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Leicester Tigers v Ospreys - FINAL

I know ultimately the coach takes the buck if things dont go to plan but the line between sucess and failure is a fine one and its the players who do the job on the pitch you should be looking at.
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Before the Six Nations, the Ospreys were the big under-acheivers, losing to Gloucester after such a promising start (no disrespect to Gloucester of course), some crap performances in the Magners League and to be honest, they only shone in the EDF against poor sides. Then comes the game against Gloucester in Swansea and amazingly, the Sprays stuff them. I guess the training sessions that WARREN GATLAND did with them in the week paid off.
Come the Six Nations, they virtually made up the Welsh squad and the country conceded two tries and won a Grand Slam.
After the Grand Slam, the Ospreys once against perform brilliantly in the EDF and against Ulster; the after-effects of the Grand Slam porbably still with them. They go to Saracens in the Heineken Cup,all smug and confident and produce a God-awful performance.
As RC said, it's MONEY that got the Ospreys the team they have so they should be playing a lot better given their squad.
 
Ah they were ok. Did what they should have done last week and controlled the game. Thought the forewards were quite magnificent today, completely dominated their Leicester counterparts.

The backs were ok aswell, Hook showing his running skills and controlled the game well in the second half. Burne was back to his usual self, solid under the high ball and coming into the line well. Shane was quite quiet, and messed up Owen's try in the dying seconds, though the ball did look flat to me (with my biased glasses on).

Now I come to Marshall, he was utter rubbish today, he just goes against what the rest of the players are trying to do! Ospreys want to play a fast open attacking running game (and do it well when they have quick ball), but Marshall just sits there at the back of rucks slowing the ball down (as Austin said in the studio, Leicester weren't slowing Ospreys ball down, Marshall was doing that all by himself). I think we really missed Phillips last week and today, he get's the ball away quickly when needed, takes on the forewards when needed (sometimes too often) and kicks exceptionally well also.

Leicester looked useless (not often I've thought that), they had nothing to counter the O's defence, and couldn't stay with them when the O's got quick ball. To make things worse, they lost a handfull of players to injury throughout the game which will make their Guiniss Premiership run-in even harder. Their midfield was completely void of creativity which forced them to try and batter their way to the try line through their forewards, which ended up going nowhere most the time, backwards on many occasions even! They have alot to improve upon.

If the Ospreys had really played well, their backs had the ball more, the score line would have been embarrassing. They showed what they are capable of today, and why many of us Welsh thought they had a very good chance in the HC. There's always next year, and I expect them to improve hugely by then.
 
Aaron Mauger showing again why he's reviled by Ripper. Absolutely woeful performance by the center.
 
Aaron Mauger showing again why he's reviled by Ripper. Absolutely woeful performance by the center. [/b]

Not being funny but I just got back from Twickenham and reading that comment has honestly been the first time I realised Mauger was playing today. Was it him that got bumped off for Bishop's try? I couldn't pick out who it was properly at the time.

Couldn't argue with any of todays winners. Neither Saints or Leicester were on the ball, but unfortunately for the Tiggers they were playing a team who actually had some cutting edge. First time I've seen some guys like Hook and Williams live and they definately have an aura of anticipation surrounding them every time they get the ball.

Did enjoy being part of the Saints crowd still present singing our song during the 'big' match. :victory: Not sure how much of it will have come over on the TV coverage but I think we did pretty well considering we weren't even playing...
 
What annoys me more about the BBCs coverage of this is that they claim that hte Ospreys winning this ***le has effectively helped Lyn Jones keep his job.
"They didn't do too well last week, but Lyn Jones has made up for it wiht the ospreys this week against Leicester."
And even Lyn Jones sees his job as safe after listening to his interview.

I think we can safely say we have that absolute idiot with us for at least another season.
I would love him to prove me wrong and guide us to Heineken victory...but i just don't see it happening.
 

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