Ospreys v Glasgow Warriors, 29 November

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Ospreys v Glasgow Warriors
 
Friday 29th November 2013, KO 19:05
Liberty Stadium
 
Referee: Dudley Phillips (IRFU, 38th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Neil Hennessy, Sean Brickell (both WRU)
Citing Commissioner: Ray Wilton (WRU)
TMO: Derek Bevan (WRU)
 
LIVE on BBC Wales and BBA ALBA
 
A. Teams:
 
I. Ospreys

15 Richard Fussell
14 Hanno Dirksen
13 Tom Isaacs
12 Ben John
11 Jeff Hassler
10 Sam Davies
9 Tito Tebaldi

1 Duncan Jones (Capt)
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Aaron Jarvis
4 Lloyd Peers
5 James King
6 Tyler Ardron
7 Sam Lewis
8 Morgan Allen

REPLACEMENTS:

16 Matthew Dwyer
17 Marc Thomas
18 Dan Suter
19 Graham Knoop
20 Arthur Ellis
21 Rhys Webb
22 Matthew Morgan
23 Aisea Natoga
 
II. Glasgow

15. Stuart Hogg
14. Tommy Seymour
13. Mark Bennett
12. Sean Lamont
11. DTH Van der Merwe
10. Ruaridh Jackson
9. Chris Cusiter

1. Ryan Grant
2. Pat MacArthur
3. Ed Kalman
4. Jonny Gray
5. Al Kellock (Captain)
6. Rob Harley
7. Tyrone Holmes
8. Josh Strauss

REPLACEMENTS:

16. Dougie Hall
17. Gordon Reid
18. Jon Welsh
19. Tom Ryder
20. James Eddie
21. Ryan Wilson
22. Henry Pyrgos
23. Finn Russell
  
B. Form - head to head
 
21 Played 21
11 Wins 8
8 Losses 11
2 Draws 2
52 Tries 37
35 Conversions 26
50 Penalties 55
6 Drop Goals 1
498 Points 405
24 Avg. Age 25
 
C. Form - last season:
 
Fri 14 September 2012, 19:05
Ospreys 10 - 28 Glasgow Warriors
Liberty Stadium
 
Fri 19 April 2013, 19:35
Glasgow Warriors 35 - 17 Ospreys
Scotstoun Stadium
 
D. Parliamo Glasgow:
 
Alphabetty Spaghetti - D.T.H. van der Merwe, wing
Angel - Gabriel Ascarate, centre
Angela - Jon Welsh, prop
Barry - Byron McGuigan, wing
Big Boab - (see Ginger Tackle Monster, the)
Big Mike - (see Coo, the)
Big Naka - Leone Nakarawa, lock/loosie
Bluto - Josh Strauss, loosie/no.8
Centre, the - (see Lesser Messiah, the)
Coo, the - Michael Cusack, prop
Cooseetah - (see Cus)
Cus - Chris Cusiter, scrum half
DTH - (see Alphabetty Spaghetti)
Flippy - (see Toonie)
Fozzy - Christopher Fusaro, loosie
Furra Lineeeee - Peter Horne, centre
Ginger Tackle Monster, the - Rob Harley, loosie
Guns - Tim Swinson, lock
Henners - Henry Pyrgos, scrum half
Hoggy - Stuart Hogg, full back/wing/centre
Ickle Jon - Jonny Gray, lock
Jedi - James Eddie, loosie
Lesser Messiah, the - Richie Vernon, loosie/no.8
Mark of Nazareth - (see Messiah, the)
Meatball, the - Duncan Weir, fly half
Messiah, the/ - Mark Bennett, centre
Niko - Nikola Matawalu, scrum half
Niko's Mate - Jerry Yanuyanutawa, prop
No Maits - Sean Maitland, wing
Rhubarb - Ruaridh Jackson, fly half
Ruck Inspector, the - Alastair Kellock, lock
Schlong - Sean Lamont, centre/wing
Sherlock - Tyrone Holmes, loosie
Shrek - Gordon Reid, prop
Toonie - Gregor Peter John Townsend MBE, head coach
Wee P - Pat MacArthur, hooker
Weegie from Fiji, the - (see Niko)
 
E. Team representatives this week - economists:
 
Ospreys - Clive William John Granger, winner of Nobel Prize for Economics, born in Swansea (1934)
Glasgow - Adam Smith, pioneer of political economy, born Kirkaldy (1723)

Dudley, Dudley, Dudley

What an utter sh1te call by Phillips there. Mauled the ospreys twice in a row. Nothing given. Going forward for the third or fourth time & a penalty to the ospreys????  

GLove39 wrote:What an utter sh1te call by Phillips there. Mauled the ospreys twice in a row. Nothing given. Going forward for the third or fourth time & a penalty to the ospreys????  

It was ridiculous - the previous scrum Welsh only came up because his opposite number slipped his bind completely.

Even is Glasgow win this I can't take many positives out of it.

Popped up both scrums.

Terrible from Morgan

Very harsh on the ospreys but with my ulster hat on I'm pleased someone got no points. Morgan needs a slap for that last play

Wrll done Glasgow and no BP for the Ospreys. Ospreys blew that game, they should have won.

Well that'll do nicely. Game wrapped up, no losing bonus point for the Ospreys. Poor first 50, but that Cusiter breakaway try really changed things around.

If Ulster can pick up four tries and a win tomorrow we move above them both... easier said than done.

TF for that - positive last 25 mins. Replacements turned it tbh. Oh well over to the Heino for the next 2 Fridays

Good result for Glasgow. That said Tandy is looking out of his depth at this level. Picking Davies ahead of Morgan for a starting spot is lunacy. Also King cant play second row and Peers isn't good enough either. Serious strength lacked at the Ospreys in the boiler house when Ian and A.W are away. Throw into the mix Duncan is completely past his best and the fact Issacs is a waste of space.

Maybe I'm being harsh on the Ospreys but in fairness you do open yourself to criticism when you lose at home. On the plus side they cant be as woeful as the Blues at the moment. Dragons & Scarlets are miles ahead in terms of style of play this season.

Can't really take a lot of positives for that, other than to notice what a huge difference the bench made. Ryder was huge, Hall was good and beautiful to see Ryan Wilson smashing through like he never left.

Hogg started to look better, Cus was terrifically fluid. DTH had a real mixed bag - some defensive lapses but took his try well.

The first half it would be completely disengenous not to acknowledge that Glasgow didn't play well because the Os disrupted their game beautifully. Back three always having to hare back and Davies controlled things very well. Os deserved more than they got for that performance - wouldn't surprise me if they edged both territory and possession over the 80.

Does anyone want to play at 12 for Glasgow? Anyone? We're running a bit low on numbers.

Bit harsh on the Ospreys. The turning point came with the Glasgow breakaway. Ospreys were well on top and that gave Glasgow a big lift. The quality of the Glasgow side told in the end but Ospreys deserved a bonus point.

Good win from Glasgow. didn't loose their heads when going behind against the run of play - how many times did Glasgow give them the ball when in a good position? especially in the first half.

Seymour brushed off for the try but otherwise played well I thought. Hogg looked to be getting back into it with some very nice touches and a couple of good breaks. Bennett showed well as well I thought. Gray was immense and Harley did a lot of damage in the first half. Scrums - top notch. Hooked for the ball and gave 'em a lesson in real scrummaging.

Really tried to attack and counter attack and mixed the game up. Well.

Yeah the result was right but it shouldn't really have been in doubt - especially considering the personnel they had missing.

What's more worrying is that, looking at the table, in 9 games we haven't got one try bonus point. In some ways that reflects the closeness of the league, but with the backline firepower on offer we should really be getting a few more. They tend to add up at the end of the season so hopefully with the AI's over some continuity and patterns can be found.

Those being harsh on the Ospreys need to open the other eye, they have 17 players missing against a full strength Glasgow team and only lost after a breakaway try, if WRU weren't intent on bleeding the game dry then we may well have had a completely different game.

Any news on shlong?

Welsh Magician wrote:Those being harsh on the Ospreys need to open the other eye, they have 17 players missing against a full strength Glasgow team and only lost after a breakaway try, if WRU weren't intent on bleeding the game dry then we may well have had a completely different game.

Aye and don't forget it's Cardiff v Glasgow in the HEC a week today.

Welshmushroom wrote:Good result for Glasgow.  That said Tandy is looking out of his depth at this level.

What rubbish! he's a great coach! He has loads of players away with Wales while Glasgow have had a few of theirs back.
We were the dominant team for 60 minutes, it's just unfortunate Glasgow got that length of the field try, and then Dan Suter came on for Jarvis which totally destroyed our scrummage. We gave away a raft of penalties in the scrums, and eventually had Scott Baldwin sin binned which was basically game set and match.

For the Ospreys there were some positives though, Moran Allen did well, as did Sam Lewis. Scott Baldwin looks a good prospect but needs to sharpen his line out throwing. Dirksen had a good game as well and looked hungry and determined. Ben John is starting to develop into a good center. Even Sam Davies had a decent game considering it was his first start, he has vision and looks for possibilities, he changes direction nicely and is a good player.

I expected a loss but was quite pleased we were dominant for over 60 minutes we just fell away badly. We lost control of the match while trying to kill Glasgow off and blew the game, but with so many young players things like that can happen.

I don't think anyone here is being harsh on the Os - it's' obvious that there were some very good performances and they probably edged overally terr and poss stats.

Er, and I'll just say this quietly and once, but it's'not like Glasgow does not have a few missing players of their own:

Not available due to injury/international commitments: Gabriel Ascarate (neck), Fraser Brown (neck), Kevin Bryce (back), Mike Cusack (shoulder), Alex Dunbar (neck/shoulder), Chris Fusaro (knee), Peter Horne (knee), Peter Murchie (shoulder), Tim Swinson (shoulder/chest) and Richie Vernon (knee)

There is also the small matter of Niko Matawalu, Leone Nakarawa and  Jerry Yanuyanutawa trying to topple a Barbarians side tomorrow.

George Carlin wrote:Can't really take a lot of positives for that, other than to notice what a huge difference the bench made. Ryder was huge, Hall was good and beautiful to see Ryan Wilson smashing through like he never left.

Hogg started to look better, Cus was terrifically fluid. DTH had a real mixed bag - some defensive lapses but took his try well.

The first half it would be completely disengenous not to acknowledge that Glasgow didn't play well because the Os disrupted their game beautifully. Back three always having to hare back and Davies controlled things very well. Os deserved more than they got for that performance - wouldn't surprise me if they edged both territory and possession over the 80.

Does anyone want to play at 12 for Glasgow? Anyone? We're running a bit low on numbers.

Please take Atiga

Os deserved more than they got for that performance - wouldn't surprise me if they edged both territory and possession over the 80.

Id be suprised - in the first half Glasgow had all the ball and territory - just handed the ball to the Ospreys everytime they looked like scoring - and lost an sucker punch try. Second half more even but with all the ball and territory Glasgow had they should have killed it off in the first half. Ospreys scored on every foray in Glasgows half. Glasgow didn't do the same

Like the look of the young welsh halfback

Agree a bit shifty but Davies, tebaldi and fuss had complete shockers IMO.Second half was our downfall. Pressuring the Glas line and we give away a length of the field try. Should've changed the fly half then. Our attack again was pretty lacklustre. Isaacs , john and hassler did well. Dirksen was in the right positions but never got the off load or he would've been in.

Good win Glasgow, great to have both Scots teams winning on the same evening. Both coming from behind as well. Bring on the HC!

Well played Glasgow . Great second half performance...

Shifty wrote:

Welshmushroom wrote:Good result for Glasgow.  That said Tandy is looking out of his depth at this level.

What rubbish! he's a great coach!  He has loads of players away with Wales while Glasgow have had a few of theirs back.
We were the dominant team for 60 minutes, it's just unfortunate Glasgow got that length of the field try, and then Dan Suter came on for Jarvis which totally destroyed our scrummage.  We gave away a raft of penalties in the scrums, and eventually had Scott Baldwin sin binned which was basically game set and match.

For the Ospreys there were some positives though, Moran Allen did well, as did Sam Lewis.  Scott Baldwin looks a good prospect but needs to sharpen his line out throwing.  Dirksen had a good game as well and looked hungry and determined.  Ben John is starting to develop into a good center.  Even Sam Davies had a decent game considering it was his first start, he has vision and looks for possibilities, he changes direction nicely and is a good player.

I expected a loss but was quite pleased we were dominant for over 60 minutes we just fell away badly.  We lost control of the match while trying to kill Glasgow off and blew the game, but with so many young players things like that can happen.    

Jarvis was out of his feet after 35 minutes, last 3 or so scrums with him also got destroyed.

Tebaldi was indeed our 16th man.

He seems a bit chaotic.

Goes without saying that any win at the Liberty is a good one and after last weeks shambles it was a welcome four points.

First half was poor, our lineout was poor and whenever me got good field position (which to the O's credit, was not often) we either misfired at the lineout or we knocked on, Strauss must have lost the ball at least three times going into contact.

Game changed when the changes were made, thought Hall, Welsh and Ryder had massive impacts on the game. From their introduction (and the weakening of the O's pack) we were in control.

Overall though it was still not the level of performance that we saw last season or we are going to need going into the business end of the season. Ospreys were nowhere near full strength and had we being playing against stronger opposition, we could have been out the game going into the last 20 minutes.

Lack of TBPs as has been said is a real worry. We have fallen so far behind in terms of BPs that at this rate we are going to have to win a couple of more games than everyone else, just to keep up with them.

Still for all the negatives we are sitting with Seven wins from Nine games.

George Carlin wrote:I don't think anyone here is being harsh on the Os - it's' obvious that there were some very good performances and they probably edged overally terr and poss stats.

Er, and I'll just say this quietly and once, but it's'not like Glasgow does not have a few missing players of their own:

Not available due to injury/international commitments: Gabriel Ascarate (neck), Fraser Brown (neck), Kevin Bryce (back), Mike Cusack (shoulder), Alex Dunbar (neck/shoulder), Chris Fusaro (knee), Peter Horne (knee), Peter Murchie (shoulder), Tim Swinson (shoulder/chest) and Richie Vernon (knee)

There is also the small matter of Niko Matawalu, Leone Nakarawa and  Jerry Yanuyanutawa trying to topple a Barbarians side tomorrow.

I don't think that list compares though does it, we have 5 lions missing for a start, plus the other 12 or so players.  

Welsh Magician wrote:

George Carlin wrote:I don't think anyone here is being harsh on the Os - it's' obvious that there were some very good performances and they probably edged overally terr and poss stats.

Er, and I'll just say this quietly and once, but it's'not like Glasgow does not have a few missing players of their own:

Not available due to injury/international commitments: Gabriel Ascarate (neck), Fraser Brown (neck), Kevin Bryce (back), Mike Cusack (shoulder), Alex Dunbar (neck/shoulder), Chris Fusaro (knee), Peter Horne (knee), Peter Murchie (shoulder), Tim Swinson (shoulder/chest) and Richie Vernon (knee)

There is also the small matter of Niko Matawalu, Leone Nakarawa and  Jerry Yanuyanutawa trying to topple a Barbarians side tomorrow.

I don't think that list compares though does it, we have 5 lions missing for a start, plus the other 12 or so players.  

Magician - I think that the number of players out is less relevant than how important those individual players are to the first team.
 
Maitland, Cusack, Horne, Dunbar, Swinson and Matawalu are all first choice players - they are the incumbents for the shirt. That's more than a third of the first XV starting line up and is a lot for any team. I'm not suggesting for a second that Ospreys didn't have it worse - just that I was forced to listen to Scrum Vs commentary which made it sound as though Glasgow had the luxury of choosing from anyone in their squad, which as I'm trying to say is a cluster of hairy old love sacks.

George Carlin wrote:

Welsh Magician wrote:

George Carlin wrote:I don't think anyone here is being harsh on the Os - it's' obvious that there were some very good performances and they probably edged overally terr and poss stats.

Er, and I'll just say this quietly and once, but it's'not like Glasgow does not have a few missing players of their own:

Not available due to injury/international commitments: Gabriel Ascarate (neck), Fraser Brown (neck), Kevin Bryce (back), Mike Cusack (shoulder), Alex Dunbar (neck/shoulder), Chris Fusaro (knee), Peter Horne (knee), Peter Murchie (shoulder), Tim Swinson (shoulder/chest) and Richie Vernon (knee)

There is also the small matter of Niko Matawalu, Leone Nakarawa and  Jerry Yanuyanutawa trying to topple a Barbarians side tomorrow.

I don't think that list compares though does it, we have 5 lions missing for a start, plus the other 12 or so players.  

Magician - I think that the number of players out is less relevant than how important those individual players are to the first team.
 
Maitland, Cusack, Horne, Dunbar, Swinson and Matawalu are all first choice players - they are the incumbents for the shirt. That's more than a third of the first XV starting line up and is a lot for any team. I'm not suggesting for a second that Ospreys didn't have it worse - just that I was forced to listen to Scrum Vs commentary which made it sound as though Glasgow had the luxury of choosing from anyone in their squad, which as I'm trying to say is a cluster of hairy old love sacks.

Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound like that. Ospreys were missing first choice in each of the following positions: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 and a few second choice players were also out, a fixture as big as this shouldn't be played at this time of year if we're being honest.

VinceWLB wrote:Jarvis was out of his feet after 35 minutes, last 3 or so scrums with him also got destroyed.

I agree Jarvis clearly has real fitness issues. In school there was always the fat kid at prop who was always miles behind play and huffing and puffing between scrums, plodding along, If you watch Jarvis play that's him. He isn't fit and doesn't put a lot of effort in around the field. He is also not that great a scrumager and really shouldn't be playing at this level.

Suter is only 20 so has a good few years to go to develop but we really should be doing more with Jo Rees.

Breadvan wrote:Agree a bit shifty but Davies, tebaldi and fuss had complete shockers IMO.Second half was our downfall. Pressuring the Glas line and we give away a length of the field try. Should've changed the fly half then.  Our attack again was pretty lacklustre. Isaacs , john and hassler did well. Dirksen was in the right positions but never got the off load or he would've been in.

Tebaldi and Fussell play well with good players and poorly with bad players. I personally don't rate Fussell and never have, but I really like Tebaldi he doesn't mess around at the ruck he plays like the ball is a hot potato and wants to pass it away asap. Which is great for an attacking team.

I really want to see the highlights. The Rabo YT page has the Weege's night out but not Embra's hosting of that posse from Galway? Dang it. Was there any coverage of it?

********************************
EDIT
Edinburgh v Connacht Highlights!

Stats are up

Gray made 18 tackles and 8 runs  Kellock 11 hogg stats are good

http://www.espn.co.uk/rabodirect-pro12-2013-14/rugby/match/191415.html

Highlights of Fiji v Baabaas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBLaHuAgEXQ

Matawalu's skill for the first Fijian try is just... the sex.

Welsh Magician wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

Welsh Magician wrote:

George Carlin wrote:I don't think anyone here is being harsh on the Os - it's' obvious that there were some very good performances and they probably edged overally terr and poss stats.

Er, and I'll just say this quietly and once, but it's'not like Glasgow does not have a few missing players of their own:

Not available due to injury/international commitments: Gabriel Ascarate (neck), Fraser Brown (neck), Kevin Bryce (back), Mike Cusack (shoulder), Alex Dunbar (neck/shoulder), Chris Fusaro (knee), Peter Horne (knee), Peter Murchie (shoulder), Tim Swinson (shoulder/chest) and Richie Vernon (knee)

There is also the small matter of Niko Matawalu, Leone Nakarawa and  Jerry Yanuyanutawa trying to topple a Barbarians side tomorrow.

I don't think that list compares though does it, we have 5 lions missing for a start, plus the other 12 or so players.  

Magician - I think that the number of players out is less relevant than how important those individual players are to the first team.
 
Maitland, Cusack, Horne, Dunbar, Swinson and Matawalu are all first choice players - they are the incumbents for the shirt. That's more than a third of the first XV starting line up and is a lot for any team. I'm not suggesting for a second that Ospreys didn't have it worse - just that I was forced to listen to Scrum Vs commentary which made it sound as though Glasgow had the luxury of choosing from anyone in their squad, which as I'm trying to say is a cluster of hairy old love sacks.

Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound like that. Ospreys were missing first choice in each of the following positions: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 and a few second choice players were also out, a fixture as big as this shouldn't be played at this time of year if we're being honest.

So we shouldn't be playing league games outside of the international window? Its a shame for the Welsh teams that they were missing so many players this weekend, but is the WRUs love of their 4th AI that causes this issue.

Not rugby related so please forgive me but I wanted to say our thoughts and prayers are with all you Glasgewians today after the helicopter crash and that I hope all you and yours are sale and well!

 

For the last 2 posters, Dorothy you are entirely correct, what have we gained by playing the extra match in view of paying Oz £750000 for the privelage they paid nearly as much to Australia for that match as they pay to the Regions for having ALL their players for the WHOLE YEAR.
Mrs P, I fully endorse your sentiments, it puts what really matters into perspective, all the best wishes goes to your countrymen Dorothy.

Cheers MrsP, much appreciated.

The helicopter crashed about three minutes' walk from my flat, so it's all a bit freaky, to be honest. Still, it's one of those random things that you simply can't predict or plan for.

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:

Welsh Magician wrote:Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound like that. Ospreys were missing first choice in each of the following positions: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 and a few second choice players were also out, a fixture as big as this shouldn't be played at this time of year if we're being honest.

So we shouldn't be playing league games outside of the international window? Its a shame for the Welsh teams that they were missing so many players this weekend, but is the WRUs love of their 4th AI that causes this issue.

Yep, its the wrong way around- there shouldn't be a major international this weekend outside of the window.

Notch wrote:

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:

Welsh Magician wrote:Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound like that. Ospreys were missing first choice in each of the following positions: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 and a few second choice players were also out, a fixture as big as this shouldn't be played at this time of year if we're being honest.

So we shouldn't be playing league games outside of the international window? Its a shame for the Welsh teams that they were missing so many players this weekend, but is the WRUs love of their 4th AI that causes this issue.

Yep, its the wrong way around- there shouldn't be a major international this weekend outside of the window.

Notch we need that international for income. If the WRU could play it in the window they would but they can't get the fixture.

maestegmafia wrote:

Notch wrote:

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:

Welsh Magician wrote:Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound like that. Ospreys were missing first choice in each of the following positions: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 and a few second choice players were also out, a fixture as big as this shouldn't be played at this time of year if we're being honest.

So we shouldn't be playing league games outside of the international window? Its a shame for the Welsh teams that they were missing so many players this weekend, but is the WRUs love of their 4th AI that causes this issue.

Yep, its the wrong way around- there shouldn't be a major international this weekend outside of the window.

Notch we need that international for income. If the WRU could play it in the window they would but they can't get the fixture.

Yep, plenty of Welsh talismen out of contract and need to be kept here - WRU certainly does need the money.

I think that JD2 going was a bit of a shock.

George Carlin wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

Notch wrote:

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:

Welsh Magician wrote:Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound like that. Ospreys were missing first choice in each of the following positions: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 and a few second choice players were also out, a fixture as big as this shouldn't be played at this time of year if we're being honest.

So we shouldn't be playing league games outside of the international window? Its a shame for the Welsh teams that they were missing so many players this weekend, but is the WRUs love of their 4th AI that causes this issue.

Yep, its the wrong way around- there shouldn't be a major international this weekend outside of the window.

Notch we need that international for income. If the WRU could play it in the window they would but they can't get the fixture.

Yep, plenty of Welsh talismen out of contract and need to be kept here - WRU certainly does need the money.

I think that JD2 going was a bit of a shock.

All the celtic nations need the money. At the end of the day though you have to take a longer term view. Playing that 4th international when they did has given the Ospreys a kick in the teeth for their Rabo 12 aspirations and it is hard to believe any of the returning internationalists will be in their best shape for this weeks HC fixtures, so they seem willing to sacrifice any Welsh hopes in that competition as well.

In the longer term that is not going to help regional welsh rugby and it is not the best option for the Rabo 12, or whatever it becomes either. Much as I was happy to see Glasgow win on Friday I am not deluding myself that it was not a soft fixture. Tooney would probably liked to have rested a few more players as well but saw the opportunity for a win down there which was too good to turn down. You don't get soft wins like that at the top end of the English or French leagues!

Is the money gained really worth all that. One of the reasons given by the departing welsh players is that they actually want to play for teams that will be competitive and win things. The welsh regions could be competitive if they were allowed to be!