Guide To The Ospreys

Thanks to the work of Ed Rowlands all Swans fans have a bit of knowledge on the teams that will be making a visit to the White Rock stadium. However, many fans may know very little of a team that will be playing there over 15 times. They are of course The Ospreys. The pros and cons of ground sharing have been discussed at length on the message board but what I will attempt to do here is give Swans fans an idea as to just who the Ospreys are.

The Ospreys were born in 2003 as a result of David Moffet's restructuring of professional rugby in Wales. The 9 Welsh Premiership clubs were trimmed down into 5 "regions", although that figure now stands at 4 due to the demise of the valleys based Celtic Warriors. The original clubs still exist alongside smaller clubs playing at a semi-professional level. The Ospreys playing staff were formed from the Neath and Swansea clubs and so were originally named Neath-Swansea Ospreys. This title was dropped however so that the team would be more representative of the whole region.

The 03/04 season was very much one of development for the side with little in the way of success. However after some wise transfer dealings in the summer the Ospreys became Celtic League Champions last season winning 16 of their 20 games and finishing 7 points ahead of closest rivals Munster. The major disappointment was in Europe where they where they failed to qualify from their Heineken Cup group, with Munster topping the group. Coach Lyn Jones installed confidence and their exciting style of play set the league alight, his youth policy has also paid dividends for the side with strong backup for when the stars go on international duty for Wales.

The Ospreys side is littered with star players. Starting with the front row which contains the instantly recognisable "hair bears". Duncan Jones with the blonde mop in the no1 shirt and Adam Jones with the brown mop wearing no3. The two are no relation but have similar playing styles, a much more mobile game than the traditional prop forward which suites the Ospreys well. It should also suit Wales well and expect both to be making a challenge for international spots. Completing what is a formidable front row is the captain Barry Williams, he is now retired from internationals but he is an experienced hooker (insert your own joke here) both with Wales and victorious Lions tour to South Africa in 1997.

Staying in the forwards, Australian born but Wales qualified lock Brent Cockbain is the side's "enforcer" (a euphemism for slightly hot headed) with bundles of aggression but also surprising skill levels. This combination has seen the shaven headed giant establish himself at international level and earn a late Lions call up over the summer. Youngster Jon Thomas burst on to the scene during the 2003 world cup and with his athleticism and versatility he will be a key performer for the Ospreys and will challenge for the Wales side. Finally the Ospreys can boast the star of this summer's ill-fated Lions tour to New Zealand in their ranks. Ryan Jones can instantly be recognised by his long hair flowing from out of his scrum cap and is immensely strong and makes a large number of tackles around the pitch.

Moving on to the more glamorous backs, the key player is without doubt Gavin Henson. You may have noticed that he is currently dating Charlotte Church and apparently he shaves his legs. On the pitch, the spiky haired fake tanned one is a very good player; he contributed 265 points last season. He can play at fly half, centre or full back but plays mainly at centre for Wales where he famously kicked the winning penalty against England in the 6 Nations. He is a fearsome tackler and has a very good kicking game. Henson & Church have been dubbed the Welsh Posh & Becks, but Ospreys fans refute this claim as Charlotte can sing and Gavin knows how to take penalties! Henson may hog the headlines but the man who will get the crowd on their feet most often at White Rock is Shane Williams. Another who played for the Lions, he scores tries at a phenomenal rate thanks to a mixture of pace and a deadly sidestep. He can be exposed in defence due to his lack of size but more worrying for Ospreys fans is his dodgy mullet.

This season the Ospreys will be playing home and away in the Celtic League along with the 4 Irish provinces, the 3 Scottish sides and the other 3 Welsh regions. They are Gwent Dragons, Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys main rivals Llanelli Scarlets. Irish sides Munster and Leinster will provide the stiffest competition for the Ospreys in this one although Cardiff could be an outside bet if they can sort themselves out off the field (sound familiar?). The draw for the Heineken Cup has not been kind to the Ospreys as they will face English giants Leicester who were runners up in England, Stade Francais last years runners up and another French side in Clermont Auvergne who have Welsh fly half Stephen Jones playing for them. Finally they will face West Country rivals Gloucester, Bristol and Bath in the controversial Anglo-Welsh Cup. The fact that Welsh teams entered this tournament almost caused the collapse of the Celtic League as our Celtic cousins were slightly put out by the Welsh sides looking for extra revenue and in their eyes undermining the Celtic League competition.

Some of you may have read this far and be asking why you should care about all this. I would say to you that the Ospreys are the rugby side for our region, which is what Swansea City should aim to be, drawing in support from all over West Glamorgan. They will give added exposure to White Rock and having a successful team there playing quality rugby every other Saturday cannot be bad. I would encourage all Swans fans to try and get to 1 or 2 games this season, the games in the Heineken Cup in particular will have great atmospheres and maybe you could persuade a few "O's" fans to come and watch the Swans in return. Their first fixture is a friendly on August 26 against English Champions London Wasps and the regular season starts soon after. The Ospreys are not a threat to Swansea City, and if we approach them with an open mind they can in fact be a lot of good.

Photo: Action Images

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