Ospreys 16/17 season thread

by wayne Wed 13 Jul 2016, 8:36 pm

First topic message reminder :

Rugby Management and Squad for 16/17
Head Coach Steve Tandy
Backs Gruff Rees
Forwards Chris Gibbes
Defence Brad Davis
Backs.
Dan Evans 3,     Jeff Hassler 2,     Dafydd Howells 2,     Ashley Beck 2,     Owen Watkin 3, Kieron Fonotia 2,    Ben John 2, Tom Habberfield 3, Rhys Webb NDC 3?,     Dan Biggar NDC 3, Eli Walker 1, Josh Matavesi 2, Tom Grabham 1,    Brendon Leonard 2, Sam Davies 1,    Hanno Dirksen 1, Keelan Giles 3
Forwards.
Olly Cracknell 2, Lloyd Ashley3, Bradley Davies NDC 3, Joe Bearman 1, Gareth Thomas 3, Hugh Gustafson 2, Adam Beard 3, Scott Otten 3, AWJ NDC 3, Dan Baker NDC 3, Rory Thornton NDC 3, Scott Baldwin NDC 3, James King NDC 2, Ma'afu Fia 2, Nicky Smith 3, Dmitri Arhip 2, Justin Tipuric 4, Sam Parry 2, Tyler Ardron 1, Paul James 2, Dan Suter 1,    Rhodri Jones 2, and Sam Underhill 2 but on permit from Bridgend RFC.
Fixture list for 16/17
2/9   Zebre                                         H                        Guinness W 59-5
10/9 Connacht                                    A                        Guinness W 32-11
17/9 Treviso                                       H                         Guinness W 64-10
23/9 Leinster                                      A                         Guinness L 19-31
1/10 Ulster    A    Guinness L 7-9
7/10 Blues                                         H    Guinness W 46-24
15/10 London I    H BIC L 14-25
14/10 Newcastle Falcons H RCC2 W 45-0
23/10 Cornish Pirates    A BIC L 5-41
22/10 Lyon Olympique A RCC2 W 31-13
29/10 NGD H W W 35-15
4/11 Munster                                    A                           Guinness L 0-33
11/11 Harlequins                               H AWC L 12-15
18/11 Blues    A AWC W 31-7
25/12 Glasgow Warriors H Guinness W 22-5
2/12 Edinburgh    H    Guinness W 31-22
9/12 Grenoble H RCC W 59-7
10/12 Connacht Eagles A BIC W 20-17
17/12 Grenoble A RCC W 71-3
18/12 Connacht Eagles H BIC W 55-14
27/12 Scarlets H    Guinness W 19-9
1/1 NGD A Guinness W 10-0
7/1 Connacht    H Guinness W 29-7
14/1 Cornish Pirates H BIC L 10-34
15/1 Lyon H RCC W 47-7
21/1 Newcastle Falcons A RCC W 26-21
21/1 London I A    BIC W 26-24
28/1 Bristol    H    AWC W 20-14
5/2 Wasps    A AWC W 31-22
10/2 Zebre    A Guinness W 40-10
18/2 Munster H Guinness L 23-25
26/2 Glasgow W H    Guinness W 26-15
3/3 Edinburgh A    Guinness W 13-9
25/3 Treviso    A    Guinness L 5-13
2/4 St. Francais H P/S RCC Q/F L 18-20
8/4 Leinster    H    Guinness L 18-20
15/4 Blues    A    Guinness L 17-35
29/4 Ulster    H    Guinness W 24-10
6/5 Scarlets A    Guinness L 17-40
20/5 Munster A Guinness S/F
Will add RCC2 matches when they've been finalised.
Contrary to popular belief some of the Guinness League games will be affected by the Autumn Internationals, our players will be with TW when we play the Dragons, Munster and Glasgow Warriors, the first 2 because of the 13 day call up period and the Warriors because of the infernal 4th game which this year is against SA, and to think some people think everything is hunkydory now that Dodger Lewis has left his legacy rolls on.
The number after each player signifies how many years they have left on their Ospreys contract, there are a few others who are on either Development Contracts or appear not to be under contract, Jonathon Spratt, Jordan Collier, and Alex Jeffries and a few others come into that category.
Our first 5 games of the season account for the 2 Italians at home and 3 Irish, Connacht, Ulster and Leinster away, so we shouldn't have as bad a start as last season, but not as good as the previous seasons start, in certain positions especially during International periods we are only 1 or 2 injuries away from disaster, and I just hope Steve has learned his selection mistakes from the last few seasons.

by wayne Thu 06 Oct 2016, 3:30 pm

mikey_dragon wrote:I might have started Beck for this one, and I'd have also been tempted to drop Evans and start Howells after last week's performance. I think King can also consider himself lucky now that Ardron is missing through injury.

Mikey I said elsewhere that I didn't see last weeks game, but a few feel the same as you about Evans last week on our forum, they wanted Sam Davies put at 15, and as for King and Ardron the former was selected last week so who is to say who they would have selected even if Tyler was fit, and really the point is if Lyds comes through without mishap I can see him taking that shirt for a few weeks, and no how could you drop Ben John after the way he's played recently, or did you mean to drop Matavesi?

by mikey_dragon Thu 06 Oct 2016, 4:46 pm

I meant that I would have exchanged Ben John's position for Beck's. It was Evans' worst game for as long as I remember. He had a few bad games like that towards the end of his last season with dragons and found himself out of the team for the youngsters coming through.

by Breadvan Fri 07 Oct 2016, 10:28 am

Evans was poor but wouldn't put a rookie at full back like Howells in a game like this.

by mikey_dragon Fri 07 Oct 2016, 10:54 am

How's he a rookie? It's his natural position.

by wayne Fri 07 Oct 2016, 2:29 pm

Bad news coming out of New Zealand, Tamsan Hawks, look as though they are going to qualify for the semi final of the ITM Cup after beating Auckland in a group match, so means Keiron Fonotia will have to stay for these games and will be later arriving for us.

by wayne Mon 10 Oct 2016, 3:52 pm

Awful news about our 2 Canadians today, Tyler Ardron dislocated a thumb in the Ulster game, and had to have a small procedure, it is expected he will be out for about 6 weeks, whereas Jeff Hassler had an injury which looked bad at the time and it has proved correct, he's damaged his Achilles, no surgery is required but he will be out for an anticipated 8 to 9 months.
This is tragic for Jeff in particular to be out so long after making a good start to the season, this was after an injury racked last season.
Steve Tandy in his after match Press Conference said there would be a number of changes from the weekends match for the visit of Newcastle Falcons, this will only exacerbate the problem, although it will help that Brendon Leonard should make a return, as he can now play because only 2 from 3 of Ardron, Hassler and Leonard can be in any matchday squad.

by maestegmafia Mon 10 Oct 2016, 6:22 pm

Sad news for Jeff Hassler, can't fault him for commitment, he'd probably play this week if the doc would let him.

Great result vs Blues all the same.

by exile jack Mon 10 Oct 2016, 7:00 pm

wayne wrote:Awful news about our 2 Canadians today, Tyler Ardron dislocated a thumb in the Ulster game, and had to have a small procedure, it is expected he will be out for about 6 weeks, whereas Jeff Hassler had an injury which looked bad at the time and it has proved correct, he's damaged his Achilles, no surgery is required but he will be out for an anticipated 8 to 9 months.
This is tragic for Jeff in particular to be out so long after making a good start to the season, this was after an injury racked last season.
Steve Tandy in his after match Press Conference said there would be a number of changes from the weekends match for the visit of Newcastle Falcons, this will only exacerbate the problem, although it will help that Brendon Leonard should make a return, as he can now play because only 2 from 3 of Ardron, Hassler and Leonard can be in any matchday squad.

Wayne,if the O's lose both SamD and DanB to the AIs as well as James,Parry,Baldwin,AWJ,Bradley,DanL and King what does an O's team look like for the matches with NGD,Munster and Glasgow?

by wayne Mon 10 Oct 2016, 7:21 pm

exile jack wrote:
wayne wrote:Awful news about our 2 Canadians today, Tyler Ardron dislocated a thumb in the Ulster game, and had to have a small procedure, it is expected he will be out for about 6 weeks, whereas Jeff Hassler had an injury which looked bad at the time and it has proved correct, he's damaged his Achilles, no surgery is required but he will be out for an anticipated 8 to 9 months.
This is tragic for Jeff in particular to be out so long after making a good start to the season, this was after an injury racked last season.
Steve Tandy in his after match Press Conference said there would be a number of changes from the weekends match for the visit of Newcastle Falcons, this will only exacerbate the problem, although it will help that Brendon Leonard should make a return, as he can now play because only 2 from 3 of Ardron, Hassler and Leonard can be in any matchday squad.

Wayne,if the O's lose both SamD and DanB to the AIs as well as James,Parry,Baldwin,AWJ,Bradley,DanL and King what does an O's team look like for the matches with NGD,Munster and Glasgow?

Jack something like this, Evans, Howells, John/Beck, Matavesi/Beck, Walker Matavesi/Price, Habberfield, Smith, Gustafson/Otten, Arhip, Beard/Ashley, Thornton, Cracknell, ????, Baker
Jack, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Smith and not Paul James in the Welsh squad, Nicky is back to the form of a few years ago playing really well.
The 7 position is a lottery I wouldn't mind betting we will ask for King to be brought back, we have a couple of youngsters who could come in, but then again we could put Bearman at 6 and Cracknell at 7, but he isn't the quickest, we really could do with Underhill coming back.
Just had a look and it appears Underhill could be back for December, perhaps he could have a miracle cure and make it a month earlier
Jack another edit in tonights Press Conference, Tandy said Underhill is up and running and should be available in the next month which is GREAT news.

by mikey_dragon Mon 10 Oct 2016, 10:35 pm

Smith, Parry and Eli Walker have to be in that Wales squad on current form - in my unturk opinion.

by exile jack Mon 10 Oct 2016, 11:27 pm

wayne wrote:
exile jack wrote:
wayne wrote:Awful news about our 2 Canadians today, Tyler Ardron dislocated a thumb in the Ulster game, and had to have a small procedure, it is expected he will be out for about 6 weeks, whereas Jeff Hassler had an injury which looked bad at the time and it has proved correct, he's damaged his Achilles, no surgery is required but he will be out for an anticipated 8 to 9 months.
This is tragic for Jeff in particular to be out so long after making a good start to the season, this was after an injury racked last season.
Steve Tandy in his after match Press Conference said there would be a number of changes from the weekends match for the visit of Newcastle Falcons, this will only exacerbate the problem, although it will help that Brendon Leonard should make a return, as he can now play because only 2 from 3 of Ardron, Hassler and Leonard can be in any matchday squad.

Wayne,if the O's lose both SamD and DanB to the AIs as well as James,Parry,Baldwin,AWJ,Bradley,DanL and King what does an O's team look like for the matches with NGD,Munster and Glasgow?

Jack something like this, Evans, Howells, John/Beck, Matavesi/Beck, Walker Matavesi/Price, Habberfield, Smith, Gustafson/Otten, Arhip, Beard/Ashley, Thornton, Cracknell, ????, Baker
Jack, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Smith and not Paul James in the Welsh squad, Nicky is back to the form of a few years ago playing really well.
The 7 position is a lottery I wouldn't mind betting we will ask for King to be brought back, we have a couple of youngsters who could come in, but then again we could put Bearman at 6 and Cracknell at 7, but he isn't the quickest, we really could do with Underhill coming back.
Just had a look and it appears Underhill could be back for December, perhaps he could have a miracle cure and make it a month earlier
Jack another edit in tonights Press Conference, Tandy said Underhill is up and running and should be available in the next month which is GREAT news.

Thanks Wayne.Gutted for Hassler and Ardron.Always nervous about Ashley in the 2nd row particularly against Munster and Glasgow but with Brad Davis at the O's his already impressive tackling will be even more effective.

by wayne Tue 11 Oct 2016, 9:12 am

mikey_dragon wrote:Smith, Parry and Eli Walker have to be in that Wales squad on current form - in my unturk opinion.

Mikey, I can totally agree on Smith, perhaps on Parry, I think it would be harsh on Dacey to miss out because of one match, as I was told because of Judgement Day when our reserve back row pummeled the Blues, even though it happens every season.
As for Eli, North, Amos and one of Williams or Halfpenny together with Tom James are surely ahead of him, it would be a surprise to me if Eli was in that squad.

by wayne Tue 11 Oct 2016, 9:15 am

exile jack wrote:
wayne wrote:
exile jack wrote:
wayne wrote:Awful news about our 2 Canadians today, Tyler Ardron dislocated a thumb in the Ulster game, and had to have a small procedure, it is expected he will be out for about 6 weeks, whereas Jeff Hassler had an injury which looked bad at the time and it has proved correct, he's damaged his Achilles, no surgery is required but he will be out for an anticipated 8 to 9 months.
This is tragic for Jeff in particular to be out so long after making a good start to the season, this was after an injury racked last season.
Steve Tandy in his after match Press Conference said there would be a number of changes from the weekends match for the visit of Newcastle Falcons, this will only exacerbate the problem, although it will help that Brendon Leonard should make a return, as he can now play because only 2 from 3 of Ardron, Hassler and Leonard can be in any matchday squad.

Wayne,if the O's lose both SamD and DanB to the AIs as well as James,Parry,Baldwin,AWJ,Bradley,DanL and King what does an O's team look like for the matches with NGD,Munster and Glasgow?

Jack something like this, Evans, Howells, John/Beck, Matavesi/Beck, Walker Matavesi/Price, Habberfield, Smith, Gustafson/Otten, Arhip, Beard/Ashley, Thornton, Cracknell, ????, Baker
Jack, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Smith and not Paul James in the Welsh squad, Nicky is back to the form of a few years ago playing really well.
The 7 position is a lottery I wouldn't mind betting we will ask for King to be brought back, we have a couple of youngsters who could come in, but then again we could put Bearman at 6 and Cracknell at 7, but he isn't the quickest, we really could do with Underhill coming back.
Just had a look and it appears Underhill could be back for December, perhaps he could have a miracle cure and make it a month earlier
Jack another edit in tonights Press Conference, Tandy said Underhill is up and running and should be available in the next month which is GREAT news.

Thanks Wayne.Gutted for Hassler and Ardron.Always nervous about Ashley in the 2nd row particularly against Munster and Glasgow but with Brad Davis at the O's his already impressive tackling will be even more effective.

Jack wouldn't be surprised to see Adam Beard very soon, when his ban was over he went to play with the Wizards, but he was back in our environment last week by all accounts.

by True Raven Fri 14 Oct 2016, 12:16 pm

Ospreys Premiership Select lineup to play London Irish at the knoll

15.Morgan Williams

14.Tom Williams

13.Joe Thomas

12.Keiran Williams

11.Tom O'Flaherty

10.Luke Price

9.Matt Aubrey

1. Rowan Jenkins

2.Huw Gustafson

3.Dan Suter

4.Jon Kenny

5.James Ratti

6.Charlie Davies

7.Joe Tomalin-Reeves

8.Rob McCusker (Capt)

Replacements

16. Alex Dunham

17.Alex Jeffries

18.Mitchell Walsh

19.Will Jones

20.Chris Williams

21.Phil Jones

22.Rheon James

A lot of youngsters and looking forward to see how the two Swansea Jones boys do off the bench.

I do though, fail to see the point of McCusker and Gustafson if this a development competition.

by mikey_dragon Fri 14 Oct 2016, 12:21 pm

True Raven wrote:
I do though, fail to see the point of McCusker and Gustafson if this a development competition.

Because losing by 70+ points to a professional outfit can't be good for development.

by True Raven Fri 14 Oct 2016, 12:24 pm

If the Ospreys are to lose by 70+ then Gustafson and McCusker arn't the players to stop the rout. They are two players not good enough for regional rugby and think we should have played younger guys for them to get gametime

by wayne Fri 14 Oct 2016, 12:28 pm

[quote="True Raven"]If the Ospreys are to lose by 70+ then Gustafson and McCusker arn't the players to stop the rout. They are two players not good enough for regional rugby and think we should have played younger guys for them to get gametime[/quote
TR, one possibly both of them might be needed during the International window, and they will need gametime before then, I think this and the LV games are ideal preparation for those periods.

by mikey_dragon Fri 14 Oct 2016, 12:30 pm

Not good enough for regional rugby but good enough at this level. When the chips are down the new boys will look to these older and more experienced guys. You need to get the balance right otherwise it's a waste of time being in this competition. Personally I would be more concerned over the fact that Dan Suter is there - I'm presuming the rest are on the Ospreys radar?

*Edit - could have been a good time for Adam Beard to get back involved unless he's actually in the Ospreys squad.

by True Raven Fri 14 Oct 2016, 1:13 pm

Yes Mikey, they are either on development contracts, in the pathway or are young guys playing well in the premiership. Tom O'flaherty could be an osprey in the next year as two years ago scored a shedload of tries for Bridgend and then last year went to Montpellier for some higher experience.

And with Jeff hassled injured, Eli potentially away with Wales then there could be an opening

by maestegmafia Sun 16 Oct 2016, 2:39 pm

Any news on when young Owen Watkins is fit again?

by wayne Sun 16 Oct 2016, 4:02 pm

maestegmafia wrote:Any news on when young Owen Watkin is fit again?

Maes, a normally reliable poster on our Forum put a list up of long term injured, she had the following last week.
Tyler Thumb Mid Dec
Hanno Knee Feb
Sam Underhill Shoulder Dec
Owen Watkin ACL March/April
Jeff Hassler Achilles April earliest
The only proviso I would add to that is I've seen Sam Underhill flat out in a couple of Pre match previews and also Tandy has said he's fairly close to coming back, and If you were in the ground before last Fridays game you would have seen him behind the try line warming down, after the team warmed up before the game.

Just to add to this update Tasman Hawks have qualified for the Semi Final of the NZ ITM Cup, therefore Kieron Fonotia won't be here for at least another week and if they reach the final 2 more weeks, with Ben John being substituted at half time and then Ashley Beck being replaced early we really could do with The Fonz coming as soon as possible.

by wayne Tue 18 Oct 2016, 8:47 pm

Probably the following will make our team for the Dragons match on the 29th
Dan Evans, Dafydd Howells/Keelan Giles, Ben John, Ashley Beck, Eli Walker, Josh Matavesi, Tom Habberfield, Paul James, Sam Parry, Dmitri Arhip, Lloyd Ashley, Adam Beard, Olly Cracknell, Sam Underhill, Rob McCusker. If Underhill is still not fit Cracknell could go to 7 and Joe Bearman could come in, not the ideal scenario, but needs must. We could really do with one of the 10s and one of the 2nd rows coming back from TW.
A bench of Scott Otten, Gareth Thomas, Ma'afu Fia, ?????, Joe Bearman if Underhill is back, ????? if Bearman has to come into the first team, Brendon Leonard, Luke Price, and Dafydd Howells/Keelan Giles/Tom Grabham.

If we could have Sam Davies and Rory Thornton back from TW, it would seriously enhance our team and replacements.

by exile jack Tue 18 Oct 2016, 11:22 pm

wayne wrote:Probably the following will make our team for the Dragons match on the 29th
Dan Evans, Dafydd Howells/Keelan Giles, Ben John, Ashley Beck, Eli Walker, Josh Matavesi, Tom Habberfield, Paul James, Sam Parry, Dmitri Arhip, Lloyd Ashley, Adam Beard, Olly Cracknell, Sam Underhill, Rob McCusker. If Underhill is still not fit Cracknell could go to 7 and Joe Bearman could come in, not the ideal scenario, but needs must. We could really do with one of the 10s and one of the 2nd rows coming back from TW.
A bench of Scott Otten, Gareth Thomas, Ma'afu Fia, ?????, Joe Bearman if Underhill is back, ????? if Bearman has to come into the first team, Brendon Leonard, Luke Price, and Dafydd Howells/Keelan Giles/Tom Grabham.

If we could have Sam Davies and Rory Thornton back from TW, it would seriously enhance our team and replacements.

Let's hope that Howley et al and their 'structured game' don't remove or damage the skills that make Sam D such an exciting prospect.

by maestegmafia Wed 19 Oct 2016, 7:01 pm

Is Brendan Leonard still on our books?

by wayne Wed 19 Oct 2016, 7:15 pm

maestegmafia wrote:Is Brendan Leonard still on our books?

Yes Maes, the problem with him, is the idiot who sanctioned signing him, when he didn't realise that we could only play 2 out of the 3 in a matchday squad of Hassler, Ardron and Leonard, it was ok last year and at the moment because both of the Canadians were unfit, but not at the beginning of this season, he's been fit to play for a few weeks. We should see him in the International window.

by maestegmafia Wed 19 Oct 2016, 9:28 pm

wayne wrote:
maestegmafia wrote:Is Brendan Leonard still on our books?

Yes Maes, the problem with him, is the idiot who sanctioned signing him, when he didn't realise that we could only play 2 out of the 3 in a matchday squad of Hassler, Ardron and Leonard, it was ok last year and at the moment because both of the Canadians were unfit, but not at the beginning of this season, he's been fit to play for a few weeks. We should see him in the International window.

So we have three foreign players all injured. There is the you flanker, Underhill (?), + the 2 canucks.

by wayne Wed 19 Oct 2016, 9:41 pm

maestegmafia wrote:
wayne wrote:
maestegmafia wrote:Is Brendan Leonard still on our books?

Yes Maes, the problem with him, is the idiot who sanctioned signing him, when he didn't realise that we could only play 2 out of the 3 in a matchday squad of Hassler, Ardron and Leonard, it was ok last year and at the moment because both of the Canadians were unfit, but not at the beginning of this season, he's been fit to play for a few weeks. We should see him in the International window.

So we have three foreign players all injured. There is the you flanker, Underhill (?), + the 2 canucks.

Going by Tandy's recent PCs and Underhill being seen in the last 2 match previews, he is very close to coming back in, hopefully it will coincide with Tips leaving to join up with TW.

by wayne Thu 20 Oct 2016, 8:16 pm

Steve Tandy in his Newcastle Falcons Post match Press Conference said there would be another number of changes for this weekends game against Lyon. I'm hoping we go for a very strong team Saturday night, something like the following.
Dan Evans, Dafydd Howells, Ben John, Josh Matavesi, Eli Walker, Sam Davies, Rhys Webb, Nicky Smith, Sam Parry, Dmitri Arhip, AWJ, Rory Thornton, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric, Dan Baker with Scott Baldwin, Paul James, Ma'afu Fia, BBBD, James King, Tom Habberfield, Dan Biggar and Ashley Beck on the bench.

Some might raise their eyebrows at the selection of Sam Davies over Dan Biggar and Rory Thornton over BBBD, it is not what I would do, but I have an inkling that is what is in the plans. Wouldn't be surprised as well if Baldwin is in instead of Parry.

This game is a hell of a lot tougher on paper than last weeks jaunt, win this one and the path to the Q/F should be a lot more straight forward.

by wayne Fri 21 Oct 2016, 4:20 pm

Ospreys selected team for the visit to Lyon on Saturday 22/9/16 is as follows
Dan Evans, Keelan Giles, Jonathan Spratt, Josh Matavesi, Dafydd Howells, Sam Davies, Tom Habberfield, Nicky Smith, Scott Baldwin, Ma'afu Fia, Lloyd Ashley, Rory Thornton, Dan Lydiate, Olly Cracknell, James King with a bench of Sam Parry, Paul James, Rhodri Jones, Adam Beard, Rob McCusker, Justin Tipuric, Brendon Leonard and Eli Walker.

I'm totally mystified by this selection, it is as if Tandy wants us to lose this game, Ben John is injured from last weeks selection, the rest are available, this has been pinpointed as our hardest game of the group and we select, apart from Nicky Smith and possibly Dan Lydiate 2nd choices in every position in the pack and then we compound the error by selecting a 6 -2 split on the bench. Why not have a stronger pack and the more dependable 5-3 split. If either Matavesi or Sam Davies gets injured, it will take an Houdini like escape to get out of there with anything. It cannot even be classed as getting players ready for the period when the AIs are taking place, as there are 7 players in that 23 who under normal circumstances will not be with us.

By all accounts the Lyon team is very close to what was selected for their demolition of Grenoble away last week, I could have agreed to that team being selected for the game against Grenoble in December, as they are close to the bottom of the T14, whereas Lyon are in mid table and could be trying to get some silverware through this competition, ridiculous selection IMO.

by maestegmafia Fri 21 Oct 2016, 8:59 pm

That is a seriously surprising selection.

We got Thirty odd points put onus last time we played Lyon

by True Raven Fri 21 Oct 2016, 11:54 pm

Ospreys Premiership Select XV to face Cornish Pirates on Sunday:-

15. Morgan Williams

14. Tom Williams

13. Joe Thomas

12. Kieran Williams

11. Tom O’Flaherty

10. Joe Scrivens

9. Chris Williams

1. Rowan Jenkins (C)

2.Alex Dunham

3. Dan Suter

4. Kyle Evans

5. Jon Kenny

6. Joe Tomalin-Reeves

7.Will Jones

8. Charlie Davies

16. Jordon Liney

17. Ollie Evans

18.Alex Jeffries

19.Mitchell Walsh

20.Jon Howard

21.Phil Jones

22. Rheon James

Hoping scrivs plays well at 10. Should provide cover in the Ospreys squad when Dan and Sammy D are with team Wales.

Let's hope it's dry weather and the two RGC1404 boys can get their hands on the ball as they are highly touted runners.

by True Raven Sat 22 Oct 2016, 8:39 am

Someone needs to tell Tom Smith too that there is four front rowers on the bench and no second row cover

by True Raven Sat 22 Oct 2016, 8:41 am

wayne wrote:Ospreys selected team for the visit to Lyon on Saturday 22/9/16 is as follows
Dan Evans, Keelan Giles, Jonathan Spratt, Josh Matavesi, Dafydd Howells, Sam Davies, Tom Habberfield, Nicky Smith, Scott Baldwin, Ma'afu Fia, Lloyd Ashley, Rory Thornton, Dan Lydiate, Olly Cracknell, James King with a bench of Sam Parry, Paul James, Rhodri Jones, Adam Beard, Rob McCusker, Justin Tipuric, Brendon Leonard and Eli Walker.

I'm totally mystified by this selection, it is as if Tandy wants us to lose this game, Ben John is injured from last weeks selection, the rest are available, this has been pinpointed as our hardest game of the group and we select, apart from Nicky Smith and possibly Dan Lydiate 2nd choices in every position in the pack and then we compound the error by selecting a 6 -2 split on the bench. Why not have a stronger pack and the more dependable 5-3 split. If either Matavesi or Sam Davies gets injured, it will take an Houdini like escape to get out of there with anything. It cannot even be classed as getting players ready for the period when the AIs are taking place, as there are 7 players in that 23 who under normal circumstances will not be with us.

By all accounts the Lyon team is very close to what was selected for their demolition of Grenoble away last week, I could have agreed to that team being selected for the game against Grenoble in December, as they are close to the bottom of the T14, whereas Lyon are in mid table and could be trying to get some silverware through this competition, ridiculous selection IMO.

Looking forward to see how Cracknell copes at 7 as he'll be needed there for the next month. Also glad Giles is getting more game time, very excited about this kid

by wayne Sat 22 Oct 2016, 11:28 am

True Raven wrote:
wayne wrote:Ospreys selected team for the visit to Lyon on Saturday 22/9/16 is as follows
Dan Evans, Keelan Giles, Jonathan Spratt, Josh Matavesi, Dafydd Howells, Sam Davies, Tom Habberfield, Nicky Smith, Scott Baldwin, Ma'afu Fia, Lloyd Ashley, Rory Thornton, Dan Lydiate, Olly Cracknell, James King with a bench of Sam Parry, Paul James, Rhodri Jones, Adam Beard, Rob McCusker, Justin Tipuric, Brendon Leonard and Eli Walker.

I'm totally mystified by this selection, it is as if Tandy wants us to lose this game, Ben John is injured from last weeks selection, the rest are available, this has been pinpointed as our hardest game of the group and we select, apart from Nicky Smith and possibly Dan Lydiate 2nd choices in every position in the pack and then we compound the error by selecting a 6 -2 split on the bench. Why not have a stronger pack and the more dependable 5-3 split. If either Matavesi or Sam Davies gets injured, it will take an Houdini like escape to get out of there with anything. It cannot even be classed as getting players ready for the period when the AIs are taking place, as there are 7 players in that 23 who under normal circumstances will not be with us.

By all accounts the Lyon team is very close to what was selected for their demolition of Grenoble away last week, I could have agreed to that team being selected for the game against Grenoble in December, as they are close to the bottom of the T14, whereas Lyon are in mid table and could be trying to get some silverware through this competition, ridiculous selection IMO.

Looking forward to see how Cracknell copes at 7 as he'll be needed there for the next month. Also glad Giles is getting more game time, very excited about this kid

TR, read an interesting point being made on our forum this morning that Steve's hand was being held somewhat by Howley because of the NDCs, and the fact we want some of the call ups from TW next week, in a way I hope that is true.

As for Cracknell, if you have the time go on our website to the news page and you'll need to scroll back a few pages and there is a backrow challenge between Olly and Joe Bearman, the final part of which was speed related and Joe hammered Olly, so it doesn't augur very well for Olly as a 7, his carrying and tackling is excellent, I would prefer him as a 6, but at least Tips is on the bench if needs must. Pleased in a way for Keelan I just hope it is not a step too far in his development, but then again, if you don't try these kids you'll never know.

by wayne Sat 22 Oct 2016, 11:31 am

True Raven wrote:Ospreys Premiership Select XV to face Cornish Pirates on Sunday:-

15. Morgan Williams

14. Tom Williams

13. Joe Thomas

12. Kieran Williams

11. Tom O’Flaherty

10. Joe Scrivens

9. Chris Williams

1. Rowan Jenkins (C)

2.Alex Dunham

3. Dan Suter

4. Kyle Evans

5. Jon Kenny

6. Joe Tomalin-Reeves

7.Will Jones

8. Charlie Davies

16. Jordon Liney

17. Ollie Evans

18.Alex Jeffries

19.Mitchell Walsh

20.Jon Howard

21.Phil Jones

22. Rheon James

Hoping scrivs plays well at 10. Should provide cover in the Ospreys squad when Dan and Sammy D are with team Wales.

Let's hope it's dry weather and the two RGC1404 boys can get their hands on the ball as they are highly touted runners.

TR, I hope your boy Scrivens has a good one, competition for places can only be good for us, and the same applies to everyone else.

by True Raven Sat 22 Oct 2016, 8:36 pm

17-3 to the O's atm, seems Giles is having a hell of a night with two tries so far making it 5 in 3 games from the 18 year old

by wayne Sat 22 Oct 2016, 8:42 pm

True Raven wrote:17-3 to the O's atm, seems Giles is having a hell of a night with two tries so far making it 5 in 3 games from the 18 year old

TR, one was a brilliant individual one and the other a great team try, if you go on the Ospreys forum and check this games topic there is a link to this game, goes off a lot but I've seen both tries, also excellent defensive effort especially by the back and front rows.

by maestegmafia Sat 22 Oct 2016, 9:19 pm

Hatrick for Giles

Great work so far ospreys

by True Raven Sat 22 Oct 2016, 9:45 pm

Bonus point victory away in France without our four big stars. Brad Davies seems a superb coaching addition

by wayne Sat 22 Oct 2016, 9:47 pm

Fantastic win 31 - 13 Bonus point.

by maestegmafia Sun 23 Oct 2016, 11:34 am

Results like this are very positive for our squad building, only four first choice players in the starting Xv, an exciting bench and several big names rested not even in the squad.

Bonus point wins don't come often on the road.

by wayne Sun 23 Oct 2016, 12:37 pm

Have to say I got that performance wrong, didn't expect that result with the team selected, as TR said above what a good signing Brad Davis our defence coach has proven to be, Oh for a similarly qualified scrummage coach, as that was the one facet of play where we were embarrassed, especially when Rhodri Jones was brought on, it would be good to see Dan Suter really step up to the mark against Cornish Pirates today, although going by past performances I don't think he has what it takes for even GL level, but I believe he would make a better fist of it than RJ.

How good is Keelan Giles going to be? I remember the same hype about Eli Walker and Kristian Phillips, one never got anywhere near the hype, and the other has been injury struck on so many occasions I wonder if he has the tenacity to make it at the very highest level. The defensive effort was excellent, and I want to put in a strong word for a normally unsung hero of our team, Tom Habberfield does all the distribution work to a very high standard, and he organises the attacking and defensive lines exceptionally, obviously our coaches appreciates his effort as he was Captain yesterday and that is not the first time this season he has had that honour well done Tom.

by **RiscaGame** Sun 23 Oct 2016, 2:32 pm

Great result yesterday. Fair play.

by mikey_dragon Sun 23 Oct 2016, 5:52 pm

Those were some odd selections but Ospreys have a squad, not just a first team that can now play at the intensity required to beat opposition teams. Great result for them. The scrum is good enough but probably just means you wouldn't beat teams like Saracens unless it improves.

by wayne Sun 23 Oct 2016, 8:04 pm

Keelan Giles called into the Wales squad for the AIs as injury cover for George North and Liam Williams, have to be happy for the boy, but he could do without all the hype surrounding him

by wayne Mon 24 Oct 2016, 3:14 pm

What a load of B0llocks the above post was, thanks Fail and Twitter.

Anyway back to more important matters, this weekend is the 2nd Welsh Derby we play the Dragons on Saturday afternoon (now that is a novelty) following the Blues and Scarlets on Friday evening.

Looking forward to the WRU announcement of what players will be released back to us for this game, because as of this moment we will have 13 players missing for this game.

On a lighter note my brother in laws grandson is the Team mascot for this game, thanks to the help of Breadvan on this board, it has been organised close to his 8th birthday, hope for a great day out, but if none of the 13 are released it could all fall flat.

by Luckless Pedestrian Mon 24 Oct 2016, 3:18 pm

I wouldn't worry, you'll still win. Sad

by wayne Mon 24 Oct 2016, 3:32 pm

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:I wouldn't worry, you'll still win.

I don't know LP, could some of your stronger players have been held back last weekend knowing how depleted we would be this weekend, if we get none of the TW call ups back, we would be down to some very inexperienced backups, it could be squeaky bum time for me.

by Luckless Pedestrian Mon 24 Oct 2016, 3:37 pm

Who knows with us. We've put in some good performances this season (almost always in defeat though), and you start to think we're making progress, but then Kingsley makes half-a-dozen (at least) personnel changes and it all goes out of the window.

by wayne Mon 24 Oct 2016, 3:50 pm

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Who knows with us. We've put in some good performances this season, and you start to think we're making progress, but then Kingsley makes half-a-dozen (at least) personnel changes and it all goes out of the window. There are signs of improvement - but results need to follow. Plucky losers are still losers.

,

LP, look at us last season, Tandy was doing the same sort of thing, even though a lot of it was down to missing players (injuries and International callups) but we are reaping the benefits this season, perhaps Kingsley is trying to broaden the base of your squad, and you'll reap that benefit next season, I wouldn't be too hard on him this season, give him this and next season and then see where you are.

Picking all the same players every week doesn't help in the long run IMO, give this experiment a bit of a run and see where it gets you.

by Sponsored content