Details
Nothing to say, yet
Comment
Nothing to say, yet
Listen to Ospreys Eyrie- Not the last game of the season then by WRRAP Pod MP3 song. Ospreys Eyrie- Not the last game of the season then song from WRRAP Pod is available on Audio.com. The duration of song is 46:53. This high-quality MP3 track has 773.695 kbps bitrate and was uploaded on 4 Jun 2024. Stream and download Ospreys Eyrie- Not the last game of the season then by WRRAP Pod for free on Audio.com – your ultimate destination for MP3 music.
Comment
Loading comments...
Hello and welcome back to the Ospreys Irie podcast. The main topic today is the Wales squad announcement. Six Ospreys players have been included, including Keelan Giles, who is uncapped. However, there are also some notable omissions, such as Nicky Smith and Morgan Morris. The hosts discuss their thoughts on the selections and express their disappointment for the players left out. They also question the criteria for selection and the importance of regional form. Overall, they congratulate the players who made the squad and express their hope for their success. Hello and welcome back to the Ospreys Irie podcast. I am your host James, joined as always by, quite frankly, the best centre partner anyone could ask for, Bishop and Ashley Beck here. It is Yes Day. How are we, Ashley? That is a big compliment and I'm very happy to take it. So thank you. Yeah, I'm all good. It's a very short time for me this evening, but we've got enough to rattle through anyway. Yeah, so we're recording on Tuesday because, naively, all of us are busy this week, especially towards the end of the week. So we thought we'd record on Tuesday. Robbie, unfortunately, can't make it tonight, but he echoes our sentiments. And, you know, anything you want to say to Robbie, you can just add him on Twitter. He's always on Twitter. Yeah, not everything. There's probably something I probably can't send across. But most things rugby related, I suppose. The Kenzie Mathias related chat. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's a big fan of that. So let's go straight into the news. There is no news. No, realistically, there's no news. I don't think there's any fresh injury concerns coming out of the Cardiff game. I didn't read anything, but that's probably later on in the week, isn't it? Yeah, we'll know at the press conference tomorrow. Yeah, nearly press conference. I think Munster might have had that today. Well, Munster are really kind and doing an injury list for everyone, which is... Yeah, I suppose we could talk about that quickly. So actually, I'll talk about that when we go into Munster, into the actual Munster chat. So let's talk Wales squad. So for those who didn't see, Warren Gatland released his 36-man Wales squad on Monday. Six Ospreys have been included in the squad. They are Chuck Morgan, Dewey Lake, Gareth Thomas, Sam Parry, Owen Watkin and the uncapped Keelan Giles. Firstly, let's just say a massive congratulations to all six of them. All thoroughly well-deserved. I think we knew four of them were going to go anyway. You'd be very surprised if one of Chuck Morgan, Dewey Lake, Gareth Thomas or Watkin wasn't picked. Sam Parry is hugely deserved, especially around that pre-Six Nations period where he was just unplayable. He was so good. And then the nearly man, Keelan Giles, who's been ripping it up, deserves his call-up, deserves a cap. What's your thoughts on the six that have been called up in yesterday? Yeah, certainly, you know, it's good to see representation on the board and congratulations to all 36 members of the call-up squad, because obviously being selected for a summer training squad is more than I'll ever do on the rugby field, so I can only send congratulations to them. In terms of an Ospreys perspective, it's good to see those players being called up. As you mentioned, four of them were probably, I wouldn't say shoe-ins, but you'd be very shocked if they weren't named in their own squad. And, well, Sam Parry was playing such good rugby over Christmas that Dewey Lake moved to No. 8 briefly. But that might have more been down to the back or a crisis that the Ospreys had at the time. But yeah, he probably deserves another recall and it's great to see Keelan Giles in a Welsh squad again. I was there for that Japan game back in 2015, willing to see a young Keelan Giles to get onto the field. Of course, Sam Davies nails the winning drop goal, which is rather exciting at the time. But yeah, it's good to see him having another crack at it and hopefully the first cap does come, although Gatland's quotes probably say a different story and there's been a lot of talk about things that Warren Gatland has said, not just about Giles, but about other players as well. So, yeah, it's a bit of an interesting one. Yeah, so talking about that, he very much did survive, and I'll go more into the ranks and stuff in a bit, but he very much did survive. They wanted to call up Kabango, but Kabango got injured and it seems that Giles is only there to make up the numbers. I do think that there's a genuine shot of him making the South African matchday squad, if Mason Green plays in the centre, which would be very exciting. But what we can't not talk about is the omissions, right? So, let me first caveat saying this, as I said on RAP last night, I in no way blame new players, nor am I flagging players off. Any player who gets called up to represent their country is brilliant and they deserve credit. From an Ospreys fan point of view, I'd like to think that we know a bit more than the average fan or we pay a bit more attention than the average fan. It's really tough watching your team not be fairly represented within a Royal squad when you've won, as a club, more games than all three of the other regions combined. They're in a winning culture. So, it's tough. I'm still struggling to put into words, and I've been on the forums, been on Twitter talking about it. I'm of a mindset now where I just don't see where the next Ospreys player gets called up. I don't see who it is. I don't see who our next new cap is. I don't see who in our squad fits the Gatland profile or what Gatland perceives to be a test match rugby player. So, let's go through it. The obvious two are Morgan Morris and Nicky Swift. I think Nicky is baffling. He said it's around Nicky. We know what Nicky can do. He's just got to keep working. We want to look at other people. That's fair enough, but I don't mind that. If he wants to look at Kemsley Mathias, that's absolutely fine, but you cannot ignore statistics. I am fully aware that Kemsley Mathias is a very good ball carrier, but he's also the most penalised player, not just prop, player in the URC. For me, as a prop myself, he's not a good scrimmager. What are your thoughts on the Nicky Smith omission? I think, especially with Gatland and what he said about maybe having a look at other players, if that was him maybe giving Nicky Smith the summer off or a rest for a period of time, you could argue fair enough. You can see why he's doing that. He wants to look at other props like Kemsley Mathias, but the issue I think most people have regarding the omission would be the fact that Smith has not been called up for the last previous squads. I can't remember if he was in the Six Nations, so I don't think he featured. His last game for Wales would have been against Portugal, I believe, or Georgia in the World Cup. If you look at it from that perspective, how long is a break from the national set-up to look at other players? Surely not, you've got to go through an entire Six Nations campaign and a summer tour to look at what Kemsley Mathias is. Maybe just the summer and maybe have Smith in the Six Nations, fair enough, but for me it seems that the quote's off a little bit regarding how two international squads and he hasn't been picked, yet Gatland is still saying we're going to have a look at this player or that player and something like that. It's tough to take for him. It probably makes sense why the move to Leicester next season is really happening, the fact that he's not been named in the squad. For the player, for Nicky Smith, I hope it goes well, but I hope it goes well for the younger players as well, because they've received a lot of criticism. Your guess, stats are out there, the fact that Nicky Smith's only given away nine penalties this season, obviously Mathias has given away 23 in the URC, but regardless of who, they shouldn't get criticised for giving away penalties, I suppose, but it just feels like the quote itself just feels a bit off for me. Yeah, and that's the theme going throughout. So then we move on to Logan Barrett, who in a way I get, having spent time on Twitter and talking to those people, I get that he's not going to out-seat Wainwright, who's proven on the Test Arena that he's capable of being a very good aid. He clearly isn't the genetic freak that Mackenzie Martin is, and potentially maybe doesn't have the higher ceiling than Mackenzie Martin, and you've got Jack Morgan then as your third choice cover as well, a pain in the bum cheek actually. What my issue is, is again, Gatland's skirting around what he wants to say. Don't say his stats, what is off the ball, that's not a stat. That is not a metric you can measure someone. Does that just mean he runs back and forth, like Jason Rapp, or does that mean he accelerates quicker? It doesn't mean anything, and it's disingenuous to say his stats in defence, if that's what you call off the ball, are bad, because they're not, they're good. The stats are out there, Harley and Hugh have gone through, statistically he's the best aid in Wales, or on par with Wainwright at least. I am of the mindset, and I've said this all the time, if Morgan Morris was called up, played one or two games and bombed, I would have no issue with him not being called up again. But the system, as Tom Shankly said on Saturday, should be you are rewarded for regional form, with a call-up to your national squad. That is the system, that's what it should be. But, it has not happened, and there's not much more else he can do. It's just, and I've made my bed with it now, because it's not happening. It's just not, and it's sad, and all this, and I think as an Osprey fan group, we just have to keep getting behind the likes of Morgan Morris to keep going, to keep performing. Who are the other omissions from the squad, do you think, that had a genuine chance of getting in? I had one other, and I just want to briefly go back on the Morris point for a second. It makes Friday's team talk slightly easier, because if, maybe if Gatland might have just poked the bear of Nicky Smith, Morgan Morris, they might trot out Friday evening, and they might become very, very angry rugby players. Which could go well, but could go badly at the same time. But, one other player that I kind of thought was rather unfortunate was James Ratty. I thought, after thinking at the start of the season, thinking he hasn't really added much value, but I think it's just the consistency throughout Christmas, into the new year, and then throughout the Six Nations period, you thought, alright, this player's certainly got something about him. He's been in Welsh Camps before, I think he was called up on the wing feedback, the year before last, and you think, that's a really good time for someone who can play in the second row, can play six and eight, stacks of versatility, would be a real good addition to see what he's like. Similarly to Morris, we don't know how these players are going to cope on the international stage, without them being tried and tested on the international stage. For me, I just felt like Ratty should have got in, and I think he's probably one player that maybe people haven't really spoken about, and has been really unfortunate. For me as well, you've got Rupert Morgan-Williams, who consistently has stepped up as a starter. So, I get why he's called a better starter, he's highlighted his left foot, which is very handy, we know he likes a left foot kicker, but I don't see what LSM brings compared to Rupert Morgan-Williams. Personally, I'm just trying to find out how tall he is. He's five foot 11, so yeah, he's a big guy, 92kg, so I guess he's probably got the size factor as well. Still tough. Diehard red I never thought would make it in, but what's more glaring is Gatlin's comments on 10, and what he wants. So essentially he wants a big 10, he wants a physically imposing 10. Probably in the same vein as a farrell or a polar type size 10. He's stuck with Costello obviously for continuity, but he's earmarked Ben Thomas, who has significantly bulked up, and Jacob Beeson, who despite never playing 10, they do see as a 10. So, to me, and people have said I'm wrong, to me that says Dan Edwards is not getting called up unless there's a severe, severe crisis. He doesn't have the versatility of being a dual position player, like a Yohan Lloyd or like a Beeson, like a Ben Thomas, like a Costello. So that counts against him. So, for me, that says he's not getting called up. There are others in there, we talked about Rafi, we talked about Hugh Sutton and various other things. We could spend days shouting at whoever listens that these Ospreys players aren't being picked and we're underrepresented. So just for the breakdown, I know you've got the site on Twitter, 5 Dragons, 6 Ospreys, 6 Scarlets and 9 Cardiff, 10 from outside of Wales, which is probably the most they've ever picked. 9 Cardiff is what it is. Fair play to them, they've supplied the most consistently to the Welsh team this season and I hope it works out for them. From an Ospreys point of view, the good thing is that we're going to hit the ground running in pre-season with a virtually full squad. With the likes of BFB and back, Fender, Rhys Davies, hopefully he'll be back at some point towards the start of the season. I did my write-on-wrap last night, if you want to go listen to me write, go see what I've posted on X and see the replies and things like that. My closing remarks regarding the Wales squad are, Gatland clearly doesn't see in our players what he perceives to be test match players. It's clear he and his mind has a view of what a test match player looks like and unfortunately the Ospreys don't fit into that mould. For whatever reason, it doesn't tell me both, it isn't the players, it isn't their size, it isn't their conditioning, for whatever reason they do not fit into what Warren Gatland wants. I think the best thing for any Ospreys fan to do is to start limiting their expectations when it comes to Wales squad representation and match day squad representation. Because the more you limit your expectations, the less gutted you're going to be. I think it's similar to the Six Nations where you thought, why isn't this player being picked, why isn't that player being picked? I just remember coming out of the Ulster game, there was just a bit of a buzz going on because everyone kind of filtered back into the side. And of course Tip Rick coming back was a bit of a boost, obviously he's retired from international rugby. But it kind of just felt like it kind of kicked on during the international period. So regardless of whoever would be called up from an Ospreys perspective, of course you want as many players as you can in fighting for international owners or playing international rugby. But if it doesn't materialise for whatever reason, it might be preference of what Gatland wants or whatever, they can come back to the OSC and continue playing week in week out. And from a supporters point of view, it must be a better feeling to see the team winning week in week out. Because you can see some of the performances they've put in over the last 12 months and you're thinking they can do it year comfortably. If they can do it every week year comfortably, then they'll be shooting up the league table. But of course, everyone will probably want those players in the Wales squad if they kept on before week in week out. Yes, so that's that I think with the Wales squad. So just before we go into looking at judgement day, we are very lucky this week and this month actually to be sponsored by the guys at Manscaped. So ladies and gentlemen, it's my pleasure to announce that smooth sack summer is officially upon us. When you're playing in the summer sun, make sure you're grooming from pubes to butt. Thanks to our friends at Manscaped, you can make this season your smoothest yet. Their performance package 5.0 is the ultimate bundle to keep your boys downstairs cool while looking hot. Join over 10 million men worldwide who trust Manscaped with their exclusive offer. Using code RugbyBalls at checkout, you can get 20% off your free shipping when you go to Manscaped.com. That's RugbyBalls for 20% off and free shipping at checkout. Now, the guys were lucky enough, the guys were kind enough to send me over their lawnmower 5.0. I got to use it yesterday. Really good, you know, really good stuff. Fifth generation trimmer features two interchangeable next gen skin safe blade heads. A standard one for taking a little off the top and a new foil blade to go smooth wherever your heart desires. Also got LED spotlight control to provide greater contrast on skin tones, length setting cones and did I mention it's waterproof too. So, big thank you to the guys at Manscaped. The thing is incredible. I'm very lucky to have one. So, remember, go to Manscaped.com, use our code RugbyBalls at checkout for 20% off and free shipping. So, Jesuit Day. We were there. It was fine. The crowd was disappointing. If you want to hear our thoughts, we haven't got a rap. No way was there 20,000 in there. One game was significantly better than the other. Full credit to Scarlett, they got the job done, but they had two poor teams. And I think some people are getting a bit too carried away with performances and things like that. And certain players' performances as well. So, firstly, Jestin, what impressed you most about the Ospreys on the weekend? Let's go to the good bits first. The fact that every other result went the Ospreys' way for a start. So, do you want to explain to our listeners, in case people don't somehow, what the permutations were going into judgement? So, the start of Round 18, the Ospreys are sat in 11th in the URC table, needing a couple of results to go their way. Baird and Edinburgh were the last two playoff spots, and they were playing each other. The Lions were away in Cape Town against the Stormers, and Connacht were in Dublin. Luckily, Leinster did a really good job of just keeping Connacht quiet and won. They weren't as ruthless as what they were a few weeks ago, so it did look like the IRFU had something to say in it to try and give Connacht a slim chance. But, in all reality, Leinster won. Moving on to Saturday, there were two games kicking off at the same time, and my Premier Player broke down in a massive heap and crash. But I saw glimpses of Baird and Edinburgh, which looked a little bit nervy, until Barrington thought it was a really good idea to run away with that, which was fantastic news for all involved. Then, out in Cape Town, it was a bit nervy, a bit close. Then the Stormers had a man sent off, and the Lions led at half-time, and everyone was thinking, it's going to be that side that the Ospreys have beaten twice this season that's going to nick the final playoff spot. But luckily, after some heroic try-saving tackles, one excellent one in the second half, but I can't remember who it was, and now the name escapes me, and it was a Stormers player, it was excellent. It's surely been clipped up somewhere on social media. But the Stormers came back and won, despite having a man sent off, and it all got really exciting. So much so, I forgot to buy a matchday programme at the Cardiff City Stadium. Yeah, so did I, I'm gutted. Yeah, and then I rocked in my seat for the first of two games. So, by the time the Stormers game had finished, it kind of was clear what the Ospreys needed. I thought, well, I didn't really think the Ospreys would have gone into the final game with needing a result to get into the playoffs. I thought they'd have finished 11 at the start of the season, and I was looking rather good for that prediction at the start of the weekend. But it turned out that the Ospreys needed a bonus point to win, and they got it. And the positive thing about that was, well, one, they won. And two, I thought the back row was excellent. I double-checked the stats this morning on Rugby Pass. Jack Morgan and Justin Tipbrook made 44 tackles between them. Morgan topped the Jack tackle charts with 24, Tipbrook made 20. Morgan Morris was top second best carrier of the lot, because Cam Winnett just wanted to carry everything. He made 12 tackles, didn't he? Yeah, and Morris made 12 tackles as well, which is quite... I spoke to my dad earlier, and he said he had a quiet day. And I said, well, he made 15 carries in 12 tackles, there's not much quiet about that. That went well, and at times it was refreshing to see some offloads. Maybe at times it wasn't the right time to be throwing them, but in terms of chasing the bonus point, they got that, which is a massive bonus. Obviously, they didn't do that against Africa, they didn't do that against Leinster. Of course, there's a bit of a contrast between those two sides and two Welsh regions, although Cardiff admittedly played very well. But, yeah, it was a relief to get the win. It did get a little bit nervy, but you kind of felt like they just had enough to stay on. And then the penalty try with about four minutes to go did really feel it. And it was a pretty good day out at the Cardiff City Stadium, I thought. So a lot has been said about the Ospreys and their inability to strike the ball wide and things like that. But for two weeks now, we've played with priorisations behind this in that we've had to win the bonus points. I know the aim of a rugby match is to win the maximum points, right? But you want to do that naturally. And Ospreys have been very good at doing that naturally this season. But when you're in a position where you're forced to chase tries, you do things that aren't going to work. You do throw that extra offload. You do look for that miracle ball. So I get what people are saying, but let's not forget that we've had priorisations behind us the whole time. But I do agree with you, that second try in particular is fantastic. I think I like Mason Grady, but Ospreys made him look very amateur in defence. He had a torrid time defending all day. So if you look at that initial build-up, that second try, it's brilliant. So you've got the really good kick. When it gets smashed, it's turned on by Tipper. Tipper takes that quick tap. A little interchange in Amulgamaris. He was set and comes on that. And I don't like to use his name, but that Corey Hill line, whoever knocks it on. Cardiff then spread it wide. And it's probably where Ben Thomas shows his inexperience. That ball needs to go wide straight away. He doesn't. He takes it in. I think it's Raffey who makes the tackle. Shanklin highlighted it on commentary. Raffey makes the tackle. The ball then goes up to Mason Grady, who goes to kick it. Gets half-charged down. Lands and nags his hands. He takes it forward. Puts Grady on his arse as a sidestep. And then, is it one phase later? No, he goes to Dembele. Jack Walger swats around Jim both. He's not there. And then, through the hands, lovely pass from Watkins. It's Giles, who does the right thing, actually. He does the right thing. Steps, manages to get the offload away. It's a perfectly flat offload. Look, if we're going to say the Tommy Lewis one was forward, flat, or backwards, then, by the law, this one was backwards as well, because it went backwards at the hand. I think we call it aggressively flat, don't we? Yeah. That's the saying. I think we'd better leave it at that, I suppose. Yeah, no, absolutely. Look, it was really good. I really liked the fourth try. I liked Morgan's try. I liked the set-up of that. Lovely fizz from Dan Edwards to Morgan. And then, the penalty shot happened right in front of me. We were just... Cardiff's pack looked out on their feet towards the end. It doesn't help that it was a Sir David's red card. I do think their back set them in that game. I'm still not convinced by their forward pack, or by individuals in their forward pack. But, look, Cardiff were great value. There was good narrative in the game. There was jeopardy. It was everything we wanted. It probably was the best regional derby for years. I know everyone bangs on about it, about how poor the conditions are. But I thought the game in Bridgend in the USD was quite close to it. In terms of handling skills and things like that. I think the last great regional derby was that mad 58-34 game against the Scarlets, or whatever it was. That was, admittedly, a really good game of rugby. I think that was my favourite one. Well, everyone just booed Stephen Meyer at the end, because they wanted to look at... Yeah, I was chanting, we want 60. Yeah. But, yeah. And the ultimate thing is, we qualified for the playoffs. Yeah, you can't really complain, finish 8th and get... No. We got another game of rugby. We've got off to Limerick now. So, let's talk about Munster very quickly. I think we're done with Judgement Day? A shout out to the really long Hala Hala family that were sat behind me as well. Yeah, they fought their way out. They brought a lot of noise. Yes, really good. And Hala Hala absolutely smashes it in New Zealand, whatever it does. You know, fair play to all the passing Cardiff players. Yeah, but especially to Hala Hala. So, Munster v. Cardiff. That's happened. Munster v. Osprey. So, confirmed for Friday night. So, both teams had a 6-8 turnaround. Half past 7, at Tolman Park. Refereed by Holly Davidson from the Scottish Rugby Union in her 14th league game. Backed up by two Italians, Gianluca Necchi and Andrea Piardi. With Andrew McEnemy as SIU. God, this is like a depressing bunch. I like Holly, right? She's a fantastic ref, but she refs us horribly last time. It's left a sour taste in my mouth. It's weird that in 14 URC games, this is Holly Davidson's third Munster v. Osprey game. Yeah. How? How is this possible? Then you've got that cowboy on the touchline. Who's somehow worse when he's a touch judge. This is what I don't get. He's worse when he's a touch judge. There's one of the challenge copiers where this French linesman or whatever was in Swansea. And he kept getting the signals wrong for the line-outs. He's always going for the other team. He can't remember this. I think everyone in the stand is shouting at him. And then he eventually got it right at some point in the second half. And everyone just started cheering at him. That just reminds me of something that Andrea Piardi could do on Friday night. So furthermore with Munster, they have started preparations at the High Performance Centre and given an injury list. So there is good news for Diarmuid Barron, Josh Wicherly and Antoine Friche or Tony Friche as they return to training. Doesn't mean they'll necessarily play. You'd imagine Friche would be involved if he's fit. It's his last couple of games before he moves to France. So I think they probably want to see him before he goes. Furthermore, Rory Scannell will undergo surgery on his ankle after suffering an injury in his ulcer. Big Tom O'Hearn, suffering an ankle and lower leg injury in his ulcer, will go for a scan. He's unavailable for the coming weeks. And Joey Carvery has played his last game in the Munster jersey, it looks like, after a thumb injury. So they join on the injury list. Dave Kilcoyne, Roma Sal and Noah, who I don't think I've ever seen play a game of rugby. I think he's a money laundering scheme. I think he actually played in the win over Munster a couple of seasons ago. The one where Moeller kicked six penalties. Mental. Jean Klein, who's both injured in the knee and eye, Paddy Patterson, Patrick Campbell and the ever-impressive Alex Menkevel. So that is some big injury. You're definitely going to have Casey Crowley. We don't think that Sleeman's going to be sighted. No, there's talk about him starting on the bench this weekend, actually, from Munster. Oh, OK. But there's a lot of gruntness in there with Klein, I've heard, not playing. And Nacquerel as well. There's a lot of power there. Where you're thinking, oh, if the Ospreys have their first choice pack out, it would be really interesting. But obviously, the Ospreys are three seconds down themselves. So, yeah, it makes it, balances it up a little bit. Makes it more interesting, I suppose. Yeah, so... In terms of squad selection, I think we'll see a very similar, if not identical squad. With maybe Swap Houston around on the bench for someone. You've got a Walsh in, but then you're sort of limiting your options on the wing. You might swap Nicky and Garris around, but again, I don't see what we would. Ratty and Sutton. It'd be interesting to see if Fender is actually back. Because we knew he was tired of it on Judgment Day. He hadn't started running two weeks before. So maybe, you never know. I doubt it, but it's something to put out there. So, yeah, I think we'll see an identical squad, pretty much. It's a tough one. Because we are obviously firm underdogs. They are the defending champions. Like, anyone who's sitting different from Matt Thicke. It's just... Let us know why Ospreys have got a chance. No, we haven't. Stop. Can everyone stop saying that Ospreys have got a chance of winning this weekend? Look what happened in Gloucester. Everyone said they had the chance, and they lost. So if we all just be quiet for a couple of days, that'd be nice. Yeah, especially you, Paul Williams. Yeah, actually, if Paul Williams wants to predict Munster by 50, then be my guest. If there's something this squad is good at, it's finding a way. Right, and it's cliche, and everyone's sick of it. And the guy's just dropped now. Everyone still hates the Ospreys, even though they liked us for five minutes. We... We can find a way. We pushed them really close at home. We... tried to overplay, which resulted in two interceptions and a freak kick down the lane. And then, you know, missed refereeing decisions aside, and an Alex Cuthbert Grade 4 hamstring tear. We pushed them close. Obviously, Tony Parker's a completely different beast than Munster are, the masters of timing their run. But I do think that we got on top of them in the set-piece. I think there are options... Not options, there are definite ways in which we can get at this Munster team. And if we just keep the scoreboard ticking over, we have a chance, I think. Do you agree, or do you think that there's no chance at all and we should just stop trying? Well, I convinced myself there's a little bit of a chance. But I spoke to my dad earlier, and he said Munster are going to win by about 40 points. So it hasn't filled me with much optimism. But, you know, like you said, nobody gives them a chance of reaching the playoffs. You know, 5%, 2%, whatever. You know, if there's a size that can go outdoors, if there's a size that can go out to Ireland and cause a bit of a shock, it's probably the Ospreys. I know that sounds a bit interesting, especially after the last time they went out to Ireland and played the match. Of course, Munster put their firsts up. But, you know, a one-off game like that, you know, everything on the line, it just feels like it's going to be quite close. You know, everyone mentions about the last time the two sides played in Swansea. You know, it was only a 10-point game. And if Cuthbert's hamstring doesn't go twang, it's a really exciting finish to that game, regardless of the interceptions, regardless of a scrum penalty leading into a line-out and a cross-field kick on a try. You know, it's going to be... I think it's going to be quite close. I don't think it's going to be tries galore, but I don't think it's going to end like 9-6 either. But, I don't know, I feel like it's going to be either an unconvincing Munster win, where they might just lead for a long period of time and just close it out with about 20 minutes to go, or I've guilt-tripped myself in thinking there might be a shock. But I'm just going to go for Munster win, because every time I predict an Ospreys win on the pod for a big game, it kind of goes wrong, except for last week, which weirdly went right. But a lot of things were weird last week, like the rest of the year. Yeah, I agree. I think people are writing us off in terms of how close it can be. Absolutely, Munster have the star power to run away with it. They like to play the ball out wide. We have to be a bit better at wide. I just think it can be a really good game. And the bottom line is, we're there. And I'm going to go again, a bit ranty, but I've seen a lot of fans of the other teams saying that Ospreys play crap rugby and they do this and they don't do that and they don't throw the ball around. Well, this doesn't matter. You're not in the playoffs. It's been really funny watching Cardiff and Ospreys, Cardiff and Scarlett's fans arguing about losing them in their best season. It's like two bald men fighting over a cone. I get this context behind Cardiff's season, right? 10 losing bonus points and however many trying bonus points. That's an achievement, but ultimately the bottom line is you still have lost 12 games, 13 games. You've only won 4. Same with Scarlett's, you won 5 games. You lost 11. You also registered 0 points in Europe. Lads, I don't care if you don't support us, but don't say it's not because it is my message to fans. Give me a score prediction then. 1914 to Munster. I think we'll just put that. I will go, I'm going to be an optimist, I'll say 20 points to 17 to the Ospreys. As long as it doesn't end in a painful knock-on where Josh Mataverti scores the winner. Anything other than that is a positive. The Ospreys could lose 58-3 again and it's still a positive and knocking it on and scoring in the red, then we need to go back for the said knock-on. Yeah, to be fair, the bar is pretty low, we only have to score more than 3 points. Well, if he was certain he could do an interception again, then... Yeah, yeah. Probably make it alright, to be fair. So... I think that's it, it's a short one tonight because Justin's got stuff to get to. That's it. Either next week we're going to be previewing Glasgow Stormers. I believe it would be Glasgow Stormers, wouldn't it? Yeah, that's the semi-final. So either go into Scotstoun or Cape Town or we're going to be doing our end of season wrap-up and awards. At least we've got an extra week to sort it all out. We have got an extra week. Other than that, I think that's pretty much everything. I don't think I'll actually be able to watch the game. Oh, I might be able to. So fingers crossed to me. You're doing stuff as well. Ironically, I'm free Friday night, it's just Thursday. I'm busy. So, that's been us. We'll see you all next week, hopefully back at the regular time and hopefully back up to a trio. I'm just going to apologise to everyone for no good player tonight. We somehow thought it was a good idea to somehow have a URC quarter-final weekend and assume that the Osprey didn't make it and we all had things to do. We'll be back for a bumper good player next week, I think. I'll dig something out next week. Right, no stuff. Thank you for listening to the Osprey Diary podcast. We hope you enjoy the show. Please subscribe, rate and review wherever you listen to us as it really helps spread the word. You can find us on all the usual social media channels or email us on welshregionalrugbypod at gmail.com and remember, whatever the question, rugby is always the answer. Thank you.
There are no comments yet.
Be the first! Share your thoughts.
