Ospreys team to play Edinburgh

[davejames78]

15 Dan Evans
14 Jeff Hassler
13 JJ Engelbrecht
12 Owen Watkin
11 Ben John
10 Sam Davies
9 Brendon Leonard (Capt)

1 Nicky Smith
2 Sam Parry
3 Ma’afu Fia
4 James King
5 Rory Thornton
6 Dan Lydiate
7 Sam Underhill
8 Dan Baker

REPLACEMENTS
16 Scott Otten
17 Gareth Thomas
18 Aaron Jarvis
19 Rynier Bernardo
20 Olly Cracknell
21 Tom Habberfield
22 Josh Matavesi
23 Eli Walker

Great to see Hassler back. A real shame Webb banged his head last weekend though.

What's stil frustrating is that Tandy keeps trying to shoehorn a back row into the second row. If he's been told to play King by Gatland, why not put him at 8 instead of Baker?

[Son of Mathonwy]

Strong team (for international window). Should be enough to deal with Edinburgh... unless we play like we did the last time we met .

[Numbers]

Dirksen injuured I take it, why play Ben John on the wing, he'll be exposed against an actual winger, he's not the quickest from what I've seen, why no Walker? Good to see Alfie making the bench

[davejames78]

Dirksen injuured I take it, why play Ben John on the wing, he'll be exposed against an actual winger, he's not the quickest from what I've seen, why no Walker? Good to see Alfie making the bench

Quite the injury list there.

The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury:
Dmitri Arhip - Back
Tyler Ardron – Knee
Lloyd Ashley - Knee
Ashley Beck – Knee
Ryan Bevington - Hip
Gareth Delve – Ankle
Hanno Dirksen - Ankle
Dafydd Howells – Hamstring
Paul James – Tight hamstring
Rhys Webb - Concussion


As for John on the wing, I think he can do a job there. He's played there a few times recently and hasn't looked out of place.
I don't know what's going on with Walker these days. He looks a shadow of his former self.

[Numbers]

Dirksen injuured I take it, why play Ben John on the wing, he'll be exposed against an actual winger, he's not the quickest from what I've seen, why no Walker? Good to see Alfie making the bench

Quite the injury list there.

The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury:
Dmitri Arhip - Back
Tyler Ardron – Knee
Lloyd Ashley - Knee
Ashley Beck – Knee
Ryan Bevington - Hip
Gareth Delve – Ankle
Hanno Dirksen - Ankle
Dafydd Howells – Hamstring
Paul James – Tight hamstring
Rhys Webb - Concussion


As for John on the wing, I think he can do a job there. He's played there a few times recently and hasn't looked out of place.
I don't know what's going on with Walker these days. He looks a shadow of his former self.

I know what you mean, John is a solid player, I would have thought Walker would offer a bit of x factor and what with his actually being a winger is it a bit of a slight to be benched in favour of John.

Delve seems perpetually injured, not sure why the Os got him in as it seems a waste of cash.

I think the Os should win this comfortably tho, 15 point margin I reckon.

[Sandydragon]

You beat me too it, I was going to ask if Delve had featured at all this season? Great potential back on his day but always injured.

Your inside centre is one to watch as well.


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[Numbers]

You beat me too it, I was going to ask if Delve had featured at all this season? Great potential back on his day but always injured.

Your inside centre is one to watch as well.


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Heresy.

[WaspInWales]

Loving these impartial Scottish commentators!

[Stones of granite]

Loving these impartial Scottish commentators!

John Beattie and Hugh Dan McLennan? They don't even try. Just like Welsh commentators.

[Stones of granite]

I thought that was a very soft yellow for Lydiate.

[Buggaluggs]

What did Lydiate do?

[WaspInWales]

Chop tackle without arms.

[Tre]

Chop tackle without arms.

Lol

[Tre]

The ospreys have been very poor

[Tre]

The ospreys have been very poor

That post changed things!

[WaspInWales]

Chop tackle without arms.

Lol

Well, that was the reason.

He coulda doid according to Nicol.

[Tre]

Chop tackle without arms.

Lol

Well, that was the reason.

He coulda doid according to Nicol.

He got away with the exact same tackle against you rotters in rwc

[Son of Mathonwy]

Really impressive last 50 minutes from the Ospreys - 21 unanswered points. Lots of good performances. Ben John seems to be the new king of high ball. Great tactical kicking from Davies. Lots of good work by the back row - starters and bench. And a bullsh|t yellow for Lydiate.

[Sourdust]

I watched the game back again and on the TV you really can't see how terrible conditions were (partly due to the superb pitch). There was a swirling wind and heavy drizzle so that at times clouds appeared to be crossing the pitch, and wild eddies could be seen carrying rain UP out of the roof. Things improved a bit in the second half which helped the Os resurgence I think. The poor quality of the opening quarter was more down to the conditions than the teams IMO. Both were giving it a go, but the ball just wouldn't stick. An Os tackler (Baker?) slipped for the try after Lydiate had been ripped for what must be the first time in his career(?) - it was all very chaotic.

Os stepped it up and from then on Edinburgh were just hanging on. I thought their defence was pretty impressive, but Os applied enough continuity of possession to get the penalties. I felt a bit sorry for Tonks for missing the tackle on Otten for the last try, he'd been all over the park for his team.

[Billyfish]

A good win. A good team win, especially in the second half. Scrum was all over the place for a lot of the game, praps should have been more comfortable against such a depleted Edinburgh team, but a good win never-the-less. Sam Davies is the new Barry John. Obviously.

[Sandydragon]

How long til Sam gets a Welsh chance?


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[Sourdust]

Sam Davies has obviously moved beyond understudy status now. He's comfortably the second best 10 in Wales at the moment and much as it pains me to say it, I don't think he can stay at the Ospreys for much longer.

[kk67]

I watched the game back again and on the TV you really can't see how terrible conditions were (partly due to the superb pitch). There was a swirling wind and heavy drizzle so that at times clouds appeared to be crossing the pitch, and wild eddies could be seen carrying rain UP out of the roof.

I wondered about that,....it looked a bit foggy on the tv. Initially I thought it was some pre-match pyrotechnics.

+1 for Sam.

[Sandydragon]

Sam Davies has obviously moved beyond understudy status now. He's comfortably the second best 10 in Wales at the moment and much as it pains me to say it, I don't think he can stay at the Ospreys for much longer.

He does seem to have got to that point where he needs to be first choice fly half. But where? Cardiff have Anscombe and the Scarlets have bought Patch. He would be easily the best fly half at Newport but I can't see that doing his Welsh aspirations any good.

[cadofyddol]

Sam Davies has obviously moved beyond understudy status now. He's comfortably the second best 10 in Wales at the moment and much as it pains me to say it, I don't think he can stay at the Ospreys for much longer.

I still think he needs to develop a bit more physically, but the tricky thing is that I think he has the potential to be even better than Biggar. That's probably not going to be for another couple of years, so how do you keep him happy?
You don't see many loan deals in rugby, but a loan to the AP or maybe the Dragons might help his development, especially if the Dragons manage to get their first choice backs fit. A backline of Pretorious, Sam, Dixon, Tyler, Amos, Hewitt and Meyer isn't too shabby.
Alternatively let him develop a bit more at 15 at the expense of Dan Evans.