With the Ospreys two wins from two matches and the Sharks none from two, the first visit of a South African team to the Swansea.com stadium is a very intriguing one. The Ospreys played a conservative game plan against Cardiff but I fancy them to be more open on Friday evening against the Sharks.
I don't foresee too many changes for Friday's squad but it is likely that Bradley Davies and Michael Collins will not be available for selection. The weather is supposed to be fine.
Here is the Squad I anticipate being selected...
N Smith R Jones S Parry E Taione T Francis T Botha R Davies A Beard AWJ W Griffiths M Morris J Morgan E Roots
R Webb R Morgan-Williams G Anscombe J Thomas O Watkin T Thomas-Wheeler J Hawkins M Protheroe A Cuthbert (if not L Morgan) M Nagy
We have been struggling with our back play for years with too many excuses given for poor performances.
https://www.theospreyliantrust.co.uk/post/monday-morning-quarterback-view-25
My team selection for the next game would be:
1 R Jones
2 I Phillips
3 T Francis
4 Beard
5 R Davies
6 W Griffiths
7 J Morgan
8 Morris
9 RMW
10 Anscombe
11 L Morgan
12 K Williams
13 Hawkins/Watkins
14 Cuthbert
15 Collins(if available)
Bench: Smith, Fia, Parry, AWJ, Webb, J Thomas, Protheroe, Hawkins/Watkins
Just a thought.
Why would you play Protheroe at full back when on Fridays evidence he can't be depended on to catch a high ball - he is very quick with the ball in hand but defensively I'm not so sure could he be a clone of Giles?
We need to understand balance because it doesn’t look as if the coaches understand it.
If you have Anscombe and Watkin as your 10/12 then you’ve got a non-explosive pairing. That means you need pace at 9, 13 and 15 to balance it. Realistically, if Anscombe and Watkin are your best 10/12, which they probably are, then you select to complement them and balance their attributes.
Webb, Evans and TTW are the worst players you could put with that 10-12. The absolute worst.
TTW is a poor man’s Watkin. He’s a 12. He literally has no ability to play 13. Webb and Evans once had burst but time has robbed their legs.
9-13-15 has to change.
I’m inclined to agree @ospreysfanforum , but I’m looking forward to seeing whether Keiran Williams can get us any ‘go forward’.
I forgot about Collins so l would play him alongside North.
I really had high hopes for us building a better season this year but obviously those hopes are completely dashed, with the squad we have I dared to dream but alas more of the same dirge as witnessed against Cardiff and now this insult of a result.
None of our scrum halves fill me with much enthusiasm but I would try when all are available Protheroe full back,North and Williams at centre,Cuthbert and Giles/Morgan on wing with Anscombe and A N Other.
Incidentally, does anyone know why Tom Francis dropped out of the team yesterday?
Unless Booth has the bravery to overhaul the backs like he did the forwards, we’re going on a very, very long losing streak.
Bad players give bad performances. Simple as that. Until we’re in a position to remove bad players, we’ll get these performances.
I am fed up of posting basically the same thing for the past few seasons . Our back play is abysmal with no variation or cohesion, we continue to crab across field with poor passing and handling. Our only answer to everything is a box kick which inevitably hands the ball back to the opposition to run back at us. We have no flow or momentum to our game and seem to lack instinctive players who can create chances ,instead all our centres want to run into brick walls.
so many unforced errors the only positive we can take from the game is that it cannot get any worse
So disappointing all round. I don't think the boys were complacent but they just did not get out of first gear and everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I posted earlier that I was expecting us to play a far more attacking game than we did against Cardiff but it is so hard when your 9 is knackered and your fullback resembles a tug boat - getting outrun by a prop was a particular lowlight for me. Far too many passes were behind the receiver and we lacked any sort of cohesion from 1-23.
Awful performance.
Nicky Smith - needs to up his game, stop pulling funny faces to change the referees decision and work on your scrummaging. Sam Parry - no more contracts, can't hit a barn door throwing in. Botha - appallingly unfit for a pro sportsman. Rhys Webb - finished as a pro rugby player, hopefully his contract runs out end of this season...same as Dan Evans. Why is Hawkins only having his first run out this season on 60ish minutes of the 3rd game? Why did Protheroe come off, he was our only player?!!!
Finally, are we going to appoint a backs/attack coach?
How well is W Hickey playing for Swansea?
If weak link theory holds, we‘ll struggle.
Not a lot of speed there apart from the wings. Then again why play fast wingers when they never get the ball ?
4 second rows in their starting xv. Looks like they mean to chalkenge for all lineout ball and cause maximum maul disruption. SA did that to great effect vs B&I Lions.