No More Ifs...

Where was I?

Ah well - disaster & triumph for the Ospreys, and it's still a tall order to treat those two impostors both the same. After burying Saracens in the EDF Cup semi, they contrived to fall meekly to the same opponents in the European quarter-finals. Inconsistency incarnate. Bah!

But as consolation prizes go, the EDF Cup isn't bad - and to take the trophy from the Leicester Tigers, at Twickenham, would be any Welsh team's dream. Some meaningful silverware in the Liberty Stadium cabinet - not to mention a healthy portion of sweet revenge - at long last.

Meanwhile, the Blues & Scarlets managed to serve up an eight-try thriller at the Arms Park, to give a welcome boost to the credibility of the Magners League. A corking match, made so more by attacking skills than defensive weaknesses, for a change. More, please!

No Place Like Home

A bad weekend on the road, but a good one at home for the Welsh regions in the EDF Energy Cup. The Scarlets disposed of Leeds, playing some exhibition rugby at times as they "did it for Grav". But the Blues met the Tigers hoodoo yet again, and the Dragons were in proximity but cigarless at Newcastle.

This afternoon I watched the Ospreys dismantle a rather pathetic London Irish outfit at the Liberty Stadium. They made heavy going of it in the first half, falling foul of the referee and throwing over-ambitious passes, one of which let in the visitors for a score. But it was the only way they ever were going to score, and an eventual try tally of 7-1 speaks of a job done well enough in the end. After scoring 98 points in two games, the obvious worry is that the Os haven't been properly tested. We'll probably see against Bourgoin next week...

Chalk 47, Cheese 16

Ospreys sack Sixways - (Planet Rugby)

Presumably "Sixways" is a new nickname for Ospreys forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys? Coined because he knew six different ways of being offside, perhaps?

In a game that was a testament to the contrasting weaknesses of English & Welsh rugby, the Ospreys' pack were thoroughly bullied by the English Premiership's bottom side, while their backs shredded the Warriors' defence at will.

Mike Ruddock has clearly performed his customary set-piece surgery on the Worcester outfit. However, it apparently remains easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rugby ball to pass along their three-quarter line.

But the old adage that "forwards win matches" took a pounding here; as did an Ospreys front five containing four Welsh internationals. It speaks of the Warriors' cluelessness behind the scrum that a visiting back division continually on the back foot still outscored them by seven tries to one.

It's always fun to stuff the English, of course, but this result can't be allowed to hide the glaring deficiencies in the Ospreys' game; because better teams than Worcester can and will exploit them.