Wales and The Ospreys

Hi there all, first post, have moved over from the BBC 606 forum which they so kindly desposed of. I am a Wales and Osprey fan and watched Scrum V last night to find Gatland with some interesting comments which I dont feel anyone has picked up on, on here yet?

Gatland has said that the Ospreys and Wales have not always worked together and out of all the regions the Ospreys have been the least amenable. For me, the question i asked myself is why? Well... there are a couple of reasons for Gatland to say this:

1) The Ospreys refuse to adjust their game plan to suit Wales

2) Gatland is unhappy at the amount of Welsh Squad players' at the region

3) The Ospreys continue to buy and produce alot of the young talent and they get near to no game time

For me, all three have truth in them. Gatland stating "it is not ideal for one region to have so many". I agree. Time after time other regions have struggled to compete with the Ospreys finacial clout and often their best players' are pouched with the sign of any promise.

Some are: Lee Byrne, Mike Phillips, Richard Fussel amongst others. Lets be honest now, this hasn't helped Wales or the Ospreys and now they are starting to realise.

Players' such as; gareth owen who for me shows great promise as a 12, Kristian Phillips ( needs to learn to tackle but needs game time), Matthew Morgan, Ian Evans, Hanno Dirksen etc need game time. The solution, loan these players' to other regions. The Dragons have expressed their need to find another centre (loan/buy Gareth own) whos career has stalled. The Blues (Matthew Morgan) need a good running 10.

As an Osprey fan, the coaching is the main problem, but I wish we would use our youngsters rather than buying players like fussel. The regions need to be realistic, The WRU need to have an influence. These young players need game time. Other regions need players. For Wales to succeed we need 4 strong regions, with the ability to compete in all competitions. Central Contracts are the way forward for me.

What do you guys think? Wales will continue to struggle if these young boys languish in the wings of the Ospreys....

Central contracts could indeed be the way forward.

But I think this season has showed that at least the Dragons and Scarlets aren't too far behind the Ospreys in developing their own talent. Plenty of youngsters on show this season, showing how well they can play. The O's have gone down the road of getting rid of their more senior players so I hope they give their youngsters a chance. They played so well during the 6N's they deserve it. The only region languishing behind is the Blues really.

There is a lot of good to be seen in Welsh rugby, I just hope the WRU have the brains to harness it. Already Gatland has started to pick from more than the O's and I hope this continues. One day we will have a balance of players from all 4 of the regions and that will be a good day for Welsh rugby. We just need to give it time, that is if we stick to the regions as they are, which is another question entirely.

Dreamer,

Your right the dragons and Scarlets have shown promise. But the dragons and scarlets have said they need to strengthen in the centres as an example. For me if they need to go elsewhere they need to look no further than Gavin henson and Gareth Owen as an example.

Central contracts would see a much more improved balance on the whole I believe. There is too much dispute between the regions and wru at the moment and that needs to stop.

Aye definitely Permian, the ongoing dispute between the regions and the WRU is a farce, and yet another way of Welsh rugby shooting itself in the foot.

I know the likes of Gareth Owen would be hugely welcome at the Scarlets, he's just the sort of player that would suit us. However I'm not sure we can afford him. The Scarlets' financial woes have been well documented and we are paying the price for that now. I would rather us spend another couple of seasons relying on our own youngsters and developing them, all be it with limited success, then splashing our cash on players who could deliver for us but aren't guaranteed to do so.

The lack of money is a huge factor in Welsh rugby. If we had centralised contracts, or something similar, perhaps it would be easier for us to loan players out to different regions. Therefore the money factor wouldn't be such an option and potentially talented players like Owen would get more game time. Tis definitely something worth looking at.

I hate to say it but maybe thats something football has over rugby union at the present time. Look at it this way, the Ospreys are paying the bills on Owen, Phillips etc. who arent playing. Now surely if these players' are to be loaned this benefits both the ospreys and which ever region gets them. For instance, the Ospreys continue to pay Owen wages, but he plays at the Dragons for say half the season.

If they wish, they can either extend his loan period or call him back?

Aye exactly, it's something I'm surprised doesn't happen more in Welsh rugby, especially when the O's appear to have too much talent on their hands and the likes of the Dragons and Scarlets are struggling for squad depth. It would benefit Welsh rugby I would say, and can only really be seen as a positive.

Its common sense mate that eludes our rulers of the wru and regions. In my opinion its just plain old spite.

Can anyone think of any other players who are ready to make the step up, either at the ospreys or other regions? I mean real contenders for regional places.

Harry robinson at the blues, Matthew Morgan etc...

Well you've got Scott Williams at the Scarlets but as Regan King has now left and John Davies is most probably going to the World Cup, he at least will get game time at the start of next season.

What about the likes of Kristian Phillips at the O's, I know he's struggled with injury, but surely he's worthy of more game time at the region. There's quite a few backs especially at the O's who are worthy of a chance.

The only position in Welsh rugby, across all the regions, that I'm really worried about at the moment and that's the 2nd row. Not too many coming through there at all really that look hugely talented. But I guess that's a point for another thread entirely.

Yeah Kristian can't tackle but can't get any bigger so needs to start learning. There are so many of these players' its frustrating. Hopefully we will see alot of these young guys play during the World Cup.

Yes but the likes of George North and Rhys Priestland can't tackle all that well and they are getting plenty of game time for their repsective region.

Kristian is a hugely talented player and is getting a lot of experience with the 7's. The next step for him is to get some regional game time.

The Scarlets have shown this season, even if it has been forced by injury, the benefits players can get from playing for a regional team. It's no wonder the Llanelli RFC players who played for the Scarlets added so much experience to their team when playing against the likes of Neath and Ponty in the last couple of weeks. The difference they brought to their team was incredible, and playing for their region was the only reason for this, the benefit is incredible. More of this needs to be done, and if there's no room for this to happen at the Ospreys then they should be loaned out.