Cardiff Blues v Ospreys

[An Tarbh]

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V

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Shane Williams will captain the Ospreys against the Blues as Ryan Jones is on the bench. Tommy Bowe is back on the wing with Parker and Bishop in the centre. Rohdri Wells gets the nod at scrum half with Mike Phillips out for 4 months. Hibbard is in for Bennet at hooker, Gough is in for Thomas while there's 2 changes in the back row with Tandy and Smith both starting.

Martyn Williams returns to action for the home side, Xavier Rush is also back but Andy Powell has now picked up the flu. Gareth Cooper is back in for Richie Rees in the only other change from last Friday.

Blues: Ben Blair; Leigh Halfpenny, Tom Shanklin, Jamie Roberts, Tom James; Sam Norton-Knight, Gareth Cooper; Gethin Jenkins (capt), Gareth Williams, Taufa'ao Filise, Deiniol Jones, Scott Morgan, Sam Warburton, Martyn Williams, Xavier Rush.

Replacements: T Rhys Thomas, Gary Powell, Paul ***o, Ben White, Richie Rees, Ceri Sweeney, Richard Mustoe.

Ospreys: Barry Davies; Tommy Bowe, Sonny Parker, Andrew Bishop, Shane Williams (capt); Dan Biggar, Rhodri Wells; Duncan Jones, Richard Hibbard, Cai Griffiths, Ian Gough, Alun Wyn Jones, Jerry Collins, Steve Tandy, Tom Smith.

Replacements: Ed Shervington, Paul James, Jonathan Thomas, Filo Tiatia, Ryan Jones, James Hook, Nikki Walker.

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU).

 

[dullonien]

Blues to win this one as they've put out their strongest IV, wheras the Ospreys have made alot of changes. Expect Cai (for f***s sake he's in the team again) Griffiths to get an absolute pasting by Gethin Jenkins. That selection alone is again enough to loose Ospreys this match.

I personally want to Blues to win this one, as they're obviously taking this derby seriosuly, as it should be!

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Yeah, the fact they've put the best prop in the world up against the worst professional prop in Wales has pretty much lost the Ospreys the game.

 

[dullonien]

Why do the Ospreys keep doing this. Every season they do something over and over again that just boggles the mind. Craig Mitchell had a run of games, and while he was unspectacular, he was solid. Why did he loose his place to this completely useless c*nt? How many opportunities will be be given to show time and again that he can't scrummage and is not much better around the field. He doesn't bring a carrying game, doesn't make any big hits, doesn't do much that I've seen in the rucks and doesn't have good ball skills. What do the coaching setup see in him, any ideas anyone? Because it's getting ve annoying to see his name on the team sheet week in week out, knowing he single handedly puts the Ospreys on the back foot!

They need to realise this, tell him and Paul James to f**k off to the premiership where they may look half decent and get in a coupof props who can atleast scrummage!

Sorry for the rant, seems to happen in every Ospreys thread, but blame the Ospreys coaches.

 

[Bluemoon]

Doesn't matter what ospreys side that are put out there, for some reason they always find that little bit extra against the blues.

Looking at the team sheet and home advantage I suppose you'd say the blues. There will be alot of pressure at home though for a win now though so it'll be interesting. I'm not sure how long you will see martyn williams on the field for! Looking forward to it, 4th time lucky I hope...

 

[Sir Speedy]

Jenkins vs Griffiths? Oh lord.

Oh lord...

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Bah, I've decided to wear my Blues shirt today as I can't bear cheering for Cai Griffiths anymore. Daft Scrum penalties here we come!

 

[munstermuffin]

who mind as long as Tommy Bowe scores and Ospreys choke another lead and loose

 

[feicarsinn]

Wow. That sentence failz.

 

[Olyy]

Should be a cracking game,
Both teams have so much potential, but rarely reach it, or if they do, it's in fits and starts, and never for a whole match.
Hopefully both teams turn up, and make it something special

 

[Bluemoon]

Its usually a closely contested game when the blues are at home. 17-15 and 12-16 has been the scores for the last two years, in which time the rivalry has heated up!

The entire Ninian stand has sold out now. Sounds like there will be a great atmosphere today with most of Ospreylia turning up.

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

This is the bigest crowd the CCS has pulled to date, apparently. Including Football matches.

 

[crispy]

Scrappy game so far, lots of bad handling. Good kick by SNK for James' try is all there is to talk about.

 

[munstermuffin]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (crispy @ Oct 24 2009, 06:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Scrappy game so far, lots of bad handling. Good kick by SNK for James' try is all there is to talk about.[/b]

S4C ... Damn Welsh commentators (and red button broke <_< ) .... But Caediff seemed to be lot more hungry tonight.

 

[Bluemoon]

A much needed win tonight. Positives were Martyn having a fantastic game, Gethin looked good - although Cai Griffiths at least had a go at him this evening. When given possession our backline looked far superior in attack. I think the blues need to build on this. It was very apparent tonight that we are missing the bulk that Bradley Davies and Paul ***o bring to the pack.

From an Ospreys point of view, I think they should have had at least Ryan Jones on from the start. Once Tiatia and Jones came off the bench the ospreys pack had that little bit more bulk which gave them a bit of go forward. It would have been much closer if they started I think. Up until that point I think the blues looked fairly comfortable against the galaticos. Also, more than ever tonight did I notice that the ospreys look like individuals, rather than a team. Shane Williams particularly annoyed me at scrum half, a few times he was risky and had better options outside of him.

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Norton-Knight was Man-Of-The-Match: How good is this for the Blues? Shane Williams was fantastic as well, (Best game he's had all season.) even if he was better on the Wing than at SH. Tommy Bowe is a try-scoring machine, he's scored in his last five games running. (Well, he wasn't going to score 'em just walking slowly, was he? Actually, knowing Bowe, he probally would.)

 

[Sir Speedy]

I thought Tommy Bowe was poor. He was given a torrid time by James and he made a few silly errors. Though he took his try well, he should cut out these silly errors.

And I thought Shane played his best game for a while, though it still wasn't great. His distribution seems to me very awkward; he seems to hesitate, just before he passes the ball, and sort of shoves it to his teammates. It ruins the flow of the Ospreys play due to the inaccuracy present due to this stupid movement; designed to keep the opposition on their toes, despite the fact it only serves to present them an easier target once he's passed. On the plus side, he was much sharper with the ball in hand.

They were awful in general though. The Blues barely had to do anything to win that. A dire affair that I'd love to forget ever took place...

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Try-scoring machine, not a everything else machine. I'm really jealous Ireland get to lay their greasy mitts all over him for the next couple of weeks.

 

[Ozzay]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (munstermuffin @ Oct 24 2009, 07:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (crispy @ Oct 24 2009, 06:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Scrappy game so far, lots of bad handling. Good kick by SNK for James' try is all there is to talk about.[/b]

S4C ... Damn Welsh commentators (and red button broke <_< ) .... But Caediff seemed to be lot more hungry tonight.
[/b][/quote]

Theres a red button to get it in english? i didn't know that!

Tom James giving Tommy Bowe hell was good to see!

SNK, great performance, hopefully more to come

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

It's better to just put the subtitles on and laugh at the misstranslations. "Hello, today we are alive and in Cardiff City Stadium for an exciting game between the Blues and the Sprays."

"That's a great triffle by Tom James."

"Here's bigger with his sixth cake of the game."