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.
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