Ospreys v Connacht

[Wallpaperman]

Pretty entertaining first 40. A very youthful Ospreys side got 2 early tries and were looking good, but the last 15-20 minutes was pretty much all Connacht. Ospreys went down to 14 and kept Connacht out, but 2 tries in the last 10 minutes of the half flipped the scored to 12-14 at the break. No more than Connacht deserve if I’m honest, Ospreys will need to up their game second half.

[Wallpaperman]

Ospreys spill the ball in their own 22, Connacht batter the line but in the end it is flipped out to Porch on the wing who dots down. Conversion missed but it’s 12-19 now

[Wallpaperman]

More like it from the Ospreys. It’s a bit one up, and uncoordinated, but they almost got over the line there. They have a 5 metre lineout, turned over by Connacht though. Unstructured from the Ospreys, good defence from Connacht

[Wallpaperman]

Keenan Giles steps through but what looks like it should be a scoring pass goes forward. Still 25 minutes to go but the Ospreys need a score soon, I feel

[Wallpaperman]

Looks like Connacht have weathered the storm. Ospreys give a penalty away at a lineout, Connacht attacking now

[Wallpaperman]

Not good, Carty slots a drop goal when they had a penalty advantage. 12-22, not really seeing where Ospreys are going to score. 16 minutes to go

[Wallpaperman]

Connacht make a mess of a chip through, almost a comedy try but they recover. 5 metre scrum Ospreys

[Wallpaperman]

And Sam Party barges over. He’s looked good since he came on. Game is alive again, conversion nailed and it’s 19-22, with 10 to go. Come on Ospreys

[Wallpaperman]

Ospreys lose the ball on the 22, Jack Carty kicks long for about the 10th time in the last 20 minutes. Lineout in the Connacht half, 6 minutes left

[Wallpaperman]

Ospreys playing kick tennis - only 4 minutes to go. They have Kieran Williams and midfield and runners like Giles and Nagy, no spark here. About 2 minutes to go, now, Ospreys scrum but in their own 22. Give it a go ffs.

[Wallpaperman]

Scrum penalty Ospreys they get a lineout, still in their own half, last minute

[Wallpaperman]

Scrum penalty Ospreys they get a lineout, still in their own half, last minute

[Wallpaperman]

Finally a bit of skill, chip over the Connacht defence but Morgan Morris loses it forward in contact. The Connacht defence was impressive after the first 15 minutes or so but I can’t understand the Ospreys playing kick tennis in the last 10 minutes. Hard to argue with the result, well played Connacht.

[Sandydragon]

Ospreys attack is way too predictable. Not sure what Booth is trying to do as ten man rugby will only get you so far.

[Wallpaperman]

Ospreys attack is way too predictable. Not sure what Booth is trying to do as ten man rugby will only get you so far.

He’s definitely got a competitive set of forwards, totally agree re the backs. Even in games where they have scored tries it has looked laboured for the most part, more often down to individual skill. I had high hopes when he appointed Brock James but that didn’t work. I’d always assumed it was due to the slow speed of service from Webb that they look so unthreatening but after the first 15 tonight Morgan Williams looked like he was kicking it more than passing it.

Given where the Ospreys were when Booth came in I think he has done a good job overall. I saw them play Cardiff (Blues) when Clarke was in charge and they were truly dire. They are much improved on that and I expect them to kick on. However as a team they are less than the sum of their individual parts, they have a really strong first choice 22 that looks on paper as though it should be much higher up the league, and should take the odd scalp at European level.

Whether it’s coaching or player confidence they always seem to revert to a kicking game when they could do so much more.

In all fairness I don’t want to criticise them tonight, even if it was a frustrating performance, that was a young team.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Ospreys attack is way too predictable. Not sure what Booth is trying to do as ten man rugby will only get you so far.

He’s definitely got a competitive set of forwards, totally agree re the backs. Even in games where they have scored tries it has looked laboured for the most part, more often down to individual skill. I had high hopes when he appointed Brock James but that didn’t work. I’d always assumed it was due to the slow speed of service from Webb that they look so unthreatening but after the first 15 tonight Morgan Williams looked like he was kicking it more than passing it.

Given where the Ospreys were when Booth came in I think he has done a good job overall. I saw them play Cardiff (Blues) when Clarke was in charge and they were truly dire. They are much improved on that and I expect them to kick on. However as a team they are less than the sum of their individual parts, they have a really strong first choice 22 that looks on paper as though it should be much higher up the league, and should take the odd scalp at European level.

Whether it’s coaching or player confidence they always seem to revert to a kicking game when they could do so much more.

In all fairness I don’t want to criticise them tonight, even if it was a frustrating performance, that was a young team.

The Ospreys have had a dismal start to the season, results-wise, but I cling to a little bit of hope in that they were within one score of winning most of the matches. Really frustrating to watch though.