Some Appetiser!

Well, perhaps I didn't expect to enjoy it that much!

Yes, it was an inexperienced and tired Leicester side that would be flattered by the description "2nd String". Yes, the developmental philosophy embraced by most participants makes these LV Cup matches as close to dead rubbers as Anglo-Welsh encounters can be.

Let's say all that first, because it's no hyperbole to continue that the Ospreys' B-listers turned in the most exciting display by any Ospreys side for a couple of seasons now. That their 8-try evisceration of the hapless Tigers took place in conditions that would functionally excuse a 3-3 draw, only makes it the more impressive. It was a thrilling display of "heads-up" rugby, a lesson in playing fast and loose and without fear. Names that have been prompting Ospreys fans to ask "who?" when they appear on the Magners League benches, will now be the talk of the clubhouse. Ashley Beck, Kristian Phillips, Jason Tepuric and Matthew Morgan might be tempted to send their senior team-mates a showreel DVD of this match for Christmas.

As a curtain-raiser for today's international it could hardly have whetted the appetite more fulsomely. And so, as we turn our thoughts there, another of the "Who?" brigade is promoted to Saviour-In-Chief of Welsh Rugby. That George North has appeared from nowhere is nothing new for Welsh fans. Neither will be the deflation when he fails to beat South Africa single-handed. How he copes with the near-inevitable comedown this evening will most likely be the measure of the man. Not that measurements are something he is lacking...

A good chance for Wales today, then - "on paper", as we like to say. But the weight of History is great, and paper is very thin. Let's hope for the forwards to improve on their already impressive form, and for the return of Lee Byrne at full-back to allow James Hook to prove what we all know, but have started to forget.

An Untried Allegiance

This evening, the Ospreys will play their first ever home fixture at The Brewery Field, Bridgend.

When the Celtic Warriors regional franchise meekly assumed the mammaries-uppermost position, some of South Wales' oldest rugby communities were left bereft of first-class representation on the field. Most of the sympathetic noises gravitated towards the old talent foundry of Pontypridd, a club more well adapted to the role of the martyr. The house that had produced JPR and Rob Howley, amongst others, nonetheless carried less caché with Welsh rugby romantics. Its slip into obscurity occurred with a comparative whimper.

Perhaps the Warriors never convinced as a coherent "region". When they expired, the Bridgend club fell under the expanded Ospreys franchise; an attachment even more seemingly arbitrary than the previous one. The town's membership of the imagined community of "Ospreylia" is notional, at best. Tonight, however, should provide the clearest idea yet of the extent to which this new loyalty has been embraced.

The occasion is hardly auspicious; the LV cup is being played out by under-strength teams in a confused and uninvolving format. It would be stretching the truth to claim that winning it was amongst any team's principle ambitions. That said, there's always added spice when English teams visit, and they don't come much spicier than the Leicester Tigers. Add in the return of a certain ex-Ospreys scrum-half in opposition, and things get so "spicy" that the metaphor may collapse under the strain...

So, off down the M4 with me to sample the hospitality of my regional brethren. I hope they like what they see. I'm sure I will.

Not so near, yet not so far...?

So; it could have been worse, then...

On the face of it, being upbeat about another home defeat feels like a retrograde step. Of course, in the long term, being outscored by three tries to one at home is unacceptable.

But watching a horribly depleted Wales side compete as they did with a rampant Australia, it would take a fair old commitment to negativity in order not to feel at least mildly encouraged.

Yes, Australia were far superior in attacking play, and worthy winners as a result. But then some purists, and not just Welsh ones, will opine that no side producing such a comically inept scrummaging display should be awarded a moral victory. At one late point where Wales put in to a defensive 5m scrum, the BBC commentators were moved to suggest that they might attempt the pushover... it really was that bad. Wales were warned pre-match that David Pocock would boss the breakdown, and yet the inexperienced Sam Waburton made a decent fist of things there. Even in the lineout, Wales appeared to have the measure of their opponents, which is a rare sight indeed.

Behind the scrum, though, things were pretty desperate. Although the scratch-built three-quarter line must take its share of praise for containing their rampaging opponents in defence, in attack Wales had simply nothing worth speaking of. With the top playmaker stranded at full-back in a game that was short on tactical kicking, the midfield was a creativity desert. A badly off-form Stephen Jones, a tiring Tom Shanklin and "dependable" but uninspiring Andrew Bishop made few mistakes, but neither could they make anything happen with a decent share of possession. On the wings, Shane Williams and new boy Will Harries seemed only present to make the dissapointing attendance figures look more respectable.

With Mike Phillips at 9 also looking a ghost of his true self, it's hard to recall a less exciting Welsh backline. Coming on late to replace Phillips, Ritchie Rees signifcantly improved matters, scored a well-deserved try, and must surely now start against South Africa next week.

It was left to Australia's young backs to light up the afternoon, with Kurtley Beale the obvious star on display (ill-advised moustache notwithstanding). That's hard to swallow, but then the coaching team are clutching at fairly substantial chunks of driftwood when they point to the list of attacking selections that were denied to them. This was as close to a 2nd XV as Wales have had to field for a while, and stronger outfits have performed less creditably in recent memory. Nothing to get excited about, perhaps; but reason enough to keep the cyanide pills in the locker for another week, at least.