Dwyer's View

Ospreys the better side, but with sixteen men!

Liberty Stadium. Saturday, 23^rd January, 2010.

Ospreys produced an outstanding second half display to dash Leicester Tigers’ hopes for a Heineken Cup play-off position. However, the result remains clouded in controversy after it was discovered that the victors had, apparently inadvertently, played a part of the last quarter with a sixteenth player!

With the Tigers in full cry and desperately striving for the try which would bring them level, Lee Byrne - at that time on the field illegally – played a significant role in a huge defensive effort by the Ospreys. Although there is precedent for such an occurrence, on this occasion, the illegal player actually joined in the play and made a significant contribution to the outcome. [England played for 34 secs with a 16^th player during the 2003 RWC, but the illegal player made no contribution to the game.]

This is an extremely serious matter and the rugby world will eagerly await the deliberations of the European Rugby Cup officials. It’s not some new regulation that players are only permitted access to the playing field via the sideline official. There is no excuse whatsoever for the transgression by the Ospreys official or by Lee Byrne, a vastly experienced player. The incident calls for extreme action by the officials.

I have no doubt that Ospreys were the better team on the night, but, equally, I have no doubt that the Tigers could have conceivably scored but for the illegal play by the Ospreys. It a hellishly difficult decision for ERC, but they’ve made one or two of those in the recent past. They must bite the bullet and make another one. It won’t be enough, in my opinion, to fall back on to the laws of the game. They were not followed by the referee anyway, even after he was made aware of the transgression.

The European Rugby Cup is a highly professional competition in a highly professional game. It must be administered accordingly.

Anyway, back to the game, which was fantastic. It was played at tremendous pace and with great enterprise. The power of both defences would do justice to any international match. The result was in doubt until the final whistle.

The Ospreys played to their considerable potential, not a common occurrence, but the Tigers were well short of their recent excellent form. On attack the Ospreys always looked more dangerous than their opponents. Williams, Bowe and Hook were consistently major contributors with their speed and agility – indeed of both mind and foot – and it was significant that Bowe made the winning score from a delicate Hook grubber that was beautiful in its conception and execution. I will be surprised if Hook is not major contributor to Wales’ Six Nations efforts this year.

Up front, the Ospreys’ backrow rose to the occasion. This is the best that I have seen from Ryan Jones for some considerable time and is another boost for his national team’s imminent prospects. Jerry Collins continues to be a mainstay to his team’s performance and Marty Holah was simply gigantic. This may well have been his best-ever performance, certainly since he left New Zealand. There was no normal replacement for hooker Hibbard, and he responded with a huge 75 min performance which was full of power and impact.

Tigers, on the other hand, will be disappointed. Although they were in the contest until the end, they will know that they have played much better – and recently at that. Ben Youngs, a most promising scrum-half, was way off the pace. His kicking, along with that of a few of his team mates, was poor. His technique in the fundamentals of scrum-half play was disappointing in the extreme. He was way too slow with his pass and with his pace to the tackle contest. Accordingly, he was caught in possession, or had his pass disrupted, frequently. On other occasions, the clearing pass was left to a tight forward, with disastrous results. 

I continue to preach that quality technique is at the very core of ALL quality performance. Any departure must be detected and corrected by the coaching staff. Note: A scrum-half must NEVER have a back-swing on his pass!

Tigers’ team selection was also open to question. Castrogiovanni and Maugher on the bench for a crucial match! I don’t think so! If they were just returning from injury - I’m not sure – far better, by my reckoning, to ask them to give what they can from the start and then to be substituted by fit players. It seemed to me that the Tigers’ performance was frayed mentally and Liberty Stadium last Saturday was certainly no place for fragile minds. Vast experience in the international arena cannot be casually ignored and the Tigers sorely needed their steadying influence.

Moody (although outpointed by Holah), Crane and Parling all played well, but, in behind the pack, most of the plaudits belonged to the hosts.

P.S. I’m not at all sure that the blood bin was intended for a toe bleeding inside a boot. Not much chance of person-to-person blood contact there!

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