"What? Treviso won?! That makes us the most competitive league in the world!" Guinness Pro 14: R4

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Cheetahs fully deserved their win. Hopefully they can build on this and start drawing good crowds

Decent performances from Joey Carbery, Barry Daly and Josh van der Flier. Rhys Ruddock noticeably lifted things when he came on. Nick McCarthy had far more urgency than Jamison Gibson Park but made a few errors. There were no other positives.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

St. Michael's - A school in south Dublin who have recently produced some very good rugby players in Dan Leavy, Luke McGrath, Rory O'Loughlin, Noel Reid and James Ryan... They deserve no credit for this having produced pure mediocrity at 10 in Ross Byrne and Cathal Marsh... Marsh has to be replaced.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Oh well, not every team can be as good as Zebre and pick up a bonus point in defeat in Bloemfontein. A cracking result for the league as said above. You'd imagine it would help retain interest in the league in SA if they have a side genuinely competing.

Ospreys utterly dominant in the second half but unable to score against a miserly Treviso defence. Glasgow smashing Munster. My picks this week were woeful, which makes me happy. Far less predictability so far this year.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Lost my bet comfortably... Should have put it all on my own team!

Congrats to the Cheetahs. Could be African presence in the playoffs yet!

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Treviso have played with no ambition in the second half but I can't blame them. Back to back victories against decent opposition is huge for them. A great defensive effort but Ospreys look toothless.

 

[Groundhog]

Bring your lemon ciello and bacardi Treviso boys are having a party. **** Munster and Irish rugby. We're the future

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

I'd really like to congratulate our boy ***o Tebaldi who, according to Ultimate Rugby, was both the starting and substitute 9. It feels like 2013 and its good to be a Benetton fan again!

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

176 tackles made by Treviso! The ***le push starts here.

 

[munstermuffin]

We were shocking and well beaten

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

We were shocking and well beaten

Yes, all a bit puzzling. A nice heated rivalry between you two. Sarto has had an exceptional start to the season after a long term injury. Great to see and he must become first choice for the starting jersey for club and country if he can maintain this form. Glasgow's starting centres and fullback out injured so they must have more depth than I thought.

 

[dullonien]

A great defensive effort but Ospreys look toothless.

You can say that again. Can't believe how shockingly poor the Ospreys have become. They went through more than 20 phases of one-up runners, got nowhere, then kicked the ball to Treviso to almost concede a try the other end. After bigging him up last season, Sam Davies has regressed into a shadow of what he was, controlling nothing and looking generally lost on the field. Where's his excellent tactical kicking from hand gone? Where's the Ospreys dummy runners and carrying options either side of him that was so effective beginning/middle of last season? They've got one of the most dangerous broken field runners in the league in Giles, and despite 67% possession, he saw the ball only a few times, but still managed two searing breaks. Wasted!

They look poorly coached and lacking in any confidence to turn things around. This is going to be a very, very long season if they can't do something to turn the tide, but I don't know where that spark is going to come from. It's tough viewing, it really is!

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

You can say that again. Can't believe how shockingly poor the Ospreys have become. They went through more than 20 phases of one-up runners, got nowhere, then kicked the ball to Treviso to almost concede a try the other end. After bigging him up last season, Sam Davies has regressed into a shadow of what he was, controlling nothing and looking generally lost on the field. Where's his excellent tactical kicking from hand gone? Where's the Ospreys dummy runners and carrying options either side of him that was so effective beginning/middle of last season? They've got one of the most dangerous broken field runners in the league in Giles, and despite 67% possession, he saw the ball only a few times, but still managed two searing breaks. Wasted!

They look poorly coached and lacking in any confidence to turn things around. This is going to be a very, very long season if they can't do something to turn the tide, but I don't know where that spark is going to come from. It's tough viewing, it really is!

They seem to be missing Matavasi. Who are their best options at centre?

 

[dullonien]

They seem to be missing Matavasi. Who are their best options at centre?

Matevesi was decent when playing well, but I don't think it's that. They've simply got no shape in attack. Couple that with slow ball recycling (often caused by their own players getting in the way), and the outside backs have little hope.

Back to your question, their best centre options are probably Beck (injured), Allen (injured), whilst Fonotia and Ben John can be a little up and down. John played quite well tonight, running good lines, but they were unable to take advantage of the yards he was marking and defenders he was sucking in.

Imo its about time Tandy is replaced. He's been at the helm a while now, and they've shown no progress, with some truly shocking spells thrown in as well. I know they no longer have a squad full of stars, but they should be competing towards the top of the table each and every year alongside Leinster, Munster, Glasgow and Scarlets.

 

[CaledonCol]

Comfortable win for Glasgow . Dominant at half back with Russell a class act . Munster with the wind behind them in the second half lacked guile . Zebo on as a sub was ineffective . One swallow does not make a summer but with players like Hogg , Brown and Gray still to appear it is looking healthy . Back row is proving very useful but front creaks a bit ! All very interesting . Will look at Embra tonight who can surely up their game after the last shocker Good luck !

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

A Celtic league that is actually competitive whatever next...

 

[Bluemoon]

Imo its about time Tandy is replaced. He's been at the helm a while now, and they've shown no progress, with some truly shocking spells thrown in as well. I know they no longer have a squad full of stars, but they should be competing towards the top of the table each and every year alongside Leinster, Munster, Glasgow and Scarlets.

Hasn't Tandy just signed a contract until 2020? Is Tandy the issue or the some of the back room staff - I don't know much about they Ospreys coaching team, and although Tandy holds overall responsibility, you'd have to be looking at what happened in attack last night?

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Hasn't Tandy just signed a contract until 2020? Is Tandy the issue or the some of the back room staff - I don't know much about they Ospreys coaching team, and although Tandy holds overall responsibility, you'd have to be looking at what happened in attack last night?

I also know little about the Ospreys coaching staff. What I do know is Allen Clarke was appointed as their forwards coach this summer having been let go by Ulster. Ask any Ulster fan what they thought about his contribution to the province as coach and academy manager. Feedback won't be great. He also coached Ireland u20s for a few years. Again, feedback is quite poor.

 

[dullonien]

Hasn't Tandy just signed a contract until 2020? Is Tandy the issue or the some of the back room staff - I don't know much about they Ospreys coaching team, and although Tandy holds overall responsibility, you'd have to be looking at what happened in attack last night?

There probably is some issues with the backroom staff as well, but as with a lot of coaches in Welsh rugby, Tandy didn't earn squat before being handed the keys to the Ospreys. There's far too much of this going on, ex players simply walking into top coaching gigs without first learning their trade in say the premiership.

I also know little about the Ospreys coaching staff. What I do know is Allen Clarke was appointed as their forwards coach this summer having been let go by Ulster. Ask any Ulster fan what they thought about his contribution to the province as coach and academy manager. Feedback won't be great. He also coached Ireland u20s for a few years. Again, feedback is quite poor.

Worrying to hear that a coach with a poor reputation has walked into an important role with the Ospreys! They've certainly gone downhill up front since Humphreys left.

 

[Bluemoon]

There probably is some issues with the backroom staff as well, but as with a lot of coaches in Welsh rugby, Tandy didn't earn squat before being handed the keys to the Ospreys. There's far too much of this going on, ex players simply walking into top coaching gigs without first learning their trade in say the premiership.
.

Yeah I think you are right. Although I can't see that there has been a large pool of coaches coming through and have the same problem as with the player pathway- difficult to step up from the premiership. McIntosh and Burnell were great examples of this with Cardiff, great Prem coaches, but then struggled at the pro level. I guess there has been some rolling the dice with good players who are starting coaching, who are used to the pro 14 environment.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I'd imagine you can look forward to Peel and Jones stepping up to be a head coach if they continue to impress as attack coaches.