Ospreys vs Munster, Fri 22nd Feb 7:35pm; ES2

thomond2006

Ospreys:
15 Dan Evans
14 Hanno Dirksen
13 Cory Allen
12 Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler
11 Keelan Giles
10 Luke Price
9 Matthew Aubrey

1 Jordan Lay
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Tom Botha
4 James King
5 Bradley Davies
6 Olly Cracknell (Capt)
7 Sam Cross
8 Rob McCusker

REPLACEMENTS
16 Scott Otten
17 Rowan Jenkins
18 Ma’afu Fia
19 Lloyd Ashley
20 Will Griffiths
21 Reuben Morgan-Williams
22 James Hook
23 Luke Morgan

Munster:
Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Dan Goggin, Jaco Taute, Darren Sweetnam; JJ Hanrahan, Neil Cronin;
Jeremy Loughman, Rhys Marshall, Stephen Archer; Tadhg Beirne, Billy Holland (C); Fineen Wycherley, Chris Cloete, Arno Botha.

Replacements: Kevin O’Byrne, Liam O’Connor, Ciaran Parker, Darren O’Shea, Jack O’Donoghue, Alby Mathewson, Bill Johnston, Rory Scannell.

Good to see Neil Cronin given another start. Taute comes in for a rare appearance but I like the idea of putting him alongside players like Goggin and Nash.

Edit: Kleyn replaced by Beirne.

thomond2006

This is a very big game for both sides. With Scarlets away next week being another tough fixture, Munster may need the win tomorrow in their chase to secure 1st place and a bye to a home semi-final.

Ospreys will be hurting after being nilled in Bridgend against Ulster and now have Cardiff and Cheetahs breathing down their necks while Connacht now hold a lead of four points over Ospreys in third place.

Sabre0001

Pretty happy with that team. Hopefully Taute can go well. Glad to see Cronin getting another start and Alby to inject some pace if necessary off the bench. Delighted to see O'Donoghue listed; hopefully he can make an impact later on.

thomond2006

The Ospreys team to play Munster at the Liberty Stadium on Friday 22nd February 2019, KO 7.35pm, is as follows:

15 Dan Evans
14 Hanno Dirksen
13 Cory Allen
12 Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler
11 Keelan Giles
10 Luke Price
9 Matthew Aubrey

1 Jordan Lay
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Tom Botha
4 James King
5 Bradley Davies
6 Olly Cracknell (Capt)
7 Sam Cross
8 Rob McCusker

REPLACEMENTS
16 Scott Otten
17 Rowan Jenkins
18 Ma’afu Fia
19 Lloyd Ashley
20 Will Griffiths
21 Reuben Morgan-Williams
22 James Hook
23 Luke Morgan

The following players were unavailable for selection due to international duty:

Adam Beard, Aled Davies, Alun Wyn Jones, George North, Nicky Smith, Justin Tipuric and Owen Watkin (All Wales); Giorgi Nemsadze (Georgia)

The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury:

Dan Baker – Knee; Sam Davies – Groin; Tom Habberfield – Shin; Rhodri Jones - Shoulder; Lesley Klim – Hamstring; Dan Lydiate – Elbow; Gareth Thomas – Ankle; Scott Williams - Back

errlloyd

Has Keelon Giles been back long? I saw him score a Hat Trick as a kid in away Challenge Cup game against Lyon. He's rapid.

Former Former

Ospreys look better on paper but they were so, so bad against Ulster that this should be a handy win for Munster.

sydthebeat

Former Former wrote: »

Ospreys look better on paper but they were so, so bad against Ulster that this should be a handy win for Munster.

they do??? i would have said thats a piss poor ospreys team... i cant see any area of the field where they are stronger then their munster counters.


their half backs have a grand total of 2 senior starts between them

7, 8, 9 and 10 have a grand total of 17 starts.......

i think the +8 is too generous to ospreys.... the end result could be double that

thomond2006

Rob McCusker is an experienced player, he just hasn't been playing a lot for the Ospreys.

Zzippy

sydthebeat wrote: »

they do??? i would have said thats a piss poor ospreys team... i cant see any area of the field where they are stronger then their munster counters.


their half backs have a grand total of 2 senior starts between them

7, 8, 9 and 10 have a grand total of 17 starts.......

i think the +8 is too generous to ospreys.... the end result could be double that

I hope you're right!

sydthebeat

Zzippy wrote: »

I hope you're right!

and typically the spread tightens to -7

:D:D:D:D

i know nothing !!!

Zzippy

sydthebeat wrote: »

and typically the spread tightens to -7

:D:D:D:D

i know nothing !!!

I hope the Munster players are backing themselves to beat that
Could do with Ospreys not picking up any bonus points...

Wegians89

Hope to god Munster can do Connacht a solid one and get a result were ospreys get no points from the game

thomond2006

Looks like perfect conditions in Swansea this evening.

thomond2006

I hope to read lots of comments tonight as I'll be at the eh other province...

stephen_n

thomond2006 wrote: »

I hope to read lots of comments tonight as I'll be at the eh superior province...

Enjoy the game

yerrahbah

thomond2006 wrote: »

I hope to read lots of comments tonight as I'll be at the eh other province...

Cookiemunster

Kleyn of out due to illness. Replaced by Tadhg Beirne.

yerrahbah

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Kleyn of out due to illness. Replaced by Tadhg Beirne.

That explains why Beirne isn't starting for Ireland so

Actually if I was Darren O'Shea id be annoyed at that

thomond2006

It's a bit odd that Beirne would be brought over as a 24th man. If he's fit you surely name him in the 23?

yerrahbah

yerrahbah wrote: »

That explains why Beirne isn't starting for Ireland so

Actually if I was Darren O'Shea id be annoyed at that

I'd say Ireland selection takes precedence

Stone Gossard

Munster motoring well here tonight... Cronin & JJ dovetailing well so far

DDC1990

Cronin's kicking from the base is brilliant.

DDC1990

Calamity of a try given up for Munster.

Stone Gossard

DDC1990 wrote: »

Calamity of a try given up for Munster.

It was a fantastic kick ffs

mangobob

That was a class try from Scarlets in fairness.

DDC1990

Stone Gossard wrote:

It was a fantastic kick ffs

Nash flew up out of the line, tackled nothing and left the space for the kick.

Then Marshall had a chance to clean up but made a mistake to knock it into Ospreys players hands.

The kick was good but it was a real basic attack until Nash made the error

Akrasia

mangobob wrote: »

That was a class try from Scarlets in fairness.

They had to run the full length of Wales to score it

razorblunt

Akrasia wrote: »

They had to run the full length of Wales to score it

About the length of the advantage from Berry there.

razorblunt

Munster making hard work of this. Ospreys have nothing. JJ and Haley in particular picking the wrong option at the wrong time.

Stone Gossard

The ref is talking...shut up Taffy!!

shootermacg

How long are we going to have to live with jj? He is just terrible.

DDC1990

Need to make this count.

Ospreys are killing the ball regularly at ruck time and very disruptive at the maul.

Can't afford another 22 visit without points.

razorblunt

Yellow for Ospreys, surely?

DDC1990

Penalty try surely Ospreys hand in.

razorblunt

TMO is spelling this out in crayons for Berry.

Penalty try and yellow.

Stone Gossard

Deffo try if he hadn't done that

Akrasia

Neck roll on Marshall there

DDC1990

When Cloete is good he's brilliant.

Tonight he is a total liability.

Edit: In terms of penalties. Not in general play. Should have been at least a yellow there for the swinging arm.

Bridge93

Cloete blessed to get away with that. That’s a swinging arm

Akrasia

DDC1990 wrote: »

When Cloete is good he's brilliant.

Tonight he is a total liability.

Edit: In terms of penalties. Not in general play. Should have been at least a yellow there for the swinging arm.

He does tend to commit a lot of dodgy tackles alright.

razorblunt

Cloete losing the head a small bit, he's been in the battles so far though.

baas baa

Citing and ban coming for Cloete you'd think.

Akrasia

baas baa wrote: »

Citing and ban coming for Cloete you'd think.

You think that was a red?

It was a yellow at most for me

ionadnapokot

Beirne couldn’t kick off his left foot. Rusty!
Joe knows best

baas baa

Akrasia wrote: »

You think that was a red?

It was a yellow at most for me

Swinging arm with plenty of force to the head area, I'd have thought it was a sure red card if spotted.

shootermacg

I wod rather play with 14 men tban play JJ.

Darren Sweetnam won't be getting into Ireland squads anytime soon if Joe Schmidt saw him make an absolute balls of that decision. A tight score away from home is exactly when you ensure the ball is recycled with that kind of territory and he goes and makes a blind pass. Amateurish.

shootermacg

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Darren Sweetnam won't be getting into Ireland squads anytime soon if Joe Schmidt saw him make an absolute balls of that decision. A tight score away from home is exactly when you ensure the ball is recycled with that kind of territory and he goes and makes a blind pass. Amateurish.

Can't argue with that.

Wildly Boaring

shootermacg wrote: »

Can't argue with that.

And then Munster win one and break. He kicks out on full. Again hold and recycle

Great player just some poor decisions

shootermacg

JJ giving Ospreys 40m

DDC1990

We are awful to watch.

Don't know what direction the team are going in.

So one dimensional.