if Jones get injured then.

Morgannwg I don't think any of the clubs have any problems releasing players for the International training camps. But the PRL refuse to let them go unless they are compensated.

Cardiff was robbed

But well played Ospreys, good to see such a big crowd there!

my man henson, what a guy! what i liked about him in the game was his calm, assured approach. he didnt try too hard, just got his rhythm going, silky running, its not lazy when you can ghost 2 players and create space for another. his running style has always been the same.

didnt look as bulked up as he has previously, but he could get back to his best, hope so.

nice to see gowales telling the story as it was/is, i've always liked the guy, go gav!