The Ospreys have travelled to South Africa with this squad...
as they prepare to face the Vodacom Bulls this Saturday, November 26th a6 1pm and the Cell C Sharks on Friday, December 2nd at 17.10.
As the above picture shows, we are down to the bare bones in some positions and have been forced to borrow former loosehead prop, Marc Thomas, from Cardiff RFC. Rhys Henry could provide cover there in an emergency.
I think the Squad for the Bulls on Saturday will look something like this:-
M Thomas G Phillips S Parry S Baldwin T Botha B Warren B Davies H Sutton J Regan E Roots H Deaves M Morris T Davies
R Webb (c) RMW J Walsh D Edwards K Giles K Williams T Thomas-Wheeler L Morgan M Nagy M Protheroe/M Collins
with a likely starting XV of
G Phillips S Baldwin T Botha B Davies H Sutton E Roots H Deaves M Morris
R Webb J Walsh K Giles K Williams TTW L Morgan M Nagy
Discuss
But both conversions where from the same position.
Should have learned from his first miss
I agree that Walsh's kicking from hand and from the tee needs to improve, it has and can cost us dearly.
He missed both conversions that could have given us a 3 point lead with the Sharks in all probability would have taken a shot at goal rather than going for the corner, from where they scored late on.
With the match day squad we had I know the sharks are not playing particularly well but the young players played very well. There was very little experience in the team for them to turn to but they stuck at it, not the result we needed but the overall performance under the circumstances as good as we could expect.
A harsh result for us, considering the 2 sides fielded and what was on the bench, that was an outstanding performance from us, probably the only complaint from me is Jack Walsh's kicking from hand. Myler needs to work with him from 6am to 6pm from Monday to Friday to iron out the problems he has, he doesn't seem to have learnt from his first long kick early in the season.
I think the 2 Irish lads can be good additions to our squad going forward and it could release a good chunk of money if BBBD is released or added to the Coaching squad. I thought some of the other youngsters showed up well, Florence, Aubrey, Sutton and Deaves gave good accounts of themselves. Shoot me down if you want to but there's my opinion.
Ah well, as I thought the TMO gives the try and that makes it 23-10 with the final conversion to come. The scoreline is harsh on the Ospreys. 25-10.
TMO decision - onfield no try but he will probably give it. Unlikely to make a difference as time is probably up.
Ospreys restart and win the ball with great work from Deaves but concede another penalty which is missed to touch. The Ospreys try to run it back but concede another breakdown penalty. The Sharks go to the corner. 30 seconds left.
Ospreys concede another penalty close to their own try line and the Sharks kick to touch to set up the rolling maul which is repelled but the Sharks maintain possession and under advantage Bosch scores the likely match winning try. The conversion could deny Ospreys a losing BP. 18-10 with two minutes left.
Ospreys concede a penalty and Curwin Bosch has indicated a shot at goal from almost 55 metres into the wind.
TRY Ospreys as Morgan Morris crashes over. 11-10 with the conversion to some.
Missed the first 43 minutes, but when I turned the TV it was 6-0 to the Sharks so I must assume that it was a close 43 minutes. The Ospreys then scored a good try but pretty much conceded straight away. 11-6 as it stands after 58 minutes.
Sounds like the rumours of sickness in the camp were correct.
Two late changes for the Ospreys as both Rhys Webb and RMW ruled out (no idea why) so Matthew Aubrey starts the game and Tom Florence comes onto the bench.
How can we lose both 9s just before the game starts?
I was hoping we could match Cardiff and get a much needed win but given the strength in that Sharks team, I would settle for a losing and try BP.
Here is the Sharks side who include several returning Springboks...
Cell C Sharks
Ox Nche
Bongi Mbonambi
Carlu Sadie
Vincent Tshituka
Gerbrandt Grobler
Sikhumbuzo Notshe
Jeandre Labuschagne
Phepsi Buthelezi (c)
Jaden Hendrikse
Curwin Bosch
Makazole Mapimpi
Ben Tapuai
Francois Venter
Marnus Potgieter
Boeta Chamberlain
Replacements
16. Dan Jooste
17. Ntuthuko Mchunu
18. Khutha Mchunu
19. Hyron Andrews
20. James Venter
21. Grant Williams
22. Nevaldo Fleurs
23. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
The Ospreys now face the Cell C Sharks tomorrow who will be smarting after their bad loss to Cardiff last week. They are also without a coach after he stepped down, I expect a reaction from them.
Here is the Ospreys team
Here’s how they line-up:
15. Max Nagy
14. Luke Morgan
13. Michael Collins
12. Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler
11. Keelan Giles
10. Jack Walsh
9. Rhys Webb ©
1. Rhys Henry
2. Sam Parry
3. Tom Botha
4. Bradley Davies
5. Huw Sutton
6. Ethan Roots
7. Will Hickey
8. Morgan Morris
Replacements:
16. Scott Baldwin
17. Garyn Phillips
18. Ben Warren
19. Jack Regan
20. Harri Deaves
21. Reuben Morgan-Williams
22. Luke Scully
23. Cai Evans
Are any of the internationals going out to SA for the second game?
When they kept hold if the ball the Bulls looked rattled, I know we lost heavily but it was a far better performance than expected. Prob luc wythnos nesa bois.
The game ends with an Ospreys knock on. 43-26.
Try Bulls but it doesn't really matter as the game was gone ages ago and we still have our try BP.