Pro 14

[Son of Mathonwy]

Ospreys take a kicking from Munster.

No surprise after resting those players... pretty much a tactical decision to sacrifice the match.

[Sandydragon]

Ospreys take a kicking from Munster.

No surprise after resting those players... pretty much a tactical decision to sacrifice the match.

I saw the result and thought WTF until I looked at the team. As you say, it was effectively a thrown match (no disrespect to Munster who performed well).

Newport got stuffed, no surprise.

Llanelli won but I think the piss taking of Treviso needs to stop. They are improving.

Cardiff. Fuck me.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Yeah, I don't feel good about this approach but I guess the Ospreys need to be practical and make the most of what they have - beating Munster at home is a tough ask even at full strength.

Well, they have the Italians back to back for the next two weekends... should be easy, no chance of a Welsh team f@cking that up .

[Buggaluggs]

Last minute try in a Cardiff Blues game...and...the Blues still win! Better than that, they scored it too. 37-13. Pretty solid win.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Incredible turnaround from Cardiff - back-to-back losses to the Italians... then they thrash Munster. Great defence to hold the Irish to 13 points.

[Lord Llandaff]

Great performance from the Blues.

Halaholo is some player, and even better, he'll be "Welsh" in 12 months time.

[Buggaluggs]

Nice comeback win for the Blues.

[Sandydragon]

Always good to win, but they made very hard work of it.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Impressive work by the Ospreys this week, beating a full-strength Connacht with a weakened team albeit at home (sort-of).

Some really promising youngsters there, particularly Harri Morgan and Keelan Giles (the try machine is getting up to speed). Also, Cory Allen put in a strong performance (makes me wonder if he's more deserving of a place in the squad than Tyler Morgan).

[Sourdust]

Impressive work by the Ospreys this week, beating a full-strength Connacht with a weakened team albeit at home (sort-of).

Some really promising youngsters there, particularly Harri Morgan and Keelan Giles (the try machine is getting up to speed). Also, Cory Allen put in a strong performance (makes me wonder if he's more deserving of a place in the squad than Tyler Morgan).

It was a weird one. The atmosphere - which had been great throughout the match with a nearly-full house - went weird at the end due to the TMO incident. From where I was, watching the big screen, it looked like a fairly clear fumble by Allen. Not a knock-on, but the kind of fumble which is always given as one. When the ref awarded it there was jubilation of course, but also a hollow feeling of having been gifted the win. Seeing it back on TV with a clearer view, it's obviously a good score; it's just a shame it went down like that.

Allen was everywhere, made a good few errors but those can be forgiven against the good stuff IMO. Giles was actually quiet aside from his two tries (!) but it's marvellous to see him back in action. I thought Harri Morgan was lucky to get on the end of that last try against Pau after a few howlers earlier, but he seemed to slot in seamlessly in this game and was solid throughout.

We still got a tuning at the set-piece though, and our discipline is becoming a serious issue. How can you concede 11 penalties to 3, AT HOME? And it's not like they were bad decisions or tactical sacrifices. High tackles, taking men in the lineout, blatantly collapsing mauls 40m from the tryline; there were plenty of correct calls against us. This was probably the most intimidating atmosphere any opposition or referee is going to face at an Os home fixture this year, and we still couldn't roar ourselves to any where near parity in the penalty count. I despair!

[Numbers]

Impressive work by the Ospreys this week, beating a full-strength Connacht with a weakened team albeit at home (sort-of).

Some really promising youngsters there, particularly Harri Morgan and Keelan Giles (the try machine is getting up to speed). Also, Cory Allen put in a strong performance (makes me wonder if he's more deserving of a place in the squad than Tyler Morgan).

Aye, Tiann Thomas-Wheeler looks like a good prospect, Allen always looks good when fit, it's just he's only ever fit for about 5 games a season, mind you that is the same for Tyler Morgan, I'm hoping Tyler will kick on this season after having his diabetes diagnosed.

[Sourdust]

Aye, Tiann Thomas-Wheeler looks like a good prospect,

I neglected him. Yes, he didn't look out-of-place at all, some good involvments, no serious errors I can recall.

[Numbers]

Aye, Tiann Thomas-Wheeler looks like a good prospect,

I neglected him. Yes, he didn't look out-of-place at all, some good involvments, no serious errors I can recall.

Considering he was up against Bundee Aki I thought he was excellent, mind you Lydiate seemed to be covering that channel pretty well in defence.

[Sandydragon]

Another depressing outing by the Drgons. Some good performances in place and Warren deserves to be playing in a better team. But too many defensive mistakes against an Ulster team which won comfortably but aren’t what they used to be.

[Numbers]

The breakdown of teams so far in average points conceded and average points scored:

Dragons - Average points scored: 16.5 Average points conceded: 27 Difference: -10.5

Scarlets - Average points scored: 30 Average points conceded: 23 Difference: +7

Ospreys - Average points scored: 23.5 Average points conceded: 18.5 Difference: +5

Blues - Average points scored: 26 Average points conceded: 22 Difference: +4

As you would expect the Scarlets have the biggest gap but it's easy to see that the Dragons aren't scoring enough points and are conceding too many, however none of the teams are exactly setting the world alight at the moment. The Os would be doing much better had it not been for the hiding they got from Munster, ditto the Dragons and Leinster, the Blues would be doing much better if they hadn't lost against both Italian sides.

[Sandydragon]

Interesting stats and not a surprise. It’s obvious that our defensive system isn’t working.

[Son of Mathonwy]

A disappointing night for the Welsh teams.

On paper, the Ospreys had their work cut out trying to take Glasgow down, and so it was. Some positives though - they were largely scuppered by those 2 soft tries at the start. Allen and Dirksen put in good performances (and were not alone in this).

Not too many positives for the Scarlets though.

[Son of Mathonwy]

For the Dragons' away match at Connacht both linesmen and the TMO are Irish. Not good enough.

(Having said that, a Welsh touch judge and TMO didn't help the Os last night.)

[Sourdust]

A disappointing night for the Welsh teams.

On paper, the Ospreys had their work cut out trying to take Glasgow down, and so it was. Some positives though - they were largely scuppered by those 2 soft tries at the start. Allen and Dirksen put in good performances (and were not alone in this).

That was a pretty dire performance. Yes we were missing players but they were missing more / better ones. They totally owned us on the deck, were comfortable dealing with us in defence, and were patient & clinical in waiting for our mistakes. We desperately missed carrying in the back row, and our midfield defence - especially at rucks - would have shamed a school team. Several individuals did well, with Dirksen in particular outstanding. But as a team... we weren't one.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Well played the Dragons. Griffiths was superb, but Amos and the rest of the back 3 played well, as did Rhodri Williams too.

Shame they just couldn't help kicking the ball back to Edinburgh with about a minute to go. Almost threw the game away.

I wonder if Jackman should stay away in future - the players seem to be reacting well to his absence.

[Sandydragon]

Well the Scarlets were beyond shyte tonight. I can’t remember a performance that bad in recent years!

Although fair play to Glasgow who played some superb rugby at times.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Well the Scarlets were beyond shyte tonight. I can’t remember a performance that bad in recent years!

Although fair play to Glasgow who played some superb rugby at times.

Very poor - with a 1 man advantage for half of the game too. Looked good at the end but left it too late for the fightback.

Cardiff were unlucky to lose that one, very close match.

Dragons did the best they could, they stood no chance.

Ospreys played well, good clinical performance, nilled the opposition. But it was only Zebre.

[Sandydragon]

Well the Scarlets were beyond shyte tonight. I can’t remember a performance that bad in recent years!

Although fair play to Glasgow who played some superb rugby at times.

Very poor - with a 1 man advantage for half of the game too. Looked good at the end but left it too late for the fightback.

Cardiff were unlucky to lose that one, very close match.

Dragons did the best they could, they stood no chance.

Ospreys played well, good clinical performance, nilled the opposition. But it was only Zebre.

I disagree about the Dragons, that was a weak Leinster side. Hackman’s days are surely numbered given the resources he now has, compared to previous coaches.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Well the Scarlets were beyond shyte tonight. I can’t remember a performance that bad in recent years!

Although fair play to Glasgow who played some superb rugby at times.

Very poor - with a 1 man advantage for half of the game too. Looked good at the end but left it too late for the fightback.

Cardiff were unlucky to lose that one, very close match.

Dragons did the best they could, they stood no chance.

Ospreys played well, good clinical performance, nilled the opposition. But it was only Zebre.

I disagree about the Dragons, that was a weak Leinster side. Hackman’s days are surely numbered given the resources he now has, compared to previous coaches.

True, I think was taking their coach into account. I should have said "they stood no chance (given that they have that donkey as a coach)".

With a real coach they should get some more victories, albeit Leinster is a tough ask.

[Sandydragon]

It will need an amazing coach to turn us around. The culture is too defeatist. But this was a Leinster 2nd/3rd team. It should have been a contest, or even a win at home.

Hopefully Jackman will soon move on.