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Ospreys invoke spirit of Borussia Dortmund as they face URC 'juggernaut'
Ospreys coach Toby Booth is calling on his team to draw inspiration from Borussia Dortmund as they take on the Leinster “juggernaut” in Dublin.
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“We have surprised a few people in how we’ve gone this year, so it shows it still can be done. That’s the beauty of sport,” said Booth.
“You saw this week in the Champions League. Borussia Dortmund didn’t have a chance, according to everybody, but they find themselves in the final.”
Giving his verdict on Leinster, he said: “They are the juggernaut, aren’t they?
“They have got 60 odd players of the same calibre. So it doesn’t matter who wears the shirt.
“They have got the luxury of making selection choices, where others don’t necessarily.
“That’s the benefit of having deep pockets and deep squads. There is no complaining or whinging about it. It is what it is.
“You know Leinster are effectively a super power of the BKT URC and you know how difficult it is to match that. They have got a lot to play for and are a very, very good team.
“It’s very difficult to compete, but we have competed there before and we will compete there again and see where it takes us.”
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Booth’s team go into the weekend in tenth place in the URC table, but they are just four points off the play-offs, with Welsh derbies against the Dragons and Cardiff to follow their trip to the RDS.
“I know we have probably got to win two,” he said, looking at their three remaining fixtures.
“I think people are going to take points off each other. I am sure the sponsors are loving it because there is a lot on a lot of games.”
The Ospreys welcome back Wales flanker Jac Morgan after six months out following knee surgery, but fellow Test forward Adam Beard has picked up an ankle injury that will end his season and may well rule him out of the summer tour of Australia.
Openside Morgan is named among the replacements, while fellow World Cup captain Dewi Lake makes his first start since January at hooker after recovering from hamstring damage.
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Leinster show five changes from the side that beat Northampton 20-17 in the Champions Cup semi-final last weekend, with the likes of Josh van der Flier, Jamison Gibson-Park, Dan Sheehan and Jack Conan waiting in reserve on the bench.
Comments on RugbyPass
That is one helluva comeback!!! Hats off to the sheer bloody minded determination that must have taken. Hope he goes fantastically well at the T20 wc.
1 Go to commentsRayasi is now 7 or 8 years into his pro career, albeit one that started when he was young. At 27, as an outside back in NZ, he is probably closer to heading overseas than he is to the ABs. To get on the selectors radar he needs to have a great NPC, then another great SR campaign in 2025. Ben Lam was never really able to do that, he was a feast or famine type player. Three great games, then goes missing for the next 3.
11 Go to commentsDupont sees opportunities where there wasn’t one until he makes it so. Utter class.
1 Go to commentsThese are the guys that do the cohesion predictions? That will be a very interesting review and they have likely already told the Crusaders of their expections for them given such a young and inexperienced squad without all their injured and departed players. I wonder if any of that will get leaked out, perhaps only if the cohesion metric predicted such a season? Actually even that would like badly upon the backoffice, I suspect it likely we will never know what Gain Line Analytics made of this season now! Unless the PUs put its publication to vote?
12 Go to commentsCurrently across the super franchises the forwards choices for Robertson is in the luxury of the competitions depth for selection . However same can’t be said regarding selection of the backs, especially the inside backs. I believe that’s where his dilemma will be. If he can’t get mouanga for the start then he should forget him and move on.
30 Go to commentsIf they had another round up their sleeve then no doubt the sadas wouldv been top8. I say leave things alone and get into the next season I rekon the turn around will carry on.
12 Go to commentsSimilar to Arran Smith in his style of application.
5 Go to commentsSave your money. Just learn from the bad stuff and play better next year. Lost loads of key players and had half the team out broken for most of the season.
12 Go to commentsJosh Ioane has been great for opposition teams all season. The sooner the Chiefs unload him to MP the better.
11 Go to commentsMunster have very good back row stocks nowadays, lots of guys with very high potential. Okeke is unlucky not to get a contract. If he came along 10 years ago, he almost certainly would have. Could be very good for Coventry.
1 Go to commentsGreat article! Love that you point out so much that is positive, and back it up with quotes and clips.
1 Go to commentsNo scapegoats. No knee-jerk reactions. Just excuses in an expensive report under file 13. I’ll give the saders some free consulting - no planning after Razor. Just let things fall flat to rebuild. Easy.
12 Go to commentsJosh Bayliss was the early sub for Barbeary
1 Go to commentsHis deficiencies in defence must be major and beyond rebuilding because on attack he has a unique set of skills matched only by a combination of Mark Telea, Shaun Stevenson and Etene Nanai Seturo. His aerial and kicking game is next level and he displays a contempt for one on one situations. We've become obsessed with our no. 11 being a power weapon ignoring the better multi faceted option. Mark Telea is helping to change that mind set, Salesi Rayasi would advance that too.
11 Go to commentsWayne barnes should join the Queen
271 Go to commentsHope both you dirty mutts get cancer and die
41 Go to commentsOqueef was on the saffa pay roll , needs his head stomped
180 Go to commentsChiefs miss a tight 5 of serious grunt. Missing Guzzlers.scrum power and the Blues have spent the last.few yrs nicking their props. Will have to start better than recent matches to stop the Reds.
11 Go to commentsWith the civil war going on over in NZR you have to wonder if these guys can afford to throw money around on consulting firms? Consultants just going to charge them thousands for the privilege of telling them that the brain drain is hurting them, they played like pork chops & maybe some insights gleaned from reading the various rugby blog posts with a couple of graphs thrown in to dicky the report up. My suggestion is they forego the consultants and get a subscription to watch the URC, English Premiership, Top14 and EPCR competitions so that they can learn a bit from all the players and coaches that have left already NZ.
12 Go to commentsI am pleased about the progress of Canada and their recent success. What concerns me slightly is the the PWR league in England has become the breeding ground for other countries’ players with nearly half of Canada’s team playing there. Long term sustainability of good international teams depends on developing their own leagues and systems. They cannot rely upon England forever.
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