URC 2022/23 - Round 5

[saulan]

Oof I take back what I said about Willemse being the bigger loss. De Wet has had a shocker of a game.

I think we are losing the scrum in general, but do think Ospreys have been walking around then scrumming in a fair bit too, so not surprised with the penalties at the end, but some of the earlier ones I thought we were lucky not to get penalized for.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

He did give one scrum penalty to the Ospreys in his defence. Some lovely play by them in these conditions, but the game is obviously a bit of a hostage to the weather. These Capetown lads don't look like they fancy this late summer Welsh weather.

If it was in Ireland I'd be fancying an upset but even the Ospreys's shirt sponsor has the word 'Doom' in it so I think they'll screw it up.

 

[saulan]

The booing I can deal with. But the frequent chant of “cheat” from the crowd to the ref is just embarrassing.

 

[saulan]

Why was there no replay of that high tackle… based on it being head contact for both players that feels like it should’ve been a card, but no showing of it whatsoever. Bizarre.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

****. Too easy on the counter.

 

[saulan]

****. Too easy on the counter.

I have no idea what you’re referring to and now I’m nervous that I’m behind… unless you’re referring to that first try.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I have no idea what you’re referring to and now I’m nervous that I’m behind… unless you’re referring to that first try.

You are behind. Currently Ospreys 47 - 13 Stormers.

Yeah, just the first try.

 

[saulan]

You are behind. Currently Ospreys 47 - 13 Stormers.

Yeah, just the first try.

Had me concerned for a half, split second.

Rain is absolutely pouring down. Like being in a waterfall. Honestly we just need to hold on.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I think your feed is ahead of mine. Cheat, cheat, cheat!

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I was thinking Ospreys try, missed conversion and lose by 2 points due to not taking the points in the first half.

 

[dullonien]

Probably a fair result in the end. Ospreys really should have won, but Stormers took their chance well and Ospreys wasted a couple. Terrible conditions, but to be fair, both sides managed it ok with limited handling errors.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Thought we'd find a way in a game we had no business winning. I've gotten used to that. Still not beaten this season.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Another good advert for what I assume is a synthetic pitch. Not a great match but on grass that would have been appalling and likely dangerous. Glad the Ospreys got something out of it. We need at least one Welsh side in the top 10.

Hard night for the ref taking about a minute to call full time. Was funny the woman in the crowd simulating throttling him while he is showing on the big screen just after he'd made linesman move the lineout to a position two metres worse for the Ospreys. He wasn't bias at all though.

 

[dullonien]

Another good advert for what I assume is a synthetic pitch. Not a great match but on grass that would have been appalling and likely dangerous. Glad the Ospreys got something out of it. We need at least one Welsh side in the top 10.

It's a hybrid Desso pitch. Something like 80% grass, 20% synthetic fibres if I remember right. It's always been a superb pitch and manages both rugby and top class football well.

Not sure why more sides don't use it, far batter than a fully sunthetic pitch imo.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Damn. No Anscombe for Ospreys tonight. Welsh cannot catch a break.

EDIT: Their backup 10 is 38 years old!

Yeah. To think that in the 2017-18 season Ospreys had three Welsh international fly-halves - all of whom they themselves developed - whereas now they only have one (who, moreover, is originally from NZ and first came to Cardiff).

Anyway, I am satisfied with the draw, especially given those appalling conditions and the fact the Stormers are defending champions. Some of the Ospreys' defence and set-piece was actually quite impressive considering. Now, they just need to sort their attack out...

 

[Sourdust]

I don't know who should be more upset? Stormers for not turning a LOT of dominance into points, especially in that first quarter; or Ospreys for actually creating all-but-one of the genuine try-scoring opportunities, but not taking one until (almost) too late. A draw at home is never a great result, but on 65 minutes I was resigned to an Os defeat, and so it seemed was everyone sat near me. To drag that one back in those conditions, against the champions, has to go down as a creditable effort. A "winning draw", if you will.

I reckon Root will be in trouble for his collision with Kitsoff(?) in the build-up to the Stormers try. Looked yellowish live, even from half the pitch away; looks distinctly orangey on the replays. Citing incoming, I'd imagine.

Stephen Myler is worth his weight in gold! We'll never be the Globetrotters with him at 10, but he holds us together through matches like this one time and again.

 

[saulan]

And we didn’t hang on. I mean we got the draw to be fair so I guess we got a bit of a result. Guess it’s also the right result since both sets of fans feel so disappointed that they lost it.

Blommetjies was great in the weather, took so many bombs and didn’t drop one, has been a great fill in so far. Once again our scrum was shaky. It’s our second string front row, but it’s interesting how things have changed because at the Stormers for a long while you could always rely on a strong front row plus a strong bench front row. We go off a bit of a cliff at the moment with Vermaak.

Ospreys did very well with their mauls and close play, while Giles looked dangerous whenever he got the ball. Felt like our attack was severely compromised by the weather and we struggled to string multiple phases without a handling error, great to see Zas back in and creating the try for De Wet, who I still think had a terrible game.

Lastly I think the reffing was poor in certain aspects, but no inconsistency or bias. Think the TMO needs to find his voice otherwise he will be out of a job as he didn’t really call anything apart from some random stops that resulted in nothing, while not ensuring that the head shots got the proper attention. Also a bit of pride in not changing decisions. There was one point where the Stormers got a penalty, but there was a pretty clear forward pass just before it (to Blommetjies). I’ve seen refs change once they’ve seen the replays and I honestly would prefer that (although the ground/tv crew did a fantastic job of not showing specific replays or not getting the feed to the ref - another thing that was a bit poor). Again probably the right result, but wish we could fix the reffing consistency/issues. But I guess that’s classic URC.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Tuning in and see the Lions are leading Ulster at half time. Wonder if they can hold on but regardless of the result this newfound competitiveness puts their good tour into a bit more context. And here I was thinking they were going to be 8 to 10 log points for us this season. Yikes!

 

[JohnKA]

Sharks need to get some depth at wing and fullback.

Kok is horrible and Fassi need some currie cup time

 

[JohnKA]

Finally the Sharks come alive.