Week 4

[Sandydragon]

So the Dragons send out the reserves and get stuffed.

However, if that result was bad then the Ospreys was even worse, losing away to Treviso. No disrespect to Treviso who defended well and deserved to win, but the lack of shape in the Ospreys is painful to behold. On one occasion,24 phases without a score and with next to no ground made, despite aDavies and Hook double playmaker set up at 10 and 12. No.pack of commitment from what I saw, but no game plan in evidence either.

Here’s to hoping that Scarlett’s and Cardiff can bring back some welsh success tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Munster get thrashed by Glasgow and Leinster lose heavily in South Africa.

[kk67]

Clancy completed 5 scrums.
In fairness to him though, it was an interesting game and he managed it quite well. Treviso have got a gameplan and they're sticking to it. More power to them.
176 tackles......that's more than a good effort, that's deliberate.

[ALunpg]

Dragons lost but seem to be able to score with some frequency. . .it can be looked at positively.

The O's were pretty poor they just can't seem to outflank organised teams who have a fixed plan and stick to it.They seem to lack explosive runners Baker used to be that man but has regressed . I don't think they can really get any fast go forward . If that us how they perform after a right roasting then it is going to be a long season.
Next week at the Cheetahs may not be any better, after they beat Leinster at home quite well.

[kk67]

Bar the Scarlets and all Welsh rugby seems to be in a lot of trouble.

[Sandydragon]

The dragons lack anything approaching a competitive front 5. The ospreys had periods of good possession but silly mistakes then crept in. This is an awful start to their season.

[ALunpg]

The dragons lack anything approaching a competitive front 5. The ospreys had periods of good possession but silly mistakes then crept in. This is an awful start to their season.

I agree . . also it's a continuation of what was happening at the end of last season. If there is no measureaable improvement the next few weeks then the Ospreys will have a shorter impact on the outcome of the European Cup than is normal even for them .

[Son of Mathonwy]

Truly dreadful from the Ospreys. I guess they'd have looked a lot sharper if they hadn't continually dropped the ball (last week it was belting down, what was the excuse this week?), but the forwards still seemed to lack physicality or commitment (and the scrum's gone to pieces too). Sam Davies seemed to be playing Biggar's gameplan, standing well back - perhaps because he came on unexpectedly early? - but there was little of the usual interplay between Davies and Dan Evans throughout the match.

Tipuric said they were lacking in confidence... it looked more like competence, the number of times they dropped the ball.

[Sandydragon]

Something radical is needed there. Not forgetting that they fell apart last season and have continued into this. The Treviso defensive stats are impressive, but in reality the Ospreys didn’t really threaten the line consistently. When they did break and get quick ball, they screwed it up. Really poor.

In other news, Cardiff have just won away to Connaught which is a decent result. It looked like the Irish had the better of the game for long periods but A late try won it for Cardiff.

Come on the scarlets.

[ALunpg]

Great news for the Blues...they tried hard not to win but overcame it. Maybe it will mark a bit of confidence for the lads..good stuff.

[Sandydragon]

BP win for the Scarlets, I was hoping that they would have made more out of the man advantage, but Edinburgh were always competitive.

[MrK]

Os have apparently lost 8 in 10 - and its that kind of form thats convinced the board to extend Tandys contract. Lovely Stuff.

Devoid of ideas, Sam Davies is unfortunately going through a Priestlandesqe loss of confidence and form and thats what kept us flowing last year.
A pack (still) lacking enough grunt to make any real go forward (and I include AWJ in that)
A horrible recruitment policy over the last couple of years.

Embarrassing

Dragons, now owned by the WRU, send out a team with 13 changes, accepting defeat and knowingly understrengthening their team allowing the opposition a guaranteed bonus point win.

Embarrassing

The Blues - they won , at last.

Not so Embararssing

Scarlets, well thank the Lord for the Scarlets

Not Embarrassing at all, which for an Os fan is well.......embarrassing. (but good on them)

[Sandydragon]

Year, the Dragons tactic was a risky one. I doubt that full strength we would have come away with much from the Ulster game, but after a nice win the previous week, keeping some momentum would have been nice. This could backfire horribly.

Gatland was at the Scarlets game. If he managed to get over his shock of seeing a rugby ball passed so much, he would do well to pick mostly Scarlets in his autumn teams. There aren’t many other players, in wales at least (with the usual exception of Tipuric) putting their hand up.

[ALunpg]

Year, the Dragons tactic was a risky one. I doubt that full strength we would have come away with much from the Ulster game, but after a nice win the previous week, keeping some momentum would have been nice. This could backfire horribly.

Gatland was at the Scarlets game. If he managed to get over his shock of seeing a rugby ball passed so much, he would do well to pick mostly Scarlets in his autumn teams. There aren’t many other players, in wales at least (with the usual exception of Tipuric) putting their hand up.

Strangely I was thinking the same thing myself.... but a few non Scarlets on the bench and a few to replace non Welsh players ... otherwise ..yep go for it...but add Falateu.

Oh yes ..Stephen Jones as coach as well.

[wayneha50]

Year, the Dragons tactic was a risky one. I doubt that full strength we would have come away with much from the Ulster game, but after a nice win the previous week, keeping some momentum would have been nice. This could backfire horribly.

Gatland was at the Scarlets game. If he managed to get over his shock of seeing a rugby ball passed so much, he would do well to pick mostly Scarlets in his autumn teams. There aren’t many other players, in wales at least (with the usual exception of Tipuric) putting their hand up.

I’m sure Gatland & Howley will want to coach that attractive, running rugby out of them all.

[Sandydragon]

Well at the moment Patch is making a big case to play for Wales, I’d rank him ahead of Davies. Biggar has had 17 minutes since the lions so perhaps unfair to rule him out. Ditto Davies over Webb.

To pick in form now, it could look like:
Evans, Owen, Lee
Charteris and someone
Tipuric and Olli Griffiths or Shingler, or maybe Young.
Faletau
Davies
Patchell
Stef evans, Scott Williams, Foxy and North
Probably Halfpenny (not sure how well Liam is getting on).

I’d include Henson at the moment if not for his age.

[kk67]

Well at the moment... for Wales,..

Shhhh. Nothing to see here, Folks.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Well at the moment Patch is making a big case to play for Wales, I’d rank him ahead of Davies. Biggar has had 17 minutes since the lions so perhaps unfair to rule him out. Ditto Davies over Webb.

To pick in form now, it could look like:
Evans, Owen, Lee
Charteris and someone
Tipuric and Olli Griffiths or Shingler, or maybe Young.
Faletau
Davies
Patchell
Stef evans, Scott Williams, Foxy and North
Probably Halfpenny (not sure how well Liam is getting on).

I’d include Henson at the moment if not for his age.

Hopefully they're keeping their eyes on Hadleigh Parkes too, will be qualified by residency just after the AIs though, I think. On form I'd start him at 12.

[PoolerSaint]

Can kind of understand Jackman's selection. He knows he has no depth of squad, if he plays his front line players every week they'll be buggered by Xmas.
It's drastic but if they beat the Kings at home this weekend is it worth it ? Probably.
He's having to target certain games which seems crazy this early in the season but he could end the season with more victories because of it.


Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

[Sandydragon]

Can kind of understand Jackman's selection. He knows he has no depth of squad, if he plays his front line players every week they'll be buggered by Xmas.
It's drastic but if they beat the Kings at home this weekend is it worth it ? Probably.
He's having to target certain games which seems crazy this early in the season but he could end the season with more victories because of it.


Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

Yup. I don't think he has much choice really. Using reserves alongside the first XV just dilutes a side to no real benefit and whilst I did not enjoy watching a hammering like that, it will be worth it if it means that our best XV is more effective for the games we feel we can win. Its realism, but there are risks involved to morale.

[Sandydragon]

Well at the moment Patch is making a big case to play for Wales, I’d rank him ahead of Davies. Biggar has had 17 minutes since the lions so perhaps unfair to rule him out. Ditto Davies over Webb.

To pick in form now, it could look like:
Evans, Owen, Lee
Charteris and someone
Tipuric and Olli Griffiths or Shingler, or maybe Young.
Faletau
Davies
Patchell
Stef evans, Scott Williams, Foxy and North
Probably Halfpenny (not sure how well Liam is getting on).

I’d include Henson at the moment if not for his age.

Hopefully they're keeping their eyes on Hadleigh Parkes too, will be qualified by residency just after the AIs though, I think. On form I'd start him at 12.

Thats a good shout. Parkes is looking pretty good at the moment, although Scott Williams hasn't started too badly either.

The problem with al this is that the Welsh way is different to how Scarlets play - it would take a huge leap to make best use out of the Scarlets players. I suspect the XV for the main games will be very familiar.

[ALunpg]

Hopefully they're keeping their eyes on Hadleigh Parkes too, will be qualified by residency just after the AIs though, I think. On form I'd start him at 12.

To be honest he is the reason why the Scarlets are ticking so well he let's the others do what they need. He is like Dawes ..a link pin that the rest work around.

[Numbers]

Os have apparently lost 8 in 10 - and its that kind of form thats convinced the board to extend Tandys contract. Lovely Stuff.

Devoid of ideas, Sam Davies is unfortunately going through a Priestlandesqe loss of confidence and form and thats what kept us flowing last year.
A pack (still) lacking enough grunt to make any real go forward (and I include AWJ in that)
A horrible recruitment policy over the last couple of years.

Embarrassing

Dragons, now owned by the WRU, send out a team with 13 changes, accepting defeat and knowingly understrengthening their team allowing the opposition a guaranteed bonus point win.

Embarrassing

The Blues - they won , at last.

Not so Embararssing

Scarlets, well thank the Lord for the Scarlets

Not Embarrassing at all, which for an Os fan is well.......embarrassing. (but good on them)

Don't fall into the trap that a fly-half is playing poorly due to form, he's given the ball going backwards, the Os forwards offer very little in carrying, the difference between them and the scarlets forwards is not just mobility but the fact the scarlets forwards are ball players, they look for the shoulders or a one out pass to create off-load opportunities and space, not taking contact and then taking half an hour to recycle the ball. The Os were also committing far too many to the ruck and weren't savvy enough to realise that they should have started attacking through the middle, to keep the defence honest, thus creating space further out.

The Scarlets also seemed a little clueless when Edinburgh tried the same tactics against them, which may go some way to explaining why they failed to put a cricket score on a side with 14 men for half the game who just lost to Treviso.

[ALunpg]

Os forwards offer very little in carrying

Bang on there.......they seem to have no one to make the hard yards and no clarity to their defence ...Baker seems to have lost his gain line edge since injury and no one has stepped up.