Ospreys Eyrie: This is a tough one

The Ospreys have announced the re-signing of two players, Tom Florets and Cameron Jones, and also released a list of players leaving the team, including Alex Cuthbert, Matt Prothero, and Nicky Smith. Cuthbert's departure is particularly unfortunate due to his recent injury. Florets has shown promise and could make a big impact if given the opportunity. Jones will add depth to the team's loosehead position. The departures are likely due to budget cuts and the need to streamline the squad. Welcome to the Osprey's Irie pod. The podcaster is not doing an artsy intro like Robbie did last week because I'm too tired to think of something. I am back, it is me, it is James. I am back from having a baby and doing all of that stuff. Back to where I belong. Joined this week by Yestin. Robbie's done a Luke Morgan, I've got a yellow card. So just Yestin, how are we? Is it a Luke Morgan or a Max Nagy nowadays? But yeah, I'm all okay. Just merely surviving in the next couple of days and then after Friday I should be all good again. Is that when you finish uni? Yeah, I'll be all done by about half past 12 on Friday afternoon for the second year. I'm expecting at least an article a day after you finish. Might guess something early next week. Might guess something at some point this week as it pans over how it goes. That means you'll definitely go into the game on Saturday? Yeah, potentially. Hopefully to go down there in some form. I'm gutted, I don't think I can go down to this one but I may be trying heaps of plans to go to judgement day. Yeah, I don't know what's happening on judgement day yet. Judgement is on Friday this week. Yeah, same to be fair. Well, I'm on half term during judgement day with work so judgement day is the last Saturday before I go back in. So I could potentially do it, who knows. I don't like judgement day because we rarely beat Cardiff. Yeah, it reminds me of a stat from like 2017 where the Ospreys hadn't lost a game in the Principality Stadium. Then within three weeks of April they'd lost that twice. I wonder when it was to Cardiff on judgement day. Anyway, last year it was horrific because we just clearly, not that we didn't care, but it was big end of season vibes. Well, the end of season vibes were at the Edinburgh game where I was the week before. And Cardiff just trained too hard as they're prone to do. They just really wanted to qualify for the Champions Cup and look where that got them. Yeah, apart from once the Ospreys have finished eighth, the Sharks are in the Challenge Cup so we just have another year in the Challenge Cup to see what happens. All right, so with me being back let's go into the news. So, quite a bit of news this week. Let's start with some re-signings. So we have, Ospreys have announced the re-signing of two players this week. One being Wales under-20s centre, and Swansea RFC centre. Tom Florets, the highly rated centre, spent much of 2023-2034 on the shelf with an ACL injury but is back fixed, but is yet to feature in a competitive match. I thought the Ospreys this week had a bit of potential there with Florets. I remember the Sharks came in the URC last season out in South Africa and he came in last minute for Mike Collins, I think. And he looked rather settled and he played rather well for someone that got drafted in about 10 minutes or kicked off. So yeah, obviously he got rather unfortunate with injuries this year. But from what I've heard and seen, he's been doing rather well when he's played in the Welsh Premiership. So it'll be interesting to see if he does make that last step up. I think he's a fine player. I'd actually quite rate him under-20s level. Good for Swansea University. I haven't watched him much at Swansea RFC level, but I've heard good things. So yeah, I'm excited about that. The next piece of re-signing news is Cam Jones. No, not that one. Cameron Jones, the prop, has re-signed with the Ospreys and Young for under-20s prop, who's currently out on loan with the Cheetahs. He's one of the Edson Cheetahs out in Bloemfontein. He is re-signing with the Ospreys. I'm quite happy with that. It just adds a bit of depth and loose head. He's not going to be first choice any time soon. That's something a la Ryan Bevington, Nicky Smith happens, like when it was in 2013 when Nicky made his debut because everybody else was injured. Of course, Cameron Jones, famous for his break against the Lions out in Johannesburg, was set to try for his namesake by getting some much-needed game time and training in different environments in Bloemfontein. Happy with that? Yeah, it's more good news. Going out to South Africa, especially for a young prop, you should hope that he learns quite a lot. The last time I saw him play, he scored a brace and got yellow-carded in about one half. He picked up his second at the start of the second half. He seems like an exciting player. When he made that step up in Johannesburg, he looked rather solid and played a big role in one of the decisive tries near the end of the game. It'll be good to see how much he's developed by the time he does come back from Bloemfontein and to see where he is in that pack and all those supports for next season. As the Cameron Jones give us, the Cameron Jones take us away. The Ospreys have announced their leavers list for the year. They're still technically waiting on the leavers list for 2022-23, but instead we've got 2022-23-24. The leavers list for the Ospreys this year is Alex Cuthbert, Osprey No. 263, Toby Fricker, Osprey No. 282, Will Hickey, No. 265, Cameron Jones Scrum Half, No. 290, George North, No. 232, Matt Prothero, No. 250, and Nicky Smith, No. 152. Obviously, a few of them we knew about already, mainly being Nicky Smith, who's off to Leicester, and George North, who's off to Provence. We heard rumours around Toby Fricker with his injury crisis and sort of being injured most of the season that his contract was not going to be renewed. The rest, however, Cuthbert, Prothero and North, Prothero and Cameron Jones, we didn't know about. I think it's a really cruel way for Alex Cuthbert to bow out, especially after what happened against Munster in March. If that is his last touch for the Ospreys, then that's just a blow for everyone involved, I think. You heard a couple of rumours after that game that that could have been his last. Obviously, he could find a club and play somewhere next season. It seems like there was one that you kind of thought, he hasn't played much. When he has played, he's been very well. I've been a big fan of Cuthbert for quite some time and it's been a real good addition when he's played. That's kind of been the issue when injuries kind of crept up on him. Last year, when Wales were up to Scotland, he was in some good form at that period then. Obviously, he got injured out with Murray Fielding and we hadn't seen him for a long period of time. Obviously, the cruel way that rugby is against Munster when his hamstring goes pop, it's just really unfortunate for him and it's probably really unfortunate for the Ospreys as well because if a fully-fed Alex Cuthbert was around more of the time, it would be a much better Ospreys side. All we can do is wish him all the best, I suppose. Yeah, absolutely. I had a really slow start to life on the Ospreys. I didn't score a try for ages. I remember particularly that end of season game against the Scarlets, Resweat makes that break and Dummies instead of gives it to him. Eventually, we do score but he should have given it to Cuthbert. Then he did get his brace against Montpellier and things like that. I like Alex Cuthbert. I really wish we saw more of him. Yeah. Matt Prothera signed with high hopes, definitely. He played 10 in his first game against the Scarlets in a pre-season game. He had that amazing game up in Edinburgh in that first game for Toby Booth. That try against Zebra this season, there's a player in there. It just hasn't worked out for him. I think Peck in order, injuries, things like that, maybe some question marks over his defence. It just hasn't worked out for him and I am gutted for him because he's a kid who played for his boyhood club. Yeah. What more do you want as a youngster growing up to be playing for the team or club that you will grow up and watch? I found the day that Prothera was signed, I believe it was the day after the Ospreys and it's Toby Booth as the head coach. Then the day after Prothera was signed. He said something along the lines of the likes of Gerry Collins, T.A.T., just to name a few, had played for the club when he'd watched them as a youngster. It's obviously really tough to see it maybe not work out but I think at times Prothera has been a real spark to an Osprey side which many have said that don't do much attack in rugby. I think this season kind of proved a few people wrong. Even up in Edinburgh earlier on this season, a couple of games ago, he makes a break out of nothing and nearly creates a chance for the Ospreys to finish the game up there. When you look at all those individual moments, I mentioned before recording that home game against Sale in the Champions Cup from 2021 I think. Prothera was hands down probably the only spark on the pitch after Sale scored their three quick tries in about a quarter of an hour. Everything else just went through Prothera. It's a real shame. Injuries obviously played a bit of involvement in it but yeah, a bit of a shame to lose someone that's got that spark. Sadly, like he said, it hasn't really worked out. Cam Jones, again, I think the right one is on the wall for Cam Jones. He looked good when he came on. He looked hungry. He's a very quick player. We'll always have that try against the Lions and that break against Munster to set the balance because of the hamstring tear. I think with Hardy coming in and two good scum halves there, I think it was always going to be an uphill battle for him. With squad sizes being depleted, the four scum halves in a squad probably just isn't viable anymore. Yeah, and the budget cuts as well is probably the reason why they've had to let someone like Cam Jones and someone like Prothera go as well. We've covered North and Hickey in detail. Will Hickey, I think everyone had high hopes for, was brought in with a lot of fanfare behind him being a very successful inter-school boy. Mike Rudd, I've talked about him a lot, just suffered too much of an injury. I think that time with Bloemfontein will do him well. I hope he gets a club because he is a fine player in there somewhere. I hope Toby Fricker goes somewhere. I hope he goes to the MLR and then plays for the US and is just mental. I think that would be fantastic. So that is the leavers list. I suppose as a bit of news we would have to talk about in brief terms is Neat RFC put up a statement again. Clearly not content with their million Twitter impressions. The last month they needed some more. This is verbatim, I have not changed any text in the Neat RFC statement. After our amazing end of season party, we are looking to make further improvements to our grounds and facilities. Our gym, recovery centre and changing rooms have been updated. Ospreys won't be playing at our ground next season or thereafter. This was after representatives from both clubs have met. We wish Swansea and Bridgend all the best in securing that contract when Ospreys CEO Lance Bradley makes his long anticipated announcement. Instead we will focus on growing Neat RFC and the Panthers as our illustrious clubs hosting Elite Sevens tournaments and other prestigious rugby events, as well as music and food festivals, family events such as Christmastime Switch-On and Neat Fireworks to contribute to the success of Neat RFC and enliven our team. It really is all happening at Neat RFC. The statement itself is nothing too, it's a bit sarcastic, it's a bit tongue-in-cheek, there's nothing. It's not as bad as the other ones. What is more oppressive is they've put in the corner Ospreys' badge that they have crossed out a bit like a serial killer does on someone's photos. Look, there has been a well-documented history of friction between past Ospreys and Neat management, especially when Neat were going through financial troubles and Neat ended up performing this season especially, and that has led to friction within the two clubs. As much as people try to claim to be insiders and neither of us claim to be insiders at all, we are not privy to what goes on behind closed doors and conversations between the Ospreys. What is clear to see is that Neat have chosen to pass over the narrative that Neat are in a great place, that they do not need the EDC, and they do not need the Ospreys and are very self-sustainable. I don't believe that the statements before that I've come across as anti-WIU and anti-Ospreys are representative of the whole of Neat and their supporters. We don't give Neat fans who want the Ospreys to do well and welcome the Ospreys' involvement. There are a minority that don't. We at the Ospreys, I really do, as much as we like to make funny Neats and post funny photos, I wish Neat all the best. They are a historic club. I know people who play for Neat now, I know people who play for Neat in the past. I follow Neat Athletic very closely, they're a smaller feeder club, and without Neat there would be no Ospreys, there would be no Shane Williams, there would be no Paul James, Duncan Jones, things like that. So the history of Neat as a club cannot be disputed. It's very hard to keep being a part of Neat when representatives are making it very difficult. So I think to be as diplomatic as I can, we wish Neat all the best in the Premiership next season. I hope they have a better time than they did this year. Is it Tim Ryan coaching them next year? I don't know. I know Ryan Evans, their captain, hasn't been bumped up to assistant coach, I think, but I can't remember who's... I don't know why I've got Tim Ryan in my head. Obviously brother of Cardiff murderer John Ryan. But all I can say is I'm really looking forward to the next season. That's going to be a good day out. Well, it just won't be to watch the Ospreys, so... Yeah, well, you've got Neat against Ponty, what more do you want? Battles on and off the field, I say. Oh God, that'll be... I've never wanted to go talk to people at a game less. Who's playing for both Neat and Ponty that I can think of? What derby would that be? Anyone playing for both Neat and Ponty that I can think of? The social media derby, I suppose. Yeah. The way it all goes. What about doing cameos? I don't know. Is there anything in the budget for cameos? Yes or no? Probably not. Probably not. I don't... Yeah, I don't think so. I think that's the news. Shall we talk about some rumours? Oh, here we go. Oh, yes. I put this forward to you last night in that... It's obvious we need a winger, at least. We need at least one winger. Currently, we've only got Luke Morgan and Keenan Giles and Harry Houston, which is not enough, to be honest. Yes, the Hopkins will play the winger, but he's a fullback. So I was sent a rumour that we have apparently signed a player from Nottingham University to play in the Bucks Super Rugby. Now, I did some digging into this, and I have identified a player who I think it could be. Again, this is just a rumour. There is no validity to this. As far as I know, that's a horseshit. The player in question is Connor Moyes, who is a winger. I think he can play fullback as well. He does look a bit 13. He has a strike rate of about 25 tries for 50 games in a struggling Nottingham side, which is very, very good. He's a big lad, breaks tackle as well, and has good defence. He seems a very Toby Booth signing. If it is him, he has played most recently for the England university side against France, where they narrowly lost 48-46 or something like that, which is a very good standing rugby. There have been some great players who have played in that team over the years. If that is true, then that's a very good signing, or could be a very good signing. Obviously, he could be crap, but university teams are getting better and better. The standard is better. Their S&C is great, so it could be great. The other one is that we are maybe side-indebted, just in case we need to fight for Scarlett's player next year. Who wants it? He just wants it. I've never met a player who wanted it more. I will never forget the disallowed try in the last minute of that game, and instead of going to see if the try was scored, he just went and squared up to Joe Roberts, my hero. Justin, thoughts on any of the back three players that you think we could sign? That's quite a tough question when you are thinking of all the budgets and things. There's a lot of back three players out there that you really want. If Caleb Clarke wanted to join the Ospreys, for example, feel free. If Willie Roo wants a year of full-back, he can come along as well, but that's obviously not going to fit in the budget. It's tough for them, isn't it? You've got the likes of Giles, Morgan, Houston, who can all play wing. Then you've got Destin Hopkins and Nagy, who can play wing, but you see them more as full-backs. So maybe it could be a really good opportunity for someone from the university level to step up, which as you mentioned, it could be someone like Conor Moyes. I think Kasendi is one of those. You've watched him on his debut. It's all well and good. He played rather well, but what he's like over a period of games, we don't know. That Scarlet side, let's not beat around the bush, that Scarlet side wasn't very brilliant that Sunday afternoon. But in fairness to Kasendi, he stepped up and played well and it looked like he really did care, which is a positive. But it depends on what he's like after two games, after three games, the consecutive run of games, to see what he's like. It would be nice to see him back, I suppose. It wouldn't be one of those in the pub quiz that you see 20 years' time of a winger from the Cheetahs that played once for the Ospreys. Could you name who he is? Twice. Oh yeah, I forgot. Pinched against the Dragon, but we don't talk about that game. One start for the Ospreys and if you want to avoid it, the better. But yeah, if he did come and stayed a little bit longer, it kind of removes the pub quiz then because you play more games. Yeah, Sam Larner did a very good stretch for us about wingers. That would be great for the Ospreys. And then Cardiff Einstein, one of the bastards. They went and said he went to Stevens from Newcastle, son of Colin Stevens, former Knackley flyer. So yeah, we're stalling the time here because we don't want to talk about the game. And actually, we won't talk much about it at all. I have been messaged by Robbie to say that Scarlets were an answer and pointless tonight. And what's the pointless answer? Apparently, I just read something on Twitter about the most popular rugby side or something along those lines. I don't know what the question is. Rugby union teams and they have to fill in the blanks. So the teams were Saracens, Glasgow Warriors, Munsters, Scarlets and Northampton Saints. So Saracens got 32, which is fair enough. They're a London team, quite big. Glasgow got 12. You can probably do that out of context with the letters they've given you. Munster 16, Northampton 10 and Scarlet 0. I have nothing else to add. There's a very unfunny joke to be put in there, isn't there? Well, some might find it funny, but I'm sure some won't. And if I said that, I'd probably end all future career aspects and hopes that I'd have. Yeah, shall we talk about the game? Oh, we may as well. There's a little bit to talk about, I suppose. Yeah, right. So let's talk. The first half was great. Yeah, it was OK. I think from a competitive standpoint, it was great. I've seen a lot worse 40 minutes by the Ospreys in previous times. We looked competitive, probably a bit rusty to begin with, going 14-0 down, but then having the tenacity to come back with two good attacking opportunities that we converted. Yeah, you could probably say we got lucky a little bit more than one, but I believe we had a penalty anyway. Yeah, we did. I think there was some advantage. Yeah, so I think there was enough to build on from that first half to be happy about. I thought in that first half, Morris carried well. Ruben Contreras again. Dan Edwards was really good in that first half in particular. Nagy was good, maybe not on the turn, so maybe he probably looked a bit slow on the turn there. Brian Hiberno will be livid. Yeah, and then the second half happened, but as I tweeted, I will say this again, I will say this with my chest. We just got Leinster. Leinster, no matter what team they're playing, will smother you and then kill you in transition. That's what they do. They're really, really good at. And it really helps when you're able to bring on Jack Coleman, Charlie Nattai, Dan Sheehan, James Gibson-Park. To be able to bring them players on is a blessing, and more power to them if they're able to do that. As much as they're a Llanberis team, so maybe having better squads and more money, fantastic they're able to do that. And if we could do it, we absolutely would. Let's not beat around the bush. If we could go out and sign Jason Jenkins or John Ball. We would. Let's not take the moral high ground and say we would. We absolutely would, but we can't. And we've just come off a South Africa tour, where we conceded 60 and then we had three days of training and then we're flying back to Leinster where we took 60 again. It's tough. We look tired. I've been saying this all season, but Scarlett fans are complaining at the start of the season that they have to go up to face the Stormers in the bowls and then face Leinster away all in like a block of three weeks. Well guess what lads, we did the same. It's tough. We just look tired. I don't know what more there is to say. I think the only positive out of it from that block of games, you know, probably the start of the season when you looked at it, nobody gave us much of a chance to be, well, one, where we are, and two, to get any sort of point out of it. And it's obviously rather demoralising when you've conceded 120-odd points in two matches and it's the first time the Ospreys have conceded 60 points in a game and then they do it twice in two weeks, which is rather unfortunate. But to come out of those three games, very tricky games, and to get five points out of, you know, not many sides are doing that, let alone any of the Welsh sides with the budget restrictions, because any team will go out there to face the Storm as a really angry bull side and Leinster first. And it was probably rather pleasing to see all three of those sides, well, arguably their strongest side possible. And, you know, you just got to live with it. That's the level that you have to aim at, to be a top side. And, you know, whilst looking at the result, you think, oh, it's a long way to go. But if you look at the first half against Leinster, for example, you kind of see the progression a little bit. Of course, it kind of stings a little bit after a few years ago where we went up there and won in Leinster, which was probably a bit of a shock result. But that wasn't Leinster's first team, you know, there was the Six Nations going on and probably Leinster, probably the rest of the two players that night. And, you know, the Leinster side that we saw last Saturday, you know, it's very rare to see someone like Andrew Porter playing in the URC. It's very rare to see someone like Tag Berlon playing in the URC. You know, two very good props, despite my own opinions on Andrew Porter, but I'll probably leave that off the record. But, yeah, it's, you know, it's one of those, you know, they had both O'Brien brothers back and Jimmy looked rather sharp. And Jordan Lama looked rather good as well. And, you know, despite, you know, you can do anything to try and stop it, but nine times out of 10, the Leinster side are just going to steamroll you over and you're just going to be trying to cling on as much as you can. But it was also very good to see Jack Morgan back playing rugby again for the first time since December. It was also good to see Dewey Lake play as his first start since, well, since Open Yarn January. So, yeah, you know, little bit of green shoots, but obviously when you look at the result and, you know, how things kind of went as the second half went on, he kind of had a little bit of a sting, but, you know, there's two games left. There's still a glimmer of hope for top eight as unlikely it is. But, yeah, you know, you've just got to, you know, Tuba Ruth probably said this at some point, dust yourself off, lick your wounds and go again. And, you know, it needs to be a bit of a response because there's another Worlds derby coming up and it's the last one game of the season. So, it's certainly not a time to be all upset and negative about things. You know, top eight is somehow still in reach and results, if results go your way this week, they might go your way next week. And if you get 10 points out in the last two games, it's anyone's business. Yeah, absolutely. And the Ospreys know that that's not their standard, right? The players know that's not a standard that they demand. And Cuthbert said this on the Sports in Wales podcast this week. I don't know if you've listened to it, have you? No, I haven't. It's not a bad listener. It's only Cuthbert, Geraint Hardy and Shane Williams on this week. And they were saying he said that Mark Jones gave a bit of a bollocky, which is absolutely fair because in professional sport, you cannot concede that many points two weeks in a row. And no Ospreys fan is excusing that. There's a lot of reasons behind it, absolutely, but no Ospreys fan is excusing 60 points. What we can control is our performance next week. The last couple of games at the Stadium, we had what? I'm going to talk about one of them, a good player, but the one we had a good one last year. Yesterday was his first ever try. Jack Walsh being physically abused. And then the year, the one before that was Morgan Morissette, if I remember rightly. Jack Morgan just kept in and balls over, but for fun that game. I don't know anything more to say on that game. Yeah, just just Lancer are good and if he doesn't... Caelan Dorris cheats at rucks a bit. Well, yeah, I don't know how much we can mention all that. But if Lancer or Bills don't win the ULC, then something's gone wrong, let's just say. If Lancer or Bills don't win the ULC, then something's gone wrong, let's just say. Yeah, no, absolutely, yeah. If Lancer, yeah, I'm in awe of how they play and how they're so efficient. If they don't do the double, I'll be very, very shocked. Well, I'm going to punt my other little say in that, I suppose. I just, Lancer just look a different, they look different gravy. Yeah, and it looks like their first team are going to have match fitness behind them as well, so... Well, it's always Ryan to say that he wants it this weekend. Well, sure. Yeah, against like the picky pitons of Ulster. I actually dread what they're going to do as Ulster on the weekend. The Ulster who are in crisis season, but who are in ULC playoffs, like wow, we're a crisis season. Yeah. Oh, look at us, we're saying we're in a cop, we're in a crisis. Yeah, but then there's other teams in crisis season, they pick up two wins in the entire season. Pathetic. Right, who's a good player? We may as well. I've just remembered who's on the bench for this game as well. Well, I've chosen two. Oh. So we're going for the two games today. So originally, Dragon's Lair podcast tweeted in the week to say the last time, so the last time Dragon's Lair won at the Ospreys was... Was with Dave Flanagan was at 10 for the Ospreys. So let's have a look at... Let's have a look at... Let's have a look at Dan Evans scoring four tries against the Dragons. Now, do you remember what the score was of this game? There was a couple of tries in this. Because the Dragons scored... Well, the Ospreys scored first and the Dragons scored two tries out of nothing. They did. And then Dan Evans happens. Is this something like 29-17 or something like that? 29-20. Wasn't that far off. So in a game with four tries scored by one person, you expect a bit more points, but we kept it. So as I've alluded to, this game is with Dan Evans to say that score four tries in the game. But I think we should go through the teams. Do you want home or away first? Away first. Loose head was Brock Harris. Yeah, good player. I'm still going. Good player, yeah. 39, another one-year deal. Yeah, he's just good. Pucker, Richard Hibbard. Remember him? Yeah, solid. And rumoured to be very good in rugby league as well, but I don't know. He played for Aberavon Fighting Irish. And that kind of thing. And Hitchard Ribard or something like that. Very nice man. Actually, a really, really nice man when I met him. Was very involved with Aberavon Queen's and Aberavon Green Spurs. Really involved with rugby in the area. Obviously, came from a tight back. Just loves Patel. But, you know, he went away and made money playing at Gloucester. Made good money. Always, you know, it always shocks me how old he... Not old, but how much older he is than I remember him as being, you know. So, good player. Leon Brown at three. Yeah, this was just before he was carving up angles from nowhere and scoring tries against the Ospreys. Yeah, oh my God. There was a period with the COVID pandemic in the middle where he just scored tries against the Ospreys. But, yeah, okay. Got very unfortunate with injuries, didn't he? Yeah. Um, it looks like he's staying at the Tigers, which is a gamble. Um, it's a gamble, I don't like, but we'll see. Max Williams at four. I remember everyone was trying to hype Max Williams. Yeah, there was a lot of talk about him at the time and... I really liked him. Yeah, he looked quite tidy every time he saw him play, but everyone was keeping... He matches the Dragons. So, at four, Max Williams. A good player. Obviously, really happy with injuries. A lot of hype around him when he first came through. Big lad. I think he's about six foot eight or something like that. I don't think he's six foot six, but... Yeah, there's a lot of talk about him. Lots of talk about him at the time and, sadly, he never came through a through shirt. Yeah. You know, couldn't have been a really good player. At five, Matthew Streech. There's a player who's talked about a lot, but maybe not in the best of ways. They'll go in, I suppose-ish. We'll see what club he's playing for next season, yeah. I think he's still at the Dragons, I think. Right, okay. 183 matches for the Dragons. Got a Wales cap, of course. What was that against? Who was that against? 2021. Argentina, I think. Oh, he was, yeah. And he lost as well. Because a certain Mr Beard got called up to the Lions tour. Of course, yeah. Oh, God. So it is Adam Beard's fault. Haha, if you want to put it that way, then you can. Probably the best back row of the Dragons I've ever had. So, at six, Aaron Wainwright. Solid. Good. So, yes, but Aaron Wainwright in this period wasn't at his best. Because he was being messed around by- No, this was pre-World Cup, wasn't it? No, this was 2019. Oh, pre-World Cup. Oh, yeah, this was, yeah, he was 18. Wales had just won a Grand Slam and Prodigy had kind of blown away. Sorry, no. Ignore what I was saying. Aaron Wainwright was about to have the tournament of his life. Haha, the Congo Cup. Yeah. It's the next thing where he was in a bad form. Or being messed around, I should say. Yeah, Aaron Wainwright was in the form of his life, yeah. Really, really good. Tame Basham of seven. Not a seven. Stop playing him there. Solid, I suppose. I like Tame Basham. Yeah, I think he's a character. He's a proper Newport boy. He's only 24. Yeah. But it just seems that he might have one blaring error at any given time. And you just don't know when it's going to happen. It could happen, like, on Saturday. It could happen right at the end of the season. It could happen towards the ORC game of the next years. But- His head goes in the hole, doesn't it? I do. I think when that happens. And then Ross Moriarty at eight. Didn't get a yellow card, as far as I know, in this game. One of the, well, one of the future few that targeted Jack Wilson. Yeah, well, we'll come on to that in a bit. But yeah, he played this game. Was good for the Dragons, really good. I know Jamie really misses him. And he probably should, because they probably haven't replaced that grunt in the back row. Yeah. So one of the tray scorers now, Roger Williams. And his stupid hair. The interception was rather good. And the fact that Tip Brooke nearly caught up with him was even better-ish. But he did really well to finish it, actually. Roger Williams? Yeah, it seems like every time I see him play, you think he should be in the first team for the Dragons. But then you've kind of watched in black over the last couple of weeks. And you're like, ah, that might be why. I think Roger Williams might have an injury of some sort. But yeah, solid player. He's a good football player as well. He's played 53 games for the Scarlets. People forget that, I think. Sometimes he started at the Scarlets. Then went to Bristol. Then came to Dragons, you know. Yeah. So a good player. Really liked him. Really dependable. Solid. Nine. Played, what, four matches for Wales? Three matches for Wales, I think. Yeah. I think I'd be... Yeah. Solid. Gym work. And yeah, always popped up. And played rather well. Whenever Welsh derby kind of ruled the ground. Dependable, I think, is the best way to say. Really, really dependable. Solid. And that shows, I think, in his appearances. So 83 for the Dragons. 37 for Edinburgh. 30 for Cardiff. And you look at them. He didn't start, really, for Cardiff. He's come off the bench a lot. Didn't start for Edinburgh. Come off the bench a lot. But then started 75% time for the Dragons. So yeah, good player. Great on the interview as well. Funny. Good follow on Twitter. Then the next race for a Hallamay match. Yeah, this was before he joined Cardiff. Pre-Cardiff, yeah. Pre-Edinburgh, beating me a doctor. And yeah, it's kind of... Well, before his hat-trick of disallowed tries against you, required my dad. And... Shocking. And kind of gets a bit of an easy one, this one, I felt. Yeah. This guy's a little bit soft. But no, Ian. Any good winger's there to pick it up and score, isn't he? Now, a man who I have no memory of whatsoever. Do you remember this man? He was at 12. No. I'm confused how it's not Jack Dixon. Yeah, it's Jared Sage. Jared Sage. Exactly. I... He played 29 games. I think he must have retired to injury. He didn't play a game after the season. In the 1890 season. So, he played one game for the Kings, and then moved to the Dragons. From the Kings? Oh, um... I have no idea if the Dragons went on loan to the Kings, and then came back to the Dragons. That's an interesting career path. You really are. Imagine... You've gone from Newport to Port Elizabeth, back to Newport. You can kind of now half-ish start a seven-side with players that have played for the Dragons and Southern Kings. So, yeah, he played. That didn't look quite good. Partnering him was Taylor Morgan. Yeah, good player. Legend. Quite like him, yeah. Played every round of Rugby for Beeritz this year. No, he's missed a few. But a good player. Like him. Yeah, I'm glad to see he's still playing in the wild second division of the French League. Would never have had him, Jonathan Joseph and Vansel Martin playing in the same team. No, you wouldn't really, would you? Unless you were doing some niche career in Rugby Channel. Yeah, that's some... I've simmed in Rugby Channel too. And you've somehow managed to get an AI player called Taylor Morgan, because he probably wouldn't have been on the game. Jared Rosser would have been about 19 in this game. 26 now. Yeah, very young Jared Rosser. Jared Rosser, 19 in this game. This... Is this before... Oh, no, this is after the one where you get that vicious bout. Morgan gets that vicious bout and he just picks up and scores. Oh, Gordon Williams at Fulbrook. Again, somehow only 30. Yeah, it feels like he's been around for a long time and... Obviously, famous for that. Match against New Zealand, the Baby Blacks in the under-20s World Cup. With Sam Davis, you know, junior world player of the year at 10. He's got his one cap for Wales, hasn't he? In 2013-14, somehow. I'd... Look, I always say I'm not a fan of Jordan Williams at all. He scored at Trollhäuser, didn't he? He did score at Trollhäuser. Away from the Osprey's back line. Yeah. Let's go quickly through the benchers. This is an interesting bench. Rhys Lawrence at 16. Vague memory of him. Yeah, vague memory. Josh Reynolds at 17. Who I actually don't mind. Yeah, he's okay. I'm pretty sure he's still... He would have been young. He would have been like 18 in this game. He still feels rather young now. But I think he's still going along in the Welsh Premier League. He's got against Ponty. Who's he got, I think? Yeah. Plays for Newport on the weekends. Yeah, yeah. The Cornish Barrel, Lloyd Fairbrother. The second person of the Jack Walsh assault thing. Joe Davies at 19. A solid regional player. Yeah, I'm not his biggest fan, if I'm being brutally honest. But if you've made 100 appearances for a region, then... Yeah. As a matter of fact, I have no memory of Lennon Greganes. I've heard of him. He's played for Newport a bit in the last Prem. And I think somewhere else as well. Yes, solid. Never kind of made it at a regional level, but solid. Quite frankly, hateful deal of Tavis Nolan, Josh Lewis. Tavis Nolan's still knocking around your seven sisters this season. Yeah, yeah. Josh Lewis was rumoured to be coming to us last year. Joined Merthyr instead. And... And will not be playing in the EDC. And then former Ospreay Dav Howells. Again, this time he's only 29 years old. He's been around the clubs. I'm pretty sure he's trained for Nick Rodden this season as well. Yeah, awful injury. Played for Abercrave as well, I believe. Yeah. Problems. Really talented player that obviously held the record at one point for fastest try ever. Against Fiji in the 20s. So very quickly, going through the Ospreay squad, then we won't comment on many of them apart from the obvious one. So Nicky Smith, Scott Morgan, Tom Boater. Good front row. Adam Beard, Bradley Davis. Yeah, Adam Beard has been the form of his life at this point. No, he was one of Gatlin's favourites. Yeah, wouldn't be in the form of his life, but... He's in his undergraduary era. Just come back of him off the back of a Six Nations Grand Slam where the other second row got injured against Ireland. James King and Justin Tipperick. Yeah, James King is always solid as ever. Probably pinched a lane out of three in this game as well, but... Yeah. Face Charles Dunking, Adelaide Davis, and I got kicked by a sheep... No, I got kicked by a cow and got stuck in my tractor with Price. Played for Abercrave on the weekend as well. Scored on the weekend as well. Good, he did score. Yeah, you are right. Wingers of Dirksen and Giles. Great. Good. And Corey Allen, obviously future dragon. Yeah, solid centre forward. Did Corey Allen even play for the Dragons? I know he obviously joined the Dragons. Did he make an appearance or did he never make it in terms of... I don't think he did. I'm pretty sure he's one of those that joined but didn't play. Yeah, I've never played. His last game of rugby is nearly five years ago. That is hairy. Was this game, I think. No, it's the game... Oh, sorry, it was just his after. Yeah, it's the game against Ulster where he gets injured about half an hour. And then, of course, full-back, the greatest reasonable player to only ever get one cap in Ben 11s. Yeah, it kind of felt like he was out of... not out of form but he kind of felt like he missed his chance for Welsh selection and all of a sudden he went on this mental scoring run where he scored something like eight tries or something in three games because we had the South Africa tour right next to it and he scored a hat-trick against the Kings. We signed him on the back of the season where he made 21 appearances and scored three tries for the Dragons. And then a couple of seasons later he's scoring six tries in three Champions Cup. And then, yeah, he's just gone mental, you know. Obviously, the season before he'd scored 10 tries of the year. Just unreal player. He had the hips, he had the pace, he had the mouse that cut them angles and things. He's just so, so big. Yeah, this was obviously before he kicked Teddy Tomar in the head as well. I still remember I was getting a hot dog. I was in a concert somewhere and I had to miss the game. I was some sort of... Yes, he was actually stood next to me or the next person across. Yeah, he was there. Scott Ogden, Jordan Lee, Matthew Fear. Jordan Lee, yes. Still going. Still somehow playing for the Blues. I still really want him to be like a short-term signing next season, just to play another game, just to add it to that tally. Somehow has five Ospreys caps. One of them was against Ulster in the game. They ended 0-0 in Bridgend as well. That's such a weird one. Lloyd Ashley at the lock, good player. Sam Ross, who got released by Newcastle today. Solid and really unfortunate news at the same time. Yeah, he was in a struggle in Newcastle this year as well. Yeah, reading up on a few supporters' comments earlier, and they seem to have really liked him up there. So, yeah, good friend. Matthew Albury, Sam Davis and Luke Morgan. Yeah, it's pretty standard for the time. Yeah, Sam Davis coming off the bench for this period of time. He made the hat-drift try, I think, or the... And that brings us to the most recent Swans.com-based Ospreys-Dragons game. Oh, this is last season. Yeah, which finished 37-18. This is pre-Saracens. This is before Ethan Bruce's mental games. 25th of March, 2023. I remember it was a very sunny day. I was watching Pompfrey against Newport in Bridgend in the Welsh Premiership Cup semi-final. And that's the game. It was what we now know as Adam and Jo's last home game for the Ospreys. Well, not officially, because the leavers list from last season hasn't been announced. Still on the books at the Ospreys. It was his last home game for the Ospreys. Kevin Michael Collins. In which he had a stormer, actually. He rolled back the years in this game. Off-loads, darted up the wing. So let's start with the Dragons again. So we had Roger Jones, Elliot Dee, and Lloyd Fairbrother. Roger Jones had a torrid time in this game. He seemed quite good last week, actually, when watching the Dragons. For some reason, whenever he plays us, apart from this game, he turns into, like, Tony Whitcock. Like, he's just, yeah. He's a good player. He's a really unsung hero. Yeah, he's played quite a lot of professional rugby, so he must be doing something, right? No, he's got 24 Wales caps, played 83 times for the Ospreys, 38 for the Scarlets, 30 for the Dragons, you know. So he's been around the block, you know, playing a lot of regional rugby. Elliot Dee was in good form at this point. He's probably being looked at for that summer squad. Come back from injury, I believe. Just came back from injury, yeah. Yes, would have come back from injury. Yeah, the week before he came back from injury, missed quite a few games, but was still good. He's still Elliot Dee in that regard. And then Lloyd Fairbrother, who should have got yellow card in this game, but didn't, so he started. Yeah, he's the problem. So, for those who don't know, what Trent said was that Byron Flanagan had said to his team to go out and basically let Jack Walsh know that he's a young 10 that needed pressure. Dragons players took that, let's go kill Jack Walsh. So, in the 20th odd minute, Jack Walsh gets hit off the ball by Lloyd Fairbrother, and he's still a penalty in, which I believe he kicks. So, we move into the second row, Lonsdale and George Knott. Good, yeah. When they're playing second rows, they're very good. Ross Moriarty, Harry Keddy and Olly Griffiths, great back row. Good back row, but not as good as the last one we just looked at. I agree. Ooh, Ross Moriarty got yellowed. So, the best bit, I was at the stadium, so I wasn't listening to comms or anything, so I had to watch this game back, and on the premier spot, I'll buy it, whatever it was, Tom Shanklin was on commentary with whoever it was, I think Breece AP Williams. And you get to the scrum in which he leaves his yellow card, and Tom Shanklin was talking him up, saying that Ross Moriarty is exactly what Wales need this season, this summer, big physical ball carrier, not compromising, blah, blah, blah, and then he literally goes and gives away the most heinous yellow card they've ever seen. Probably, you know, it'll take a few inches, could have been a red. So, and it was just the most poetic timing ever. So, he did not have his best game, so to say. So, we move into the back, so Roger Williams again, and Will Reid. I do like Will Reid. I love Will Reid, I like Will Reid. Bit of earmarks by Kaplan as well, which is always good. Ashton Hewitt on the one wing, my granddad's an East Stratford player, believe it or not, because he injured Keelan Giles. I don't know if Ashton Hewitt really meant it, but still good for Sacco. Good player, yeah, agree. Good bloke as well. Just really, really good egg. He's just that really unfortunate incident, isn't he? Yeah. Jack Hughes, good player. Liking the Dragons. Sio Tomkinson, who I like Sio Tomkinson, right? I was a big fan of, yeah. One of the worst red cards I've ever seen in my life. I was a big fan of Tomkinson of the Highlanders. I remember during COVID when they just started, right, then they said, oh, that person's really good. Then you see that he's joined the Dragons, and my jaw just dropped everywhere, thinking, oh my word, this is going to change the way the Welsh rugby's going to be, because you watch rugby, and you think, oh, he's really good. And they come to Wales, and you're thinking, right, he's going to do something. But it wasn't the impact I really had in mind, that he was going to nearly take Jack Walsh's head off. But yeah, and he's leaving at the end of the season as well, so it didn't really work out for Tomkinson. So yeah, it's just a good guy. I like him a lot. But it was one of the worst. And I said when it happened as well, that I was like, oh my goodness, that's a red. That's a red. Jordan Williams, I'm wondering, he'll got quite an easy try, because the bounce is just all bounced up into his hand. And then Angus O'Brien at fullback, who I quite like. I like his re-sign with the Dragons as well. Yeah. Horrible injury. Luck. Then we get to Bradley Roberts on the bench. Not really working for Bradley Roberts. A fine player. I remember when he got called off to Wales, and then the week after, he had to play for Ulster in Swansea. Yeah. He didn't have the best of afternoons then, actually. Yeah, in that horrible game, wasn't it? Well, it wasn't that horrible. The Ospreys won. No, but it was a horrible game to watch. Like, it was just... Yeah, Luke Mulden takes a high ball in about four minutes to go, and that was like the highlight of the match. Dooley and Chris Coleman. Not great. They're okay. He was all right, weren't he? Yeah, one of those that you kind of... Where's he, Taylor, now? Didn't he go up north? Why have I just made that up? North America. Oh, is he? CL Seawolves, baby. Give that man a star. That's it. He was at Bedford Blues, though, so yeah, he did go sort of like that. I thought I just assumed he was the type of person that strikes me and would go up to RGC for you, and then just, like... Then become, like, a quantity surveyor or something. Aaron Wainwright came off the bench. He came on quite early, if I remember. Yeah. It's 36 minutes, yeah. 36 minutes he came on. Has someone, one of... I haven't met Griffith. Barney Griffith, Scottie Duggan. Yeah. I believe we scored... Yeah, so he came on. His first involvement was watching Dan Lydia go off for his strike. Well, that's not the impact he had in mind. Yeah. Aaron Wainwright, Tame Basham. That's a 6-2 split. Posh. Tame Basham. Ryan 21. Lewis Jones. And then Max Clarke. Another one I didn't really work out for, did it? No, I actually quite liked Max Clarke at Bath. He's bleached his hair and joined Cardiff, so, yeah, make of that what you will. Watching these players succumb to this. So, the Osprey squad isn't too dissimilar to what you'd see in an Osprey squad now, to be honest, apart from one player I will cry at. There'll probably be a few changes to this one because of Max. Yeah. He came on in the corner. So, I think both the influence came in from 2018 onwards. So, Nicky Smith, Sam Harry, Tom Boater. Just realised this is a game where the second or test lane doesn't play in. How have we managed that? Yeah, so, it's a good front row. Standing in the front row all the time. Nicky Smith scored the opening try. Yeah, I think both last season and the season before, Nicky Smith scores the first Osprey's try of the match. It's so weird. I don't know how it works. That all started this game, obviously, in the absence of... Beard and Reese. Well, we were in our bomb squad phase at this point. Oh, yeah. So, we'll come on to that in a minute. So, he partnered Alwyn Jones, obviously, in this last game. That was a really good game as well. And a back row of Dan Lyddiot, who obviously scored and doesn't score. Ethan Roots. I miss you, Ethan. Come home, please. We miss you. Oh, we forgot to mention that in the news earlier. We're playing Exeter in pre-season. There we are. Yeah, so, James has got a plotting plan to take back Ethan Roots. I will. He'll probably set up a GoFundMe page in the future for donations. For my bail. For any following court cases that might appear. But, yeah, we're all going to Exeter to see Ethan Roots, probably. Morgan Morris scored because, of course, he did. He scored in pretty much all these games. Rupert Morgan Williams. Then, obviously, Jack Walsh, who I wasn't going to have to go off. At 43 minutes, because he got killed. Nick Morgan on one wing. Kieran Williams, who went over for the last Ospreay's try. Good try. Yeah, good try. Dewey let carry. He bounced one and then got the offloading. Yeah. Owen Watkin, George North, Justin Hopkins. Justin Hopkins scoring and then immediately coming up a cramp. Because he's an Ospreay, of course, he did. Now, Thomas Ben Warren. So, we're in our bomb squad phase here. I think Luke had just come back from injury. He had, yeah. Harry Deve Small. Do you know he has a double barrel surname? No, I didn't. His name is Harry Deve Small. Harry Clewelland Deve Small. That's something to note. Yeah. Luke Scully. So, Matthew Aubrey and Luke Scully. Luke Scully, who I, if I remember rightly, nailed a beautiful touchline conversion. Yeah, it's right next to the East Stand as well. East Stand in the right-hand corner as well, where you sit in there. Yeah, it was a beautiful touchline conversion. And then Michael Collins, who officially hasn't left the Ospreys. I'm sorry, he hasn't. Despite ripping it up in Japan, he has not left the Ospreys. He's not left the Ospreys. Followed us on Twitter. Hi, Michael. Liked your tweet the other day as well. He does. He likes a lot of my tweets. Big, big, big Michael fan. So, that was two Ospreys v Dragons games at the Swanstown Stadium. I don't really have much to say about the weekend. I don't know about you. Just going to be interesting to see, well, one, the reaction. Because if there is one, it could be very interesting to see what does happen. If the Ospreys go back into their own shell after a couple of disappointing results, or they just go full guns blazing and take it out on the Dragons, which would be rather harsh on the Dragons, but it could be that real confidence boost that they need to end the season. Well, last season, we didn't really have that, when after the Saris game, you went up to Edinburgh, didn't play very well and lost, and then didn't play very well and lost to Cardiff. You kind of hope there's some sort of reaction then. I think Ospreys supporters will probably want a little bit of reaction, because it's not nice to concede 120 points in two games, especially off the back of a Stormer's win, which kind of put us right back in the mix. But yeah, it's one of those, if there is a reaction, then good. If there's not and it goes wrong, then you're kind of like, oh well, the top eight wasn't really realistic. If you win, the top eight might be a small glimmer of hope, a chance back on. Yeah, the ultimate thing is we have to win. You know, I just want the win for us rather than the bonus. But I'd rather finish the season with, what, 10 wins? Finish with a 10-8 record. Yeah, three wins in Europe. I'll take 13 wins in the season. I think that's probably the best URC record as well, as in the URC since his inception, for our lot. Yeah, for our lot, yeah. Just to win, Brent Breaksphere is in the middle of his second URC game, made his debut against Edinburgh versus Zebra. Good to see a young Welsh referee. He obviously was, sorry, not him, we obviously had a debutant, I believe. Was it Arden Jones? It was Arden Jones from his debut against our lot. Osprey Scarlet. Was it the first game after Covid, or was it a Welsh derby? No, there were two games in this season. We hadn't won the Osprey Scarlet. Was it Steph Phillips that did Osprey Scarlet? Very good. That's all I remember. He was quite good in that, Osprey. No, it was that Nicky Sendickie. He told Nicky Smith, he asked Nicky Smith about if he was on a Sunday dinner because Nicky Smith complained of a reset scrum. No, he didn't do that. He did actually, it clearly caught into his head because he thanked Kieran Hardy for taking too long at a line-out, which was quite funny. So yeah, I don't think there's much more to talk about really. Just be interested to see what kind of selection as well, because, you know, there was a bit of change after the Stormers' win, which was rather emotional. Obviously the changing room is... I think we'll see Jack Morgan start. Yeah, it's really a good place. They're calling the Toby Booth after the Lancelot game, which is admittedly so. So, you know, be interested to see what he does. Will Deves come in? That is really interesting. Hopefully we're nearing a return of Fender as well. There was a Wheels Online article by Ben Jones. Yes. It's saying that he might be back for Dirgeman Play, which is very exciting. It's very, very exciting. So I think that's it. I am suspending more and more into darkness because I can't ask to put my lights on. You can find us on all the regular podcast platforms. You can find me at ospreys.ie on X. You can also follow me at jamesreece8 on my normal socials. You can follow Justin, Justin underscore Thomas21. You can follow Robbie, even though he's not here, at Squid Rugby and at Squidgy Goat. Check out his scrum video. It's excellent. What a video. As a Fender myself, it was great to see. No other news. We'll be back next week, hopefully with a full side to review the Dragons game. And there's no game the week after, is there? Can we talk about Lens against Sluice or something? Or is that out of bounds? But we might just have to do a bunch of good player episodes. Well, how many games have we got? That's the question. I could go and find a really obscure one again, like the Ospreys Dragons LV Cup of the week. Something like the Ospreys Cardiff game, the Anglo-Welsh Cup from 2018 or something like that. We'll find something. Well, I could bring out my breaking case of emergency one, which I will reveal to you on the group chat when I go and get the program. But we will have a look anyway. But we will be back next week. Give us a follow. And we shall see you soon. Bye. Thank you for listening to the Ospreys RE podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show. Please subscribe, rate and review wherever you listen to us, as it really helps to 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.