Off Topic Ospreys, Wales & BIL

Ospreys Rugby are delighted to announce the signing of tighthead Tom Botha from the start of next season, beating intense competition from a number of leading clubs to secure his signature.


He is the fourth new face confirmed ahead of the 2018/19 campaign and joins Wales stars Aled Davies and Scott Williams and Namibian international Lesley Klim in committing to the region.


Currently with the Ospreys’ Guinness PRO14 Conference A rivals, Toyota Cheetahs, the 27-year old from Stellenbosch will bring with him vast experience across not only the PRO14 but also Super Rugby, as well as the domestic game in South Africa in the Vodacom and Currie Cups, and also from a two year spell in France as a youngster.


Speaking after confirming his move to the Liberty Stadium, Botha said:


“I’m really excited to join the Ospreys. I enjoy the PRO14 more than Super Rugby as it’s based more on scrums, forwards mauling, stuff like that. I love all the forward related stuff, that’s the strong point of my game.


“I’ve actually spoken to a few of the South Africans who have played for the Ospreys, before I decided to sign, and they all said only good things. I can’t wait.”


Renowned in his homeland as a destructive scrummager, Botha stands 1.79m tall and weighs in at 110kg.


Having come through at Western Province as a youngster, Botha spent two years in France with Montpellier where he won a French ‘espoir’ U23 title, before returning to South Africa with Eastern Province Kings.


In 2016 he made his Super Rugby debut, playing 15 times for Southern Kings that season, before signing a two-year deal with Bloemfontein based Toyota Cheetahs.


Last year he made 10 Super Rugby appearances before the Cheetahs switched to the PRO14 and he has played in 16 of their 19 games in the competition this season including their 44-25 defeat of the Ospreys at the Free State Stadium in September.


Dan Griffiths, Rugby General Manager at the Ospreys, welcomed the signing of Botha, saying:


“Tom is somebody that we are excited about seeing in an Ospreys shirt. He has a wealth of experience playing and scrummaging against opposition from just about every major rugby nation. Working alongside Allen Clarke in an Ospreys environment he has the potential to be a great asset to the club.


“He is an aggressive scrummager who likes to attack the opposition and has acquitted himself very well with the Cheetahs since his arrival in the PRO14. He is a player that thrives on the challenge that comes with the setpiece in the Northern Hemisphere."


“There was considerable interest in his services so we are pleased that Tom has agreed to come to the Ospreys this summer and that he believes it is the right place for him.”


In addition to the four confirmed new signings, the Ospreys have also secured the services of 11 of the current squad since the start of 2018 including captain Alun Wyn Jones and five other Welsh internationals, Rhodri Jones, James King, Owen Watkin, Adam Beard and Sam Cross.


Olly Cracknell, Ma’afu Fia, Sam Parry and highly rated youngsters Will Jones and Reuben Morgan-Williams are the others to have signed new contracts.

 

We are going to be a force to be reckoned with next season i can feel it....

 

The new Coach will be announced shortly ...

 

Whispers that Ulster are in for Mallinder.....

 

Fleck and Mallinder both out of the running.

Good News About Coach

 

Just heard that Head Coach to be announced this evening - see last 2 words above....

 

Player announcement at 2pm today.......

 

George North it is!!

 

Good
News
About
Coach

GN = George North
AC = Allen Clarke

 

Well happy Allen Clarke has got the job on a permanent basis...The Irishman deserves the chance after significantly improving the teams fortunes as interim head coach.....

 

Very Happy George North is an Osprey...

 

Rugby,these days,is the same as football.Full of mercenaries chasing the cash.
No loyalty.

 

You can't beat a good rugby union game i love it.....I like watching Rugby League also. I can take it or leave it depending who's playing with football these days.....Far too much greed involved that has ruined the game and when it comes to fairness then that has gone out the window as far as i'm concerned...

 

Totally agree with you Dai on the football part, the money involved is obscene.

 

Lets see what happens about selling off wembley for £99m and should it happen let's see how much of it will go towards grassroots football....I hope it happens as grass roots are being starved of money with hundreds of football pitches being sold of to greedy developers and forcing clubs to close.....The FA should hang their heads in shame for not doing enough to help the grassroots development...

 

Ospreys team to play Ulster


The Ospreys team to play Ulster at Kingspan Stadium on Sunday at 15.05 is as follows:


15 Sam Davies

14 Jeff Hassler

13 Ashley Beck

12 Owen Watkin

11 Hanno Dirksen

10 Dan Biggar

9 Tom Habberfield


1 Nicky Smith

2 Scott Otten

3 Dmitri Arhip

4 Bradley Davies

5 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)

6 Dan Lydiate

7 Justin Tipuric

8 James King


REPLACEMENTS

16 Ifan Phillips

17 Rhodri Jones

18 Ma’afu Fia

19 Adam Beard

20 Sam Cross

21 Matthew Aubrey

22 Cory Allen

23 James Hook


The following players are unavailable for selection due to injury

Scott Baldwin - Foot

Dan Baker – Knee

Josh Cole – Knee

Olly Cracknell – Shoulder

Dan Evans - Foot

Kieron Fonotia - Hamstring

Keelan Giles – Knee

Hugh Gustafson - Achilles

Dafydd Howells - Shoulder

Paul James – Shoulder

Ben John – HIA

Will Jones – Ankle

Rob McCusker – Calf

Brian Mujati – Shoulder

Sam Parry - Chest

Rory Thornton – Shoulder

Rhys Webb – Knee

 

Where is George North ? Is he injured as well...

 

Still employed by Northampton - he joins us in the Summer

 

Well that's that. Very disappointing end to our season, Ulster beat us up.

Our frailties made Ulster, that's boring, fat boy rugby Ulster, look world class. We lacked intensity in both attack and defense, Ulster were quicker to the ball, sharper in mind and far too aggressive all over the pitch for our passive team to cope with. We were weak and clueless and deserved everything we got, which was a hiding.

Allen Clarke has been in charge for half the season but we've not improved at all, which doesn't bode well for next season imo.

I have a feeling that even with no European rugby to stretch the squad we are going to be even worse next year.

Next season we lose
Dmitri Arhip,
Ashley Beck,
Dan Biggar,
Kieron Fonotia,
Jeff Hassler,
Dafydd Howells,
Ben John,
Brendon Leonard,
Brian Mujati,
Eli Walker
and Rhys Webb.

We have signed
Scott Williams,
Aled Davies,
Lesley Klim (Doncaster),
Tom Botha (Cheetahs),
George North,
Gheorghe Gajion (Trelissac),
Guido Volpi (Narbone)
and Giorgi Nemsadze.

Of the new signings we wont see Williams, Aled Davies or North much due duel contracts, Girgi Nemsadze I'm looking forward to seeing, Botha is ok but the others are second division players.

 

Stumpy - neither Scott nor Aled are on NDCs.

The squad is Tandy’s not Clarkey’s.

We will have a new backs coach - Giles will be back, as will Baker.

Klim and Volpi could really surprise - whilst the Moldovan could really flourish and be a big player for us - in every sense!

Evans
Giles
Williams
Watkin
North
Davies
Davies

Smith
Often
Botha
Davies
AWJ
Lydiate
Volpi
Tips

That’s not too bad a team