European Weekend

[ALunpg]

Well this looks as good a team as the Ospreys can put out but they will have their hands totally full with Clermont who select a good team.

Ospreys: D. Evans; K. Giles, K. Fonotia, O. Watkin, C. Allen; D. Biggar, R. Webb; N. Smith, S. Otten, D. Arhip, B. Davies, A. W. Jones (capt), D. Lydiate, D. Baker, J. Tipuric. Reps: S. Parry, P. James, M. Fia, L. Ashley, O. Cracknell, T. Habberfield, S. Davies, J. Hook.

Clermont Auvergne: S. Speeding; D. Strettle, D. Penaud, R. Lamerat, A. Raka; C. Lopez, M. Parra (capt); R. Chaume, B. Kayser, R. Slimani, P. Jedrasiak S. Vahaamahina, J. Cancoriet, F. Lee, A. Lapandry. Reps: Y. Beheregaray, E. Falgoux, A. Jarvis, S. Timani, P. Yato, G. Laidlaw, P. Fernandez, P. Betham.

[Ross. S]

On the O's current form this could be absolute carnage

[Numbers]

These are the Toulon and Scarlets Teams:

Toulon: H. Bonneval; J. Tuisova, M. Bastareaud (capt), M. Nonu, C. Ashton; A. Belleau, E. Escande; F. Fresia, G. Guirado, M. Van Der Merwe, S. Rebbadj, M. Gorgodze, J. Fernandez Lobbe, F. Isa, R. Lakafia. Reps: A. Etrillard, X. Chiocci, L. Chilachava, R. Gahetau, S. Radradra, F. Trinh-Duc, S. Tillous-Borde, J. Kruger.

Scarlets: L. Halfpenny; J. McNicholl, J. Davies, S Williams (capt), S. Evans; R. Patchell, A. Davies, W. Jones, R. Elias, S. Lee, J. Ball, L. Rawlins, A. Shingler, T. Beirne, W. Boyde. Reps: K. Owens, D. Evans, W. Kruger, D. Bulbring, J. Macleod, G. Davies, P. Asquith, H. Parkes.


I'm looking forward to this one, I'm hoping the Scarlets can come away with something as bonus points are going to be required to qualify I reckon.

[ALunpg]

On the O's current form this could be absolute carnage

This will be an opportunity to turn it around , whether they take it is another thing. If they do it could be a good match ... if not the coaching staff may need to polish their job interview skillsetsb.

[ALunpg]

Tonight's line-up

Cardiff Blues: M Morgan; B Scully, R Lee-Lo, G Smith, A Cuthbert; J Evans, T Williams; C Domachowski, M Rees (capt), D Lewis, G Earle, S Davies, M Cook, O Robinson, J Turnbull.

Replacements: K Dacey, B Thyer, A Peikrishvili, J Down, J Navidi, L Jones, S Shingler, A Summerhill.

Lyon: D Armitage; T Rokoduru, P Barassi, A Seguret, J Tuva; P Dominguez, B Couilloud; T Mataradze, D Fourie, R Choirat, E Oosthuizen, F van der Merwe, T Halaifonua, T Cotte, V Bruni.

Replacements: V Lacombe, H Kaabèche, G Papidze, J Bekhuis, F Lambey, T Belan, J Buttin, J Pelissie.

[kk67]

On the O's current form this could be absolute carnage

yup.

[wayneha50]

Thought the Blues would really struggle against Lyon but probably their best performance & win of the season so far (admittedly a low bar)

Encouraging if they can push on from here.

[PoolerSaint]

Like the look of the Ospreys centre pairing. Hope Watkin can get some luck with injuries & show his talent this season. Fonotia is also a class act with ball in hand.


Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

[ALunpg]

Thought the Blues would really struggle against Lyon but probably their best performance & win of the season so far (admittedly a low bar)

Encouraging if they can push on from here.

YES it is important just to get wins ...then add something ..
Did anyone see how the Blues front row went ?

[ALunpg]

Bit late ..but here is Newcastle v Dragons teams

Newcastle: S Hammersley, A Tait, M Mermoz, T Flood, A Radwan, J Hodgson, S Stuart; R Vickers, B Sowrey, T Davison, W Witty, S Robinson, M Wilson (captain), R Burrows, G Graham.

Subs: J Blamire, A Brocklebank, S Wilson, G Young, W Welch, R Dawson, C Cowell, C Harris.

Dragons: W Talbot-Davies, A Hewitt, J Rosser, A Warren, G Gasson, A O’Brien, S Pretorius; L Garrett, L Belcher, L Fairbrother, J Davies, M Screech, A Wainwright, J Benjamin, O Griffiths (capt).

Subs: G Ellis, T Davies, B Harris, R Landman, J Thomas, O Leonard, G Henson, P Howard


I think Jackman has gone French style again and not overplaying his first choice players.

[ALunpg]

NEWCASTLE 32 DRAGONS 27
A gutsy, gutsy effort by the young Dragons.
Three second-half tries had threatened an upset, but the Falcons’ power game was hugely influential.
A deserved bonus point to take back to Rodney Parade.

Western Mail online

[wayneha50]

Thought the Blues would really struggle against Lyon but probably their best performance & win of the season so far (admittedly a low bar)

Encouraging if they can push on from here.

YES it is important just to get wins ...then add something ..
Did anyone see how the Blues front row went ?

The starting three went well. Struggled when the replacements came on & Lyon were well on top until a yellow for the Blues resulted in uncontested scrums.

Which was very fortunate!

[ALunpg]

Thanks for the feedback...yep sometimes uncontested scrums are helpful . ..as much as it is annoying .

That's good news about the starting front row ... we need these next generation guys to get experience against differant types of players especially the French and English players as they do not get that many opportunities. That's not to denegrate the Pro14 props as there are some very good ones just offering a differant challenge.

It was interesting to hear about the change over front row getting a hard time ..I am not always familiar with the names but watch a bit of the French rugby and it is not a suprise for sides in the top 14 to bring on the super huge guys in the front row as subs to dominate the last 20 as opposed to the huge guys that start.

I will try to watch online.

[kk67]

Pity for Scarlets. Sounded like a cracker on the radio.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Incredible second half from the Scarlets, cruel to fall short by 1 point at the end, could have gone either way. Very promising after a shaky start. The Scarlets may well be a force in Europe...

[ALunpg]

European Champions Cup: Ospreys 21-26 Clermont Auvergne - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/41607250

So Ospreys lose another ... not a blow out as it may have been but they seemed to have a 10 minute sleep ..again.
Still not showing enough that will send their fans home satisfied..unhappy days at the Liberty.

[PoolerSaint]

Scarlets were half asleep for the 1st quarter.
Comeback was superb though.
Some unsung players really getting stuck in.
Shingler has improved so much at 6, seems to have added some physicality to his game these days.
Rawlins at lock is a carbon copy of Shingler, rangy & hard working.
Wyn Jones at loosehead superb too.
Considering the starting XV's pack was missing Rob Evans, Ken Owens, James Davies, John Barclay, Will Boyde it really was a superb effort.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

[Numbers]

Thought the Blues would really struggle against Lyon but probably their best performance & win of the season so far (admittedly a low bar)

Encouraging if they can push on from here.

So did I, did Lyon field a full strength side?

[Numbers]

European Champions Cup: Ospreys 21-26 Clermont Auvergne - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/41607250

So Ospreys lose another ... not a blow out as it may have been but they seemed to have a 10 minute sleep ..again.
Still not showing enough that will send their fans home satisfied..unhappy days at the Liberty.

A marked improvement on some of there previous games this season tho, at least they seem to be on an upward curve but Saracens next week is not going to be pretty.

[Sandydragon]

Not a great weekend, with 1 from 4 in the W column, but both Scarlets and Dragons performed credibly well away from home. Scarlets losing by a point is not a disaster, although they have now put some pressure on themselves.

Ospreys lose again. Becoming a habit?

[Son of Mathonwy]

Ospreys were better than expected - I did not expect them to be close enough for a losing bonus point.

But like the Scarlets, they lost it at the start and the comeback wasn't enough.

Although, unlike the Scarlets, I think they'd still have lost if the game had continued for another 10 minutes.

[wayneha50]

Thought the Blues would really struggle against Lyon but probably their best performance & win of the season so far (admittedly a low bar)

Encouraging if they can push on from here.

So did I, did Lyon field a full strength side?

I have no idea, don't know much about them to be honest.

[Numbers]

Thought the Blues would really struggle against Lyon but probably their best performance & win of the season so far (admittedly a low bar)

Encouraging if they can push on from here.

So did I, did Lyon field a full strength side?

I have no idea, don't know much about them to be honest.

Looking at the side they fielded the previous week in the Top 14 I think it was weakened, tho I can't be 100% sure of this as I don't wtach them week in week out.

[ALunpg]

So did I, did Lyon field a full strength side?

I have no idea, don't know much about them to be honest.

Looking at the side they fielded the previous week in the Top 14 I think it was weakened, tho I can't be 100% sure of this as I don't wtach them week in week out.

I agree it is common system for Top 14 sides to play a weaker side at away fixtures.

[Numbers]

I have no idea, don't know much about them to be honest.

Looking at the side they fielded the previous week in the Top 14 I think it was weakened, tho I can't be 100% sure of this as I don't wtach them week in week out.

I agree it is common system for Top 14 sides to play a weaker side at away fixtures.

Yep, I don't think they'll be targeting the Challenge Cup either way.