Leinster v Ospreys Sat Feb 19th at 5pm at the RDS.

@daves disco We could not let a quality player like Sam Moore go elsewhere. Fans have been crying out for a big ball-carrying No8 and that is what Moore is. He could well be on a pay-as-you-play sort of deal which will benefit us if he stays fit

@ospreysfanforum I doubt he is on that cheap a deal as he still had a year left on his Cardiff contract so had no need to accept any kind of pay for play deal. In my book any signing that makes the early release of Cross and Ashley possible is a win for Osprey fans as fielding those two in the same pack is tantamount to giving the opposition a two man advantage in contact situations. Addition by subtraction can lead to a better and stronger squad if it is the right subtraction.

Dan Evans is the perfect example of adddition by subtraction improving a squad. If he was replaced as a squad player by Josh Lewis at the same price that would be a huge gain as Evans is a liability. His form has fallen off a cliff as his legs have gone. Even if we have to suck up his contract and not play him that is a better scenario than having to play him.

@daves disco is it Lewis? Heard a rumour that we‘re linked to him and also Sam Davies.

sam davies signed a new 2year contract for the dragons in Feb 2021.

With the grounds getting harder we are going to have to adapt how we play. The south African tour would be the ideal start to seeing some of these players. We are expected to lose both games so we need to learn something and we already know how poor most of the back division that took the field last Saturday already is. Unfortunately I doubt Morgan or Knott will be fit to play going on their past injury record.

Lowe's try really summed things up for me. We had held them out and were at long last building momentum. A turnover in the 22 and Lowe who is powerful but not fast completely stands up Luke Morgan who panics and sells himself to the ground rather than staying on his feet when Lowe could never out run him. The 15 should have the angle on Lowe but is nowhere to be seen and looks as if he is running through treacle whilst Deaves makes a valiant attempt to get back but ultimately fails to catch up.

@JMG As I've questioned before what do the backs coaches actually coach the 100k plus it must cost us for coaches could be put to better use. If crabbing across field is what we want I'm sure with respect Upper Cwmtwrch under elevens coach would do it for a couple of pints and a bag of pork scratchings.

@Gaffer There is little point changing the coaches unless it leads to a different selection policy. You cannot create deception or line breaks when the players you select and so far behind the opposition in quality. The injuries to Anscombe and Harri Morgan have been unfortunate and nobodies fault but we have to start selecting far better behind the scrum.

@Fiddler I don't really care who is at fault but surely the coaches select the team and so are responsible. We cannot go on blaming Tandy, Holly etc we have had years to put things right and yet nothing changes. Our attacking play has been abysmal for years even with many internationals available. When did you last see anything remotely resemble an attacking play. I just cannot see what is being coached when nothing changes or improves.

Luke Morgan is a flair player but a total liability.

Ultimately, the chief goal of Booth should be to deliver a winning side. If he can evolve it into an attacking side, that’s great, but there’s no side in the world who builds a fan base by losing.

The Irish built their fan base on grinding, attritional play then evolved it after finding a winning formula.

Winning produces attendances and followings. The fact you have not heard about the outstanding young talent Irish rugby has been producing does not mean they have not been heard about by others, just means you have not done the appropriate research on them to find out. If you watched Ireland under 20 play Wales under 20 you may conclude the raw talent and athleticism is a far bigger differential than the tired old chestnut that Welsh youngsters have the flair coached out of them.

As I have said to you before we both want the same end result but we have very different views and timescales on how you can get to that desired end result

If we continually play a defensive game plan the attendances will continue to decline. The game of rugby is to score tries not just defend the better sides have gone passed the dour boring phase and are now playing a fast attacking focused game. We have to follow suit and copy Ireland who have full stadiums and a thriving game. We may as well give youth a chance because we cannot continue to lose games and fans the way we are.

@Gaffer I would suggest that your posts need to take account of the playing budgets of the teams. Our budget is significantly lower than the majority of the teams in the competition. It is easier to build defence than attack with a low budget. Booth and Ruddock have had to undertake a complete rebuild due to the crass incompetence of the previous regime. They have found a recipe that produces narrow homes wins against relatively good sides. On the road however that recipe is not producing results. When you build you put in place foundations and then you build on those. The budget is not there to sign top class attacking backs and the suggestion we have young backs who could terrorise highly drilled pro defences of buig budget teams is fanciful in the extreme.

@Gaffer we can’t copy Ireland without Irish budgets.

No attack coach could get an attack out of the half backs we have.

I’m tired by it. It’s not like they are youngsters building for the future, where you would accept mistakes. Booth keeps picking these players, it’s not acceptable.

He seems to just scuttle rather than run. His legs have just gone. He should not be being asked to take the field at this level. Even allowing for this he was better than Luke Morgan

The main reason for us cracking though was Luke Morgan. He was the standout liability tonight. I have no time for Dan Evans still trying to play at this level when he should have been retired but he was not the main issue tonight. A herculean defensive efort around the fringes was let down by a wing who has no idea how to defend. We would have lost anyway because our attack is so limited and their reserves are a lot better than our reserves, but had we fielded a competent left winger the superb effort out there could have produced a one score game

@Fiddler I am yet to see the game tonight but I know that Protheroe was just not selected for the game but was the travelling reserve.

Oh no, Rhys Davies being out would be really bad

15 and 11 are the worst defensive combination in professional rugby in the entire world. Anybody else defensively that bad would be on a semi pro contract. I guarantee tries down our left flank and a a strong chance of a yellow card for a deliberate knock on or high tackle when either one or both get hopelessly out of position. I also guarantee there will be much arm waving and staring at team mates and officials.