Ospreys v Glasgow Warriors Friday 2nd November

Ospreys v Glasgow Warriors
Friday 2nd November
Liberty Stadium
Swansea

ko 19.35

Live on Premier Sport


So a Welsh and Scottish side line up against each other in Wales on the eve of the full international match against the same opponents the following day in Cardiff.

This is going to mean some interesting selections for both teams, as they will be pretty much shorn of all of their international players, so it is going to be very interesting to see what teams come out to play.

An added intrugue is that it is now a potential table topping clash, with the two teams currently first and second in their conference. Glasgow have been getting back towards their swash buckling best this season, while the Spreys, while not setting the heather on fire have been quietly going about their business a bit under the wire. They seem to have mastered the knack of winning the games that you would have expected them to and wihtout to much fuss, even if they seem to have given up on some of the harder games and sent out a much weakened team. It looks as if they are going to be there or there abouts come the play offs at the end of the season and will no doubt wish to be back in with the big boys in Europe, where their pedigree suggests they belong.

Opsreys got a good win last weekend against Connacht and as they got virtually no players back from the Welsh squad, should be getting more or less the same team out this time around.

Glasgow put in a fantastic performance to just get pipped in Limerick, but still came away with a useful 2 points. They will probably lose a few more players for this weekend though, but look like they have some decent depth and competition for places just now and hopefully some more players will step up and put their hands up for selection for the bigger games to come this year.

Both teams will be pretty happy with the way the season has gone for them so far and will want to continue with their momenum, despite the disruption caused by the internationals. it has got the making of a very decent game.

My stab at the Glasgow team:

1. Bhatti (played better last week and Keeble looked injured)
2. Stewart (good first start last week)
3. Rae (getting flogged a bit, just one more week before a rest)
4. Harley (I think he will be released)
5. Cummings
6. Gibbins
7. Fusaro
8. Tamileau (time to see what he can do)
9. Frisbee
10. Thompson
11. Nairn/Hughes (but both might be injured so Tagive/Masaga if not)
12. McDowell (a good run off the bench last week)
13. Grigg (another good game last week)
14. Niko
15. Jacko

Subs

LH sub - no idea, an academy player if Keeble not fit
Turner (Byrce if not released)
Du Plesis
McDonald (talk was he would be back around now)
Smith
Barletto
Kelly
Tagive/Masaga (starting to run out of players now)


A few assumptions there. I think we only might get back Harley and Turner from the Scotland squad and a few of the others may or may not be fit.

Biggest worry is LH if Keeble is crocked, we have not got any front line LHs left, so might be digging into the academy for one.

Whichever way we look at it, we will be going very deep into our squad this weekend. It is probably going to be our most depleted game of the season.

Don't imagine your team will be too far away BigGee. Really hoping we see Thompson at ten, I still don't reckon he has been given a decent chance....he has a very good pedigree, he was the starting 10 for SA in the Jnr WC, but has never really made the step up at Glasgow.

I'm also hoping Toonnie does us a favour and releases one of Horne/Price, but I doubt it. McDowell also looked very promising last week - a big, physical looking player.

1. Kebble
2. Turner
3. Rae
4. Harley
5. Cummings
6. Ashe
7. Gibbins
8. Tamilau
9. Frisby
10. Thompson
11. Hughes
12. McDowell
13. Grigg
14. DTH
15. Jacko

Subs

Bhatti
Stewart
Nicol
McDonald
Smith
Flockhart
Kelly
Niko


Much better than we dared hope!

USA international Tevita Tameilau will make his first start for Glasgow Warriors away to Ospreys tomorrow night, live on Premier Sports 2 (kick-off 7.35pm).

The number 8 will pack down at the Liberty Stadium with Adam Ashe and captain Callum Gibbins either side of him.

Rob Harley and George Turner have both been released by Scotland this weekend. The hooker is flanked by Oli Kebble and D’Arcy Rae in the front-row, while Scott Cummings is Harley’s partner in the engine room.

Nick Frisby and Brandon Thomson start at nine and ten for the first time since orchestrating Glasgow’s 50-17 pre-season victory over Harlequins in Perth.

Fosroc Scottish Rugby Academy’s Stafford McDowall impressed off the bench against Munster and makes his first start for the club with Nick Grigg outside of him.

DTH van der Merwe was a late absentee against Munster but returns to the starting XV on one wing with Rory Hughes starting on the other with Ruaridh Jackson at full-back.

On the bench Kiran McDonald returns from injury to be involved for the first time his season.

Bruce Flockhart is in line to make his full Glasgow Warriors debut and Paddy Kelly will also get his first taste of rugby in a Warriors shirt this season.

Sam Johnson suffered a knee injury in Glasgow’s defeat to Munster last weekend and is expected to be out for 10-12 weeks.

Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Dave Rennie said: “We’re excited by the challenge this week. What we know is that regardless of who pulls on the jersey there is an expectation to perform in it and we’ve named a strong squad that can go out there and deliver.

"Ospreys are right on our tails in the Conference and are playing really well. We’ll need to reach the same levels of physicality we have done in our last three games to get the performance we expect from a Glasgow Warriors side.

"It’s tough for Sam (Johnson), he’s just returned from injury so to injure his other knee is disappointing for him. He’s a determined man and has already begun work on his rehab and we look forward to having him back fit.”

Glasgow Warriors team to play Ospreys in the Guinness PRO14 at the Liberty Stadium, Friday 2 November, kick off 7.35pm - live on Premier Sports 2. You can follow the game on Twitter @GlasgowWarriors. Glasgow Warriors appearances in brackets:


1. Oli Kebble (17)
2. George Turner (27)
3. D’Arcy Rae (48)
4. Rob Harley (192)
5. Scott Cummings (44)
6. Adam Ashe (58)
7. Callum Gibbins (C) (23)
8. Tevita Tameilau (1)

9. Nick Frisby (3)
10. Brandon Thomson (12)
11. Rory Hughes (37)
12. Stafford McDowall (2)
13. Nick Grigg (47)
14. DTH van der Merwe (107)
15. Ruaridh Jackson (141)

Replacements

16. Grant Stewart (9)
17. Jamie Bhatti (30)
18. Adam Nicol (7)
19. Kiran McDonald (12)
20. Matt Smith (19)
21. Bruce Flockhart (0)
22. Paddy Kelly (2)
23. Niko Matawalu (98)

Unavailable players: Zander Fagerson (ankle), Siua Halanukanuka (foot), Stuart Hogg (ankle), Sam Johnson (knee), Lelia Masaga (back) and Tim Swinson (lower limb).

Alex Allan (Scotland), Fraser Brown (Scotland), Alex Dunbar (Scotland), Matt Fagerson (Scotland), Jonny Gray (Scotland), Adam Hastings (Scotland), George Horne (Scotland), Pete Horne (Scotland), Huw Jones (Scotland), Lee Jones (Scotland), Greg Peterson (USA), Ali Price (Scotland), Tommy Seymour (Scotland) and Ryan Wilson (Scotland).

10-12 weeks out for Sam Johnson, who has injured his other knee. That is tough luck.

BigGee wrote:10-12 weeks out for Sam Johnson, who has injured his other knee. That is tough luck.

Tough luck indeed, but if it had been the same knee as before that might have been worse!

The Ospreys team to play Glasgow Warriors at Liberty Stadium on Friday 2nd November 2018, KO 7.35pm, is as follows:

15 Dan Evans

14 Hanno Dirksen

13 Cory Allen

12 Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler

11 Keelan Giles

10 Sam Davies

9 Tom Habberfield



1 Rhodri Jones

2 Scott Otten

3 Ma’afu Fia

4 Lloyd Ashley

5 James King

6 Olly Cracknell (Capt)

7 Will Jones

8 Rob McCusker



REPLACEMENTS

16 Sam Parry

17 Gareth Thomas

18 Tom Botha

19 James Ratti

20 Guido Volpi

21 Matthew Aubrey

22 James Hook

23 Tom Williams

Looks a half decent Ospreys team as well, warriors will have to work for this one!

Kebble managing to be back for this is a surprise and Nicol could do with a run-out. Need to keep pushing his development. McDonald back and getting a good 20 minute stint bears us well for December. Harley can't play every game. Will be interested to see how this American gets on.

Will be interested to see how he plans this. I am guessing the hope will be to have Smith come on for Gibbins and Flockhart for the American. With so many backs missing a 5-2 split is not too surprising.

The backs are what is expected. I would prefer to see Matawalu at 14 and try DTH at 15. Jackson has had a poor start to the season. Really looking forward to seeing what McDowell and Kelly can do.

Don't know too much about the O's side. They are arguably as big a game as Munster this season. Real shame that one of the marquee games of the conference this season has managed to land when both teams are weakened.

I'm always impressed by the knowledge of the Scottish rugby posters on here.
For what it's worth this is my little bit of info on the O's team:
15 Dan Evans - top class player in my opinion, there hasn't been a better Ospreys signing during my time of attending games.
14 Hanno Dirksen - rarely first choice but a good servant, hard runner, 100 percenter - too often injured as a result
13 Cory Allen - promising recruit from a few seasons back, only recently showing any return to form
12 Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler -  youngster, showed promise in last game (first outing?)
11 Keelan Giles - serious wheels and elusive, needs a run of games to re-establish himself after long-term injury
10 Sam Davies - Very skillful but too often Mr Flakey, may rip it up and impress but equally capable of having a complete 'mare
9 Tom Habberfield - solid 9, fast service, good to see him back after a few weeks out
1 Rhodri Jones - Promising loose-head of a few years back, set back by coaches trying to convert him to tight-head, that failed, now back at loose but yet to impress I feel
2 Scott Otten - all action, solid, reliable, surprisingly strong carrier for his size
3 Ma’afu Fia - tight-head, constantly slips under my radar, I don't profess to understand what goes on in scrums!
4 Lloyd Ashley - seems to fail to impress yet stats say otherwise!
5 James King - utility player, very consistent, good athlete, prefer to see him in back row
6 Olly Cracknell (Capt) - leads by example, tough, uncompromising, great tackler
7 Will Jones - young, courageous, impressive but seems a little lightweight
8 Rob McCusker - 100 percenter ....sorry 100 percent penalty machine. had a mare in his last game, surprised to see his name on the teamsheet this week. Owes us a big performance.

Very weakened team as expected but did well last week,fingers crossed for a good game.
Good luck to the Scots for today and tomorrow.

Great break from Cummings gives Glasgow an easy penalty and a good start until DTH drops the ball from a restart. A scrum and a few phases later its 7-3 Ospreys. Not good enough.

Zero to hero in 3 and a half minutes, what a pass from DTH!!!

Niiiiikoooooooooooooooo

5 minutes to go in the first half and both Jacko and Kebble have come off injured. Hope nothing serious as not good for our depth.

Aware that I'm now just talking to myself but Brandon Thomson with an absolute beauty of a kick and Niko picks up his hattrick.

Mad niko still has it I see

Good result, particularly after losing it at the death last week. Niko, Grigg, McDowall, Thomson all impressed. Frisby also played well so hopefully his performance vs Kings was an aberration. Ospreys deciding to kick the ball at us for 80 minutes probably not the best gameplan though I thought Dirksen had a really good game for them all things considered.

Anyway, top of the pile in conference A with room to spare. Good times.

Great win. Could not watch as down in Bristol and heading to Cardiff tomorrow

Can't wait to see the game when I get home. A better result than we ever hoped for, to be top of conference with the fixtures we have played is quite z statement

I thought that the O's back three were good and asked questions of our wide defence. However, other than getting the ball wide quickly and hoping that some individual brilliance would unlock our defence there was no real pattern or serious intent to the attack. This is probably why they kicked the ball to us so much; it was , in many ways, like the bad old Warrenball days.


As for Glasgow
I couldn't pick anyone for having a bad game.
Harley, Niko, Cully, Grigg, DTH were the pick of the bunch for me with special mention to Brandon Thompson who had, probably, his best game so far.


Let's hope this afternoon is as positive.

What a great win, really enjoyed watching that and fantastic that we carried on our good form from the past weeks despite the disappointment of last weekend. We are certainly in the driving seat in our conference now and don't look like letting up.

Good to see the youngsters McDowell, Kelly and Flockhart stepping up and Tevita Tamileau should us that there may well be a very decent player in there.

Scott Cummings also reminded us why we got very excited about his potential a few weeks ago. He had a very good game.