Things do not get any easier for the Ospreys as they begin preparations for their trip to Dublin to face Leinster. After a tough loss against the Bulls last Saturday, the Ospreys now face the challenge of going to the home of Irish powerhouses Leinster as they continue their fight to make the Top 8.
Hopefully Jac Morgan will be fit to play some part in this match. I am not aware of any knocks or injuries we picked up on Saturday so I think we will go as strong as possible for this match. No idea if Boshoff has returned with the Squad.
Potential Squad
N Smith G Thomas S Parry D Lake T Botha R Henry H Sutton J Ratti J Morgan J Tipuric M Morris M Morse/H Deaves AN Other (Lock)
RMW L Davies D Edwards/O Williams K Giles O Watkin K Williams L Morgan M Nagy J Walsh E Boshoff
Discuss...
*Edited to show that Beard is now unavailable for the rest of the season. Not sure if Sekekete is still around so I have left the 3rd lock space vacant for now.
Showmaster you have exactly got my point.
You can't compare football to rugby, the nearest to the issue I'm trying to make is in the main american sports with their draft system, it keeps refreshing the franchises and no team dominates the sport for a long time i.e it maintains a neutral support interest in the sport.
I am not advocating a draft system in rugby but we must have a some kind of equalising method or the rich will always outperform the not so well off.
Surely nobody in our sport wants to see the same teams slugging it out year on year without anyone else having the chance to compete, it gets boring.
There must be more to our sport than having the ability to outspend one another.
Having been to Kingsholm and other english grounds and having favourable chats with supporters who in the main would welcome welsh teams into an anglo welsh league but that is at a supporter level and leadership from another direction is needed to make that happen.
If the URC maintains its stance of not having equalising standards, the interest in Wales will continue to diminish due to competative viability and unfortunately in my view threaten the future of our sport.
Having seen the game now, we went toe-to-toe for the first 40 minutes but I think the effort we put in that first half cost us dearly in the second half. We seemed to fall off an awful lot of tackles in the second 40 but the respective difference in squad depth was all too painfully obvious.
We have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and get ready for the Dragons next Sunday.
Saddened by the score but not unexpected.
This is why the URC et al, is not a level playing field.
Unfortunately this scenario will always happen when a team is so well funded, supported by its union or both.
What is the reasoning behind signing Snyman and Barrett, what will their signings achieve other than strengthening an already incredibly powerful squad?
What is the point in even trying to win the URC or Champion's Cup against such odds.
As I recently read in a broadsheet, the Champions Cup and URC ( if they take it seriously) is a complete waste of time and will be so repetitive, it will inevitably be won by the same old, same old Leinster , Toulouse or LAR.
I no longer seriously follow these competitions without every organisation singing from the same hymn sheet, we are pi##### into a hurricane and unless there is a levelling up it get's boring when there really is no viable competition being created between any Welsh/English/Scottish teams etc and Leinster/ Toulouse and whoever is the latest multi million euro backed french team off the block.
Without any kind of salary cap, equal funding or national support it really is a waste of time and money in trying to compete.
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Not seen the game but have seen the score...
Best of luck and no injuries, hope you give Leinster a good workout.
I think Beard picked up a knock.
Lets hope for a Leinster win in their semi which may well lead to them fielding a weaker side