Champions Cup Pool 2: Ospreys v Exeter Chiefs, 15 November

     
Ospreys v Exeter Chiefs
Sunday 15 November 2015
KO 17:30
Liberty Stadium, Swansea

Live on beIN Sports / Sky Sports

Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant Referees: [tbc]
Citing Commissioner: [tbc]
TMO: [tbc]

A. Head to Head

#These teams are meeting for the first time.

B. Domestic Form

Ospreys

7 Nov 2015
Ospreys 36 - 3 Zebre Rugby

1 Nov 2015
Glasgow Warriors 31 - 19 Ospreys

24 Oct 2015
Ospreys 16 - 21 Connacht Rugby

17 Oct 2015
Benetton Treviso 22 - 25 Ospreys

Exeter Chiefs

7 Nov 2015
Exeter Chiefs 19 - 6 Leicester Tigers

1 Nov 2015
Newcastle Falcons 3 - 41 Exeter Chiefs

24 Oct 2015
Exeter Chiefs 38 - 11 London Irish

17 Oct 2015
Bath Rugby 19 - 17 Exeter Chiefs

C. Teams

Ospreys

[tbc]

Exeter Chiefs

[tbc]

I can see Exeter winning this if they decide to focus on this comp, they don't have a big squad though so may want to just focus on the Prem as they're doing well so far.

Ospreys have had a very poor start to the season. An encouraging win yesterday but not firing on all cylinders.

Exeter form looks good so naturally you'd back them. Tandy probably won't put out the best available team either, so that will help the Chiefs' cause.

A few posters on our forum said how organised Exeter were yesterday, and are very difficult to break down. There was a big improvement in our play against Zebre, it apparently needs to go up a few more notches to get anything next week, if we get a few players back and also actually select our strongest team, we might have a chance. Arhip was away with Moldova this week and apparently they have another game next week, although there is a Press report that says he is coming back for next week, I spoke to our new prop signing in the O Zone and he said he will be available for selection, I hope he is also utilised, then again I can't see Tandy dropping Jarvis altogether, so it will be one of the overseas contingent and Jarvis for the 23.

Exeter probably have as strong a squad as they've ever had, with decent depth in front row, back row, scrum half and back 3.

I'd expect that there'll be only some small rotations, as there have been in the 4 prem games, but I'm often surprised by Baxter's selections.

"Bumps and Bruises" from last weekend include Dollman, Short, Waldron, Armand, with Moon and Parling rehabbing, but Chiefs are tightlipped about injuries, so there may be more amongst the fringe players.

Exeter have yet to lose a competitive game against a Welsh region (HC, Amlin and LV), but have only played Ospreys in the LV until now. It'll be a squad selected and focused to win the game.

Hope to see Josh Matavesi turn out against his former team-mates - he was the great hope of the Exeter academy when they were promoted.

Dubs, Josh will surely be playing, he is a mainstay of our strategic game plan, the only point of doubt is who will be lining up outside of him, Ben John is very good going forward with the ball, but is not that good defensively, Johnathon Spratt is the opposite, does Slade normally play inside or outside for you, if he's the former John could well be in, if the latter it should be Spratt, I think if we sustain the improvement from the weekend and Tandy actually selects the right team it could be very close.

Slade wears 13 usually, with Hill/Whitten at 12 (both strong lads) but they do move around a bit, even at 1st phase depending on attack/defence and position on the pitch. I've an inkling that Slade may be at 10 this weekend, with Nowell moving into 13 - worked well a few times last season.

I hear the Zimbabwean number 8 Don Armand has been impressive for the Chiefs.

Slade is a huge talent, Steenson is playing well and we know that Tom Francis can be a handful.

From Ospreys offy:

The Ospreys team to play Exeter Chiefs at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday 15th November 2015, KO 5.30pm, is as follows:

15 Dan Evans

14 Dafydd Howells

13 Jonathan Spratt

12 Josh Matavesi

11 Eli Walker

10 Dan Biggar

9 Brendon Leonard



1 Paul James

2 Scott Baldwin

3 Dmitri Arhip

4 Lloyd Ashley

5 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)

6 Dan Lydiate

7 Justin Tipuric

8 James King



REPLACEMENTS

16 Sam Parry

17 Ryan Bevington

18 Aaron Jarvis

19 Rory Thornton

20 Dan Baker

21 Tom Habberfield

22 Sam Davies

23 Ben John



Dafydd Howells makes his European Cup debut

Rory Thornton will make his European Cup debut if he comes off the bench



The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury:

Tyler Ardron – Knee

Adam Beard – Shoulder

Ashley Beck – ACL

Rynier Bernardo - Ankle

Jeff Hassler – Knee

Nicky Smith – Ankle

Rhys Webb – Foot

From Chiefs Offy:

"CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE OSPREYS 15 Jack Nowell 14 Matt Jess 13 Henry Slade 12 Sam Hill 11 James Short 10 Gareth Steenson (capt) 9 Will Chudley 1 Alec Hepburn 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie 3 Tomas Francis 4 Mitch Lees 5 Damian Welch 6 Dave Ewers 7 Julian Salvi 8 Don Armand

16 Jack Yeandle 17 Carl Rimmer 18 Moray Low 19 Ollie Atkins 20 Tom Johnson 21 Dave Lewis 22 Ian Whitten 23 Michele Campagnaro"


8 internationals in the squad (1 Welsh, 1 Scottish, 1 Irish, 1 Italian, 4 English)
5 JWC2013 winners starting.
16 EQP in squad
4 Aussies, 2 Irish, 2 Zimbo, 1 Italian, 1 Scot and 3 Cornish (for the Mebyon Kernowek amongst us)

Nowell plays at 15 for just the second time at elite club level, following Phill Dollman's injury, with Jess coming into wing. Whitten and Hill continue to rotate at 12.
Tommy Waldron is injured so Tom Johnson makes a rare appearance in the squad following neck surgery over a year ago - he was really tearing it up in pre-season.
Parling and Moon have both trained this week following injury but aren't risked for Sunday.
Michele Campagnaro will make his Exeter debut if he comes on.

It's as strong a team as available.

Dubbelyew L Overate wrote:From Ospreys offy:

The Ospreys team to play Exeter Chiefs at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday 15th November 2015, KO 5.30pm, is as follows:

15 Dan Evans

14 Dafydd Howells

13 Jonathan Spratt

12 Josh Matavesi

11 Eli Walker

10 Dan Biggar

9 Brendon Leonard



1 Paul James

2 Scott Baldwin

3 Dmitri Arhip

4 Lloyd Ashley

5 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)

6 Dan Lydiate

7 Justin Tipuric

8 James King



REPLACEMENTS

16 Sam Parry

17 Ryan Bevington

18 Aaron Jarvis

19 Rory Thornton

20 Dan Baker

21 Tom Habberfield

22 Sam Davies

23 Ben John



Dafydd Howells makes his European Cup debut

Rory Thornton will make his European Cup debut if he comes off the bench



The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury:

Tyler Ardron – Knee

Adam Beard – Shoulder

Ashley Beck – ACL

Rynier Bernardo - Ankle

Jeff Hassler – Knee

Nicky Smith – Ankle

Rhys Webb – Foot

Dubs, that is very close to the strongest 23 we have available, I really do not understand the omission of Fia, as he has clearly been seen training for the last 3 weeks, I would have had Thornton in there ahead of Ashley and Baker at 8 ahead of King, but at least they're on the bench in case of emergencies.

Wayne I agree with you there - I just don't understand Steve Tandy's selection policy, and if I'm honest the Ospreys current squad is one of the weakest I've seen - that's partly to do with the fact you have existing dross (Bevington, Parry) and have brought back ex-dross (Griffiths, Phillips). I always thought managing dross was a Dragons-type thing but it seems all other Welsh teams are now following suite. That said Ospreys have a strong starting team - for the sake of Wales I'm hoping you bring through the likes of Thornton, Beard and Otten in the near future.

mikey_dragon wrote:Wayne I agree with you there - I just don't understand Steve Tandy's selection policy, and if I'm honest the Ospreys current squad is one of the weakest I've seen - that's partly to do with the fact you have existing dross (Bevington, Parry) and have brought back ex-dross (Griffiths, Phillips). I always thought managing dross was a Dragons-type thing but it seems all other Welsh teams are now following suite. That said Ospreys have a strong starting team - for the sake of Wales I'm hoping you bring through the likes of Thornton, Beard and Otten in the near future.

Mikey, by the end of the year the pecking order of loose heads will be Smith/James and Bevington and by the end of the season the Hooker pecking order will be Baldwin, Otten and Parry. I've seen Beard at U20 level and in a LV game, I hope the promise can be realised, because if AWJ does go we will be up the creek without a paddle if Ashley is preferred, and please don't talk to me about those returnees.

That is one of the most pathetic defending i have ever seen at pro level for Exeter try.

VinceWLB wrote:That is one of the most pathetic defending i have ever seen at pro level for Exeter try.

Agreed. Rubbish by Walker - pathetic chase.

Exeter will have all the momentum start of second half - could be 12 points down but they are ahead? Ospreys need some early points.

offload wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:That is one of the most pathetic defending i have ever seen at pro level for Exeter try.

Agreed. Rubbish by Walker - pathetic chase.

What in a high profile game like this? Don't let LD hear it...

mikey_dragon wrote:

offload wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:That is one of the most pathetic defending i have ever seen at pro level for Exeter try.

Agreed. Rubbish by Walker - pathetic chase.

What in a high profile game like this? Don't let LD hear it...

Shhh....don't wake him up.

offload wrote:Exeter will have all the momentum start of second half - could be 12 points down but they are ahead?   Ospreys need some early points.

Well I was wrong there, nice second half by Ospreys.

If they hold on with this winning margin then hopefully it is what's needed to kickstart their season.

Great win for the Ospreys. Brilliant rugby played by both teams.

Not even a LBP for Chiefs, that'll be costly in this group. Looking at the Chiefs team I notice a lot of former U20 England players, who happened to be very good at that level. Good to see that a lot of them have progressed and are now in a starting XV in Europe.

mikey_dragon wrote:Not even a LBP for Chiefs, that'll be costly in this group. Looking at the Chiefs team I notice a lot of former U20 England players, who happened to be very good at that level. Good to see that a lot of them have progressed and are now in a starting XV in Europe.

There was a good few lads playing today on both teams that had progressed from junior international honours

Enjoyable evening at the Liberty.
Dan Biggar was off colour with his kicking for a while but got it together in the end.
Good atmosphere tonight, there was a group of Exeter fans near us who did their best to cheer on the Chiefs with their chanting and singing, really added to the occasion...even managed to get a response from the usually subdued home fans!
Haven't had much to cheer about this season so far but that was enjoyable.

Enjoyable game. Good intense second half but once again this season, the Ospreys back play is predictable and one dimensional. Give it to Josh or up & unders seem to be our only plan. Biggars drop goal after our scrum in the chiefs 10m line summed it up. Good start nonetheless but we have be more creative..

maestegmafia wrote:Great win for the Ospreys. Brilliant rugby played by both teams.

Congrats to the Ospreys but can't agree that Chiefs played brilliant rugby - far too many errors, some forced by Osprey pressure, but far too many unforced. Penalty count and turnovers showed that Exe weren't smart enough at the breakdown and struggled at times to deal with O's kick-chase (which was very good). The analysis session will be brutal.

Probably a decent game for the neutral, but for a partisan Exonian, very disappointing.

Good win against the AP 2nd best side, Paul James gave Tomas Francis a scrummaging lesson, and our Moldovan superstar did the same with their loose head, he should have been binned for his boring in all match, our lineout was very poor it needs to improve rapidly, as some of the others said very little inventiveness behind, apart from his goal kicking Biggar was superb. Have to say Nowell looks class, a real thorn in our side and their lineout was also excellent, I thought the score would be a lot closer with the loser getting a BP. I suppose it was funny that the person who won us the game started out at Exeter, well done Josh, finally what excellent support they have, it also brought out the best in our fans.

Well done Wayne and other O's fans. This is a good win and hopefully this can kickstart your season. I hope that was Biggar worst performance of the season from the tea out of the way as i thought he was brilliant everywhere else. Thought subbing of Arhip so early was going to cost you the game but glad it didn't.

I was at the game yesterday, I strapped a kite to my back and just let the wind take me to Swansea.

On a serious note though, how friggin good is Dan Biggar ? OK he had an off night with the tee, but he still kept fronting up and taking responsibility and if there is anybody else in the world who can chase and retrieve the high ball as good as he does, then I have not seen him, in the second half Dan Biggar grabbed that game by the scruff of the neck and took control. The kid is really showing his class.

wayne wrote:Good win against the AP 2nd best side, Paul James gave Tomas Francis a scrummaging lesson, and our Moldovan superstar did the same with their loose head, he should have been binned for his boring in

Worth noting that Francis is the oldest member of the Chiefs starring front row at the age of 23. Hepburn does seem to like trying to get under the tight head with questionable angles, he's straight from the James school of loose head scrummaging.

Agree with the Chiefs fans. They quickly became every AP fans second club with their attractive rugby and entertaining fans.

Not seen the game but that's a good solid start for the Ospreys. Allowing no LBP is always a real benefit in these new tighter European groups.

^^^ They're still obsessing over the average age of their team.