Saracens 31 - 26 Ospreys

First topic message reminder :

Saracens (23) 31
Tries: Gill, Joubert, Wyles Cons: Farrell 2 Pens: Farrell 4

Ospreys (13) 26
Tries: Beck 2 Cons: Biggar 2 Pens: Biggar 4


Saracens edged an entertaining Heineken Cup pool contest at Wembley but a bonus point kept Ospreys in contention.

Sarries led 10-3 after an early Rhys Gill try before the first of Ashley Beck's two scores saw the Welsh region level.

But Saracens led 23-13 at the interval after a second try from Ernst Joubert and three Owen Farrell penalties.

Chris Wyles' try put them 28-16 up but Beck's second and Dan Biggar's fourth penalty rewarded the visitors' efforts.

The two sides will meet again at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea next Friday with qualification still very much up for grabs, Treviso's victory over Biarritz earlier in the day leaving the pool wide open.

I would say that with a calf strain Adam would probably not play a full game. That said, if he isn't 100% fit and Jarvis comes on, that won't make like any easier on Gill. Jarvis is having a great impact at the Ospreys, a good swap for Mitchell.

It's up to Stevens to put pressure on his opposite number. Not a lot of chance of that!Nieto will come on at some point and he'll bolster the frontrow.

I'll be happy if there aren't many scrums. I want us to focus on the lineout.

Beshocked, yes, lovely finish. That defensive weakness tends to come with that kind of elusive winger (one reason why, for me, Ieuan Evans was a better winger than Shane).

Beshocked, he wont be fully fit, but Adam Jones at 60/70% is still better than 9/10 other tightheads in the world. He's probably the only player I dont really worry about when coming back from injury (as far as playing to a certain standard). I think Gill will be mullered to be honest, Hibbards a very strong scrummaging hooker aswell, they'll target Gill.

Adam wont get around as much in the loose, but the ospreys have 5 backrowers on the pitch, they wont necessarily need him too. Add to that having Bevington on the bench, he is basically Gethin Jenkins mk2 in his style of play, big hits, lots of energy and tends to really galvanise energy levels when he comes on, albeit at loosehead, it just means they'll tell Duncan Jones to do what he does best in the loose to cover for Adams lack of work.
The pack looks to have been built around non-stop work rate, smart replacements if made at the right time will ensure the tempo is kept up.

Really looking forward to this game (and the next), should be crackers!!

also, forgot about Jarvis, was very surprised he wasnt called up above scott andrews for the ozzy game! But yes, he wont make life any easier upon his arrival.

What's the expected crowd?

Isn't Jarvis English?

Yes Jarvis is English. Welsh qualified through his granny. He and Waldrom have something in common.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/ospreys/9394216.stm

He is indeed, Welsh granny though. Was never all that at Bath, of good to hear he is playing well.

haha i cant say i had noticed that!

grrr, us welsh, blywdi poachers!!!!!

Comfort wrote:

I think this game will be too close for you.

Last Welsh team that played at wembley stadium was on Sunday the 11th of April 1999.

and an osprey scored the winning try

Ahem.................. a Swansea White

Since its at Wembley I'm going for a narrow Saracens win.

I just hope we play well and don't get gubbed!

maestegmafia wrote:and an osprey scored the winning try

Eh? Somebody isn't sure about the history of their own region!

Cyril if you are going to be a troll constantly accusing others of not knowing what they are talking about, get your facts right...!

"In the space of two months the Ospreys pulled together a squad for their inaugural season, with British Lions, Scott Gibbs appointed as the Ospreys first-ever captain (pictured above leading the team out for their first ever game)."



http://www.ospreysrugby.com/4470.php?player=86235&includeref=dynamic

http://www.ospreysrugby.com/about/season_0304.php

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/16120400.stm

Chunky Norwich wrote:What's the expected crowd?

Looks like there's around 35-40K in.

What's the break even figure for Sarries?

What a start for Sarries by a Taff!

No not the song grr

Why are the posts red at wembley? Never seen that before really. Does it make kicks at goal harder?

What a try by the Ospreys - superb and lucky

Try from our own 22, Ashley Beck under the posts..!

10 - 10

Try time. Good running by Bowe ,vey lucky with the offload.Fair play to Beck though.

Get in Sarries! Woeful defending by Ospreys.

Awful tacking by the Ospreys and awful forward pass decision from the ref

Forward pass? What are the officials smoking? Essentially awarding 7 points to Saracens with that call.

Looks like the luck has evened out

Neither of those passes were even close to forward? What was the referee thinking?

Poor ref calls a wrong forward pass. Scrum missed tackle try Joubert.

Twice in a row now refs have gotten ridiculous calls on forward passes

Ospreys hard done by - pass wasnt forward for me, use the 22 line to gauge - definitely not forward.

Sarries controlling the game & the forwards in the loose look far superior

Jesus ref..!

Decisions are very one sided

Currently listening to it on the radio. Is it worth me going down to the pub to watch it at halftime?

Why wouldnt they let him take it quickly?

Its getting pedantic now - if they want a tap from a penalty the refs should be lenient since its the same if it was a free kick.

I would

Brits knee's tuperic in the face...!

Superb handling by Sarries deserved a try but take 3 instead

Osprey defence looking unusually poor. Twice Saracens have worked a five on two overlap. Thank god they didn't know how to use it else we would be thirty points down.

Ospreys not playing well.

I think Sarries know exactly how to use it . But I agree they should be further ahead

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:I think Sarries know exactly how to use it . But I agree they should be further ahead

if they knew how to use an overlap they would have scored Trev.

Yellow??? wtf?

Ospreys have changed their rush defence to one they were using last year - they stopped using it after Laulaula gave a masterclass in how to beat a dog-leg defence in the Christmas Blues vs Ospreys derby. Its not working today either.

Tom Smith - Yellow Card.

Ok maybe I am crediting the Ospreys defence too much.

Sarries look very potent today it's good to see for a change. I hope Andy Farrell can use this for England!

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:Ok maybe I am crediting the Ospreys defence too much.

The defence looks poor to me.

They are trying to contain too tight..

The pitch looks around 10 meters wider than the average rugby pitch

Looks can be deceiving.

Ospreys being killed by the ref. Duncan Jones DOES go backwards in the scrums as I pointed out recently.