Glasgow Warriors v Ospreys, 25 November

                       
Glasgow Warriors v Ospreys
Friday 25 November 2016
KO 19:35
Scotstoun Stadium

Live on Sky Sports 2

Referee: [tbc]
Assistant Referees: [tbc]
Citing Commissioner: [tbc]
TMO: [tbc]

A. Head to Head

27 Played 27
12 Wins 12
12 Losses 12
3 Draws 3
524 Points 599

B. Form

Sunday 31st January 2016
Ospreys 20 - 20 Glasgow Warriors

Sun 1 November 2015
Glasgow Warriors 31 - 19 Ospreys

Fri 8 May 2015
Ospreys 21 - 10 Glasgow Warriors

Sat 21 February 2015
Glasgow Warriors 19 - 16 Ospreys

C. Teams

Glasgow Warriors 

15 Peter Murchie, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Grayson Hart; 1 Gordon Reid, 2 Corey Flynn, 3 D'arcy Rae, 4 Tim Swinson, 5 Brian Alainu'uese, 6 Lewis Wynne, 7 Chris Fusaro, 8 Josh Strauss (c).

Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Adam Nicol, 19 Robert McAlpine, 20 Langilangi Haupeakui, 21 George Horne, 22 Patrick Kelly, 23 Junior Bulumakau.

Ospreys

15 Dan Evans, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Tom Grabham, 10 Josh Matavesi, 9 Tom Habberfield (c); 1 Paul James, 2 Sam Parry, 3 Ma'afu Fia, 4 Lloyd Ashley, 5 Rory Thornton, 6 Olly Cracknell, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Dan Baker.

Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Rob McCusker, 21 Brendon Leonard, 22 Luke Price, 23 Tom O'Flaherty.

Well done George I knew I could depend on you, have you any idea how many you'll get back from TS, I believe we'll definitely get back Thornton and Baker, if Faletau is used by TW we should get Lydiate and possibly King. I don't know about Scotland but Wales always keep 2 players back to the 23 named for the match, a forward and a back that could well be King and Giles.

It was mentioned in the Press Conference by our Backs Coach Gruff Rees, that our new signing Kieron Fonotia would be in contention for selection, really looking forward to seeing him in action.

GC,you took your time with this: I've seen Tim Visser hit trucks quicker.
So, with Shrek, Jinksy Allan, Djustice for the Scotstoun Canuck and Puafisi the Sobriquetless Tongan all on international duty could we actually see rugby's equivalent of Bill Haley's comet; the Pukekohe Kid in a Glasgow jersey? (Or two stitched together if Blacks of Greenock haven't got the order in time)

1. Bane
2. Malcolm
3. Pukekohe Kid
4. Swindon
5. A very naughty boy
6. Giant Red Crayon
7. Fizzy
8. 2Langi
9. Hart
10. Clegg
11. Selkirk Pixie
12. Johnson
13. Griggs
14. Rozza
15. Munchies

The bench will be Schiz, his carer and the next six blokes through the turnstiles.

Dontcha love auto correct?

jimbopip wrote:GC,you took your time with this: I've seen Tim Visser hit trucks quicker.
So, with Shrek, Jinksy Allan, Djustice for the Scotstoun Canuck and Puafisi the Sobriquetless Tongan all on international duty could we actually see rugby's equivalent of Bill Haley's comet; the Pukekohe Kid in a Glasgow jersey? (Or two stitched together if Blacks of Greenock haven't got the order in time)

1. Bane
2. Malcolm
3. Pukekohe Kid
4. Swindon
5. A very naughty boy
6. Giant Red Crayon
7. Fizzy
8. 2Langi
9. Hart
10. Clegg
11. Selkirk Pixie
12. Johnson
13. Griggs
14. Rozza
15. Munchies

The bench will be Schiz, his carer and the next six blokes through the turnstiles.

WTF language is that Jimbo?

I expect our team to be something like the following
15 Evans
14 Howells
13 John
12 Beck
11 Giles
10 Matavesi
9 Habberfield
8 Baker
7 Underhill
6 Cracknell
5 Thornton
4 Ashley
3 Arhip
2 Parry
1 James
with Otten, Thomas, Fia, Beard, McCusker, Leonard, Price and Fonotia on the bench, I would have both Fonotia and Beard starting instead of Beck and Ashley, but Tandy wouldn't. There could be a number of releases from the Welsh squad, which could considerably alter the make up of the back row in particular, 7 wouldn't be altered but the other 2 could be King and/or Lydiate.

wayne wrote:

jimbopip wrote:GC,you took your time with this: I've seen Tim Visser hit trucks quicker.
So, with Shrek, Jinksy Allan, Djustice for the Scotstoun Canuck and Puafisi the Sobriquetless Tongan all on international duty could we actually see rugby's equivalent of Bill Haley's comet; the Pukekohe Kid in a Glasgow jersey? (Or two stitched together if Blacks of Greenock haven't got the order in time)

1. Bane
2. Malcolm
3. Pukekohe Kid
4. Swindon
5. A very naughty boy
6. Giant Red Crayon
7. Fizzy
8. 2Langi
9. Hart
10. Clegg
11. Selkirk Pixie
12. Johnson
13. Griggs
14. Rozza
15. Munchies

The bench will be Schiz, his carer and the next six blokes through the turnstiles.

WTF language is that Jimbo?

It is traditional Scottish poster speak. I think it translates as:

Grant, Malcolm, Firth, Swinson, (Brian) Alainu'uese, Harley, Fusaro, LangiLangi (assuming he is not with the US), Hart, Clegg, Jones, Johnson, Griggs, Hughes, Murchie

Bench: Flynn, Bhatti, Rae, Fagerson the younger, Wynne, Kenatale, Lyle, Junior/Tagive

I think Swinson will be with Scotland and Harley will go into the 2nd row. I would have Wynne at 6 (if Swinson is not about) and, if Fusaro is still out, Fagerson or M Smith go into 7. Rae should start ahead of Firth with Firth getting 20 minutes at the end to walk from ruck to ruck.

Hazel Sapling wrote:

wayne wrote:

jimbopip wrote:GC,you took your time with this: I've seen Tim Visser hit trucks quicker.
So, with Shrek, Jinksy Allan, Djustice for the Scotstoun Canuck and Puafisi the Sobriquetless Tongan all on international duty could we actually see rugby's equivalent of Bill Haley's comet; the Pukekohe Kid in a Glasgow jersey? (Or two stitched together if Blacks of Greenock haven't got the order in time)

1. Bane
2. Malcolm
3. Pukekohe Kid
4. Swindon
5. A very naughty boy
6. Giant Red Crayon
7. Fizzy
8. 2Langi
9. Hart
10. Clegg
11. Selkirk Pixie
12. Johnson
13. Griggs
14. Rozza
15. Munchies

The bench will be Schiz, his carer and the next six blokes through the turnstiles.

WTF language is that Jimbo?

It is traditional Scottish poster speak. I think it translates as:

Grant, Malcolm, Firth, Swinson, (Brian) Alainu'uese, Harley, Fusaro, LangiLangi (assuming he is not with the US), Hart, Clegg, Jones, Johnson, Griggs, Hughes, Murchie

Bench: Flynn, Bhatti, Rae, Fagerson the younger, Wynne, Kenatale, Lyle, Junior/Tagive

I think Swinson will be with Scotland and Harley will go into the 2nd row. I would have Wynne at 6 (if Swinson is not about) and, if Fusaro is still out, Fagerson or M Smith go into 7. Rae should start ahead of Firth with Firth getting 20 minutes at the end to walk from ruck to ruck.

Thanks Hazel

I thought Vernon was the giant red crayon?

Richie Vernon is Schroedinger's rugby player; a flanker, centre, winger, second row, standoff and Giant Red Crayon if he so chooses. I wouldn't argue with him.

I can see Glasgow getting pumped tbh.

I think the backs are about even Tattie, it is the pack that is going to decide this one. If Swinson is available, there is enough versatility for that pack to be effective and for the bench to make a positive contribution. If Strauss gets given back to play as well, the pack starts to look half decent with a reasonable back 5. It is the loosehead that is the weakness.

The Ospreys pack looks solid, in particular the front row. I expect the Ospreys to win without any bonus points on a freezing dry day.

It's a travesty that Strauss isn't playing for Scotland this weekend...especially how he played against Leicester the other week.

Considering he followed that Leicester performance up with getting subbed in the first half against Munster...

Hazel Sapling wrote:

wayne wrote:

jimbopip wrote:GC,you took your time with this: I've seen Tim Visser hit trucks quicker.
So, with Shrek, Jinksy Allan, Djustice for the Scotstoun Canuck and Puafisi the Sobriquetless Tongan all on international duty could we actually see rugby's equivalent of Bill Haley's comet; the Pukekohe Kid in a Glasgow jersey? (Or two stitched together if Blacks of Greenock haven't got the order in time)

1. Bane
2. Malcolm
3. Pukekohe Kid
4. Swindon
5. A very naughty boy
6. Giant Red Crayon
7. Fizzy
8. 2Langi
9. Hart
10. Clegg
11. Selkirk Pixie
12. Johnson
13. Griggs
14. Rozza
15. Munchies

The bench will be Schiz, his carer and the next six blokes through the turnstiles.

WTF language is that Jimbo?

It is traditional Scottish poster speak. I think it translates as:

Grant, Malcolm, Firth, Swinson, (Brian) Alainu'uese, Harley, Fusaro, LangiLangi (assuming he is not with the US), Hart, Clegg, Jones, Johnson, Griggs, Hughes, Murchie

Bench: Flynn, Bhatti, Rae, Fagerson the younger, Wynne, Kenatale, Lyle, Junior/Tagive

I think Swinson will be with Scotland and Harley will go into the 2nd row. I would have Wynne at 6 (if Swinson is not about) and, if Fusaro is still out, Fagerson or M Smith go into 7. Rae should start ahead of Firth with Firth getting 20 minutes at the end to walk from ruck to ruck.

Good work, Hazel.

Not sure what sort of team we can put out. We had 15 players doing international duty last weekend so whether they'll be released for this match, I have no idea:

- Haupeakui was playing for the US
- Puafisi was playing for Tonga
- Sears-Duru started for the Canucks
- Favaro was MoM as Italy gave the Boks a wedgie
- Fozzy played for Heriots last week, so should be back
- I can see Harley playing at lock

The Eagles don't have any more tests but Canada and Tonga do

Surely now is the time for the Weegies to be rolling out some of these rubbish players diamonds in the rough that Toonie has been trumpeting??

I particularly want to see the "human locomotive", Langilangi Haupeakui in action. He wasn't good enough to start for the USA, so he ought to be fresh....

wayne wrote:I expect our team to be something like the following
15 Evans
14 Howells
13 John
12 Beck
11 Giles
10 Matavesi
9 Habberfield
8 Baker
7 Underhill
6 Cracknell
5 Thornton
4 Ashley
3 Arhip
2 Parry
1 James
with Otten, Thomas, Fia, Beard, McCusker, Leonard, Price and Fonotia on the bench, I would have both Fonotia and Beard starting instead of Beck and Ashley, but Tandy wouldn't. There could be a number of releases from the Welsh squad, which could considerably alter the make up of the back row in particular, 7 wouldn't be altered but the other 2 could be King and/or Lydiate.

We can take Giles out of that team as he is retained by TW as the extra back and neither Lydiate or King will make it as Lydiate is in the team and King is the extra forward not in the 23.

15. Peter Murchie (106)
14. Sean Lamont (103)
13. Nick Grigg (6)
12. Sam Johnson (17)
11. Lee Jones (39)
10. Rory Clegg (11)
9. Grayson Hart (27)

1. Gordon Reid (101)
2. Corey Flynn (5)
3. D’arcy Rae (11)
4. Tim Swinson (84)
5. Brian Alainu’uese (2)
6. Lewis Wynne (9)
7. Chris Fusaro (111)
8. Josh Strauss (96) CAPTAIN

Replacements

16. Pat MacArthur (142)
17. Ryan Grant (107)
18. Adam Nicol (0)
19. Robert McAlpine (2)
20. Langilangi Haupeakui (2)
21. George Horne (0)
22. Patrick Kelly (0)
23. Junior Bulumakau (4)

Not available due to injury: Adam Ashe (hip / foot), Scott Cummings (shoulder), Greg Peterson (shoulder), Henry Pyrgos (knee), Leonardo Sarto (shoulder), Tjiuee Uanivi (shoulder) and Richie Vernon (shoulder).

Well not a bad Glasgow team given the international demands.

Looks like the rumours of Harley getting an international run out were not exaggerated and this presumably means Richie Gray is fit again for Scotland. Strauss has been sent back to Glasgow to get some game time, which he has sadly been lacking this year so far.

Looking forward to seeing a few of the players coming off the bench. Junior has waited a good while for his chance as has Peter Horne. Paddy Kelly has been playing very well for London Scottish as he did in the U20s, he looks a prospect as well.

I don't know anything about the reserve TH, Adam Nicol, an academy player I presume. Let's hope he is up to the job.

You mean George Horne right BG?

The reserve tighthead is a bit worrying especially considering Firth has had about 10 months to get into reasonable shape. Kenatale as well should be beating Horne out of the sub spot unless he has been called up.

Happy to see Junior getting an opportunity even if Lamont starts. That pack is pretty good. The bench is unproven to say the least but has a big ball carrier and an attacking wing if the game needs chasing.

Ospreys team announced as follows
15 Dan Evans
14 Dafydd Howells
13 Kieron Fonotia
12 Ashley Beck
11 Tom Grabham
10 Josh Matavesi
9 Tom Habberfield (c)
1 Paul James
2 Sam Parry
3 Ma'afu Fia
4 Lloyd Ashley
5 Rory Thornton
6 Olly Cracknell
7 Sam Underhill
8 Dan Baker
with Scott Otten, Gareth Thomas, Rhodri Jones, Adam Beard, Rob McCusker, Brendon Leonard, Luke Price and Tom O'Flaherty on the bench.
Eli Walker and Ben John are injury exclusions and Dmitri Arhip is excused because his wife is expecting to give birth very soon.
Pleased to see our new signing make an entrance this weekend, really worried about our tight head options with Daimitri excused, the rest I more or less envisaged. 9 players missing with TW and a fair few through injury, this should be an enjoyable game to watch for the neutral, whether it will be for us is another matter.

Hazel Sapling wrote:You mean George Horne right BG?

The reserve tighthead is a bit worrying especially considering Firth has had about 10 months to get into reasonable shape. Kenatale as well should be beating Horne out of the sub spot unless he has been called up.

Happy to see Junior getting an opportunity even if Lamont starts. That pack is pretty good. The bench is unproven to say the least but has a big ball carrier and an attacking wing if the game needs chasing.

Yes, George Horne, sorry.

I am happier to see him on the bench ahead of Kenatale (who is probably still with the Fiji squad). He is the longer term prospect and Kenatale will be gone at the end of the season, he was only ever a squad player and may never get a proper game unless we have a really bad run of injuries. Horne will probably have to cover both half back slots. He played SH while at London Scottish last year but often plays FH for Hawks. Definitely in the Laidlaw mould.

Scotland have 14 Glasgow Warriors in their 23 for Georgia, Puafisi is away with Tonga and Favaro away with Italy so not too much sympathy for you Wayne!

Looking at the 9 remaining players for Scotland, 4 (Maitland, R Gray, Low and Barclay) were at Glasgow earlier in their careers. Edinburgh need to step it up.

Should be a good contest. Has Matavesi played 10 for you before?

Hazel Sapling wrote:Scotland have 14 Glasgow Warriors in their 23 for Georgia, Puafisi is away with Tonga and Favaro away with Italy so not too much sympathy for you Wayne!

Looking at the 9 remaining players for Scotland, 4 (Maitland, R Gray, Low and Barclay) were at Glasgow earlier in their careers. Edinburgh need to step it up.

Should be a good contest. Has Matavesi played 10 for you before?

Hazel, on most of the coaches selections for Wales and ourselves we have 1 definite first choice starter that being Dan Evans, there are a number that supporters would reckon to be first choice and selected in their rightful position, Fonotia and Sam Parry, the rest are 2nd, 3rd, 4th and even 5th choices in their proper positions. It is still quite a strong lineup and hopefully we'll give a good account of ourselves.
As for Matavesi, he played o/h in our last game against Munster, that's it. Even though we took a beating Josh IMO had quite a decent game.

Has Firth played any rugby at all this season, even any club rugby?

MacKnocked-on wrote:Has Firth played any rugby at all this season, even any club rugby?  

I think it is fair to say that Firth has not been one of Toonie's better signings and we won't be seeing him next year!

So... anyone reading a good book at the moment?

I'm reading Riczard Kapuszinki Travels With Herodotus. Both author and subject travel the known world in search of enlightenment but neither meet anyone who has ever seen The Pukekohe Kid in a Warriors jersey.

I think the one positive thing was that Adam Nichol looked pretty decent in his few mins on the pitch.

Other than that, its not been particularly inspiring!

Oh dear.

Time to turn over, I wonder what else is on

Well I'm an Osprey fan, and I think that RED was harsh.

Letter of the law, no hands and shoulder direct to the head.

But when seen, reckon the Red card is harsh. Penalty yes, but even a yellow would have been unlucky.

That was just ridiculous. He hardly touched him. Completely ruined the game.

What can you do?

Well who knows what effect the card had on the game, though you suspect it was significant!

Whatever though, that was a very poor Glasgow performance and we may not have got anything from the game anyway. We have come to expect a lot better than that and will be expecting a reaction next week.

About the only positives I can think of was that some of the kids, when they came on, really showed up. Nicol, Horne and Kelly all had good debuts. A pity they were not backed up by some of the experienced players around them.

A good 5 points accrued tonight, the red card determined we get the bonus point, but I have no doubt we would have won. The stupid thing about the card was it wasn't needed.

Well merited MOTM for Olly Cracknell part of a superb backrow, in actual fact an excellent pack all round. Conditions were poor for both teams with no quarter asked or given.

Well of all the games I could've chosen for my first visit to Scotstoun that probably wasn't the best one

Thankful I was able to numb the pain with the free booze in hospitality otherwise that would've been a truly terrible evening.

This is the sort of result that kills aspirations for a top 2 finish and even to make the playoffs at all. 2 years ago our squad depth was such that we had the continuity and the quality of players that meant we always took something from every game during the international window. We clearly, based on the results already this season, don't have that deep bench any more. We are a top 5 side this season, but I don't believe that we are any more than that. We just cannot take nothing away from a home game. Shame but obviously well done to the Os.

Well done to the O's for the win. From a Glasgow perspective we were absolute pish. I know we have been hit more than most with the AI's but everyone to a man was awful last night. Sure some were less awful than others, but Jesus Fu@k.

There's still a way to go yet but what concerns me is that most of the returning Warriors will have played three Tests, will go straight into the Munster match and then what happens when they all need to be rested? For the first time we seem to have an A and B team and not a competitive squad. Toonie usually manages player rotation cannilly but it looks like he's prioritising Europe this season at the expense of the league. Risky at best.

Just have to say, I thought last night if that red card had been issued to us I wouldn't have been happy, but this morning after reading our own Forum, it was mentioned that the England prop Brookes was sent off for Northampton against Newcastle Falcons, for exactly the same thing and it was shown to Brookes 10 minutes earlier in the match than was issued in ours. So on reflection AS LONG AS THERE IS CONSISTENCY, he deserved all he got.

jimbopip wrote:There's still a way to go yet but what concerns me is that most of the returning Warriors will have played three Tests, will go straight into the Munster match and then what happens when they all need to be rested? For the first time we seem to have an A and B team and not a competitive squad. Toonie usually manages player rotation cannilly but it looks like he's prioritising Europe this season at the expense of the league. Risky at best.

I can't see them all going straight back in. Johnny G, Zander, Finn, Hoggy and Dunbar, who have played all 3 games will surely be rested. Some of the others who have benched or not played every game may well play though. As you say, we should be back to full strength for the euro games.

The Munster game is going to be tough though, they are not giving up nearly as many players to Ireland as we do to Scotland and will be a lot closer to their full team than we will. They also have some momentum, which we don't. Time to dig very deep!

jimbopip wrote:There's still a way to go yet but what concerns me is that most of the returning Warriors will have played three Tests, will go straight into the Munster match and then what happens when they all need to be rested? For the first time we seem to have an A and B team and not a competitive squad. Toonie usually manages player rotation cannilly but it looks like he's prioritising Europe this season at the expense of the league. Risky at best.

Feel free to give players a rest at Christmas and New Year.....

I think Toonie could rest some v Racing away, sacrificing that match in the hope that we pick up 4 or 5 points from the home matches and also from Leicester away, when they will be out of the competition.
That may be his gamble