Ospreys (rugby team)

Ospreys

Union	Welsh Rugby Union
Founded	2003 (2003)
Location	Swansea, Wales
Ground(s)	Liberty Stadium (Capacity: 20,750)
Chairman	Geoff Atherton
Coach(es)	Steve Tandy
Captain(s)	Alun Wyn Jones
Most caps	Duncan Jones (221)
Top scorer	Dan Biggar (1,693)
Most tries	Shane Williams (57)
League(s)	Guinness Pro12
2013–14	5th
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.ospreysrugby.com

The Ospreys (Welsh: Y Gweilch), formerly the Neath-Swansea Ospreys ^[1] is one of the four professional rugby union teams from Wales. They compete in the Guinness Pro12 and the Heineken Cup. The team formed as a result of Neath RFC and Swansea RFC combining to create a new merged entity, as part of the new regional structure of Welsh rugby, that began in 2003. They are also affiliated with a number of local semi-professional and amateur clubs, including Welsh Premier Division sides Aberavon RFC, Bridgend Ravens, and original founding clubs Neath and Swansea. The regional area represented by the team has widely become known for rugby purposes as 'Ospreylia'.^[2]

Their main home ground is the Liberty Stadium, Swansea, although some smaller profile games have been played at the Brewery Field, Bridgend. Ospreys currently play in a black home strip, while the away strip is white and orange. The Ospreys logo consists of an image of an Osprey mask.

The Ospreys are the most successful team in the history of the Celtic League or Pro12 tournament, having won the competition four times. They also became the first and only Welsh regional team to beat a major touring side, defeating Australia 24–16 in 2006.^[3]

History

Infancy

On 24 July 2003 it was announced that the new team jointly representing Neath RFC and Swansea RFC would be known as the Neath-Swansea Ospreys.^[4] The Ospreys part of the team's name was inspired by the use of the bird as Swansea RFC's centenary badge.^[5] Former Neath RFC coach Lyn Jones was appointed as head coach, who named Scott Gibbs as the team's first ever captain.^[6] 5 September 2003 saw the region play their first ever competitive game, a 41–30 Celtic League home win over Irish province Ulster at The Gnoll in Neath.^[7] Leeds Tykes were the Ospreys' first ever Heineken Cup opponents, with the English team triumphing 29–20 on 7 December 2003.^[8] They struggled to recover from their opening defeat, finishing bottom of their pool, recording their only victory against the Tykes' at home in the final round at St. Helens.^[9] Domestically the Ospreys' did salvage some pride, avoiding becoming the lowest placed Welsh region, by pipping Cardiff Blues to fifth place in the Celtic League.^[10]

Following the demise of the Celtic Warriors region on 1 June 2004,^[11] Neath-Swansea Ospreys had their borders extended to cover much of the Bridgend and Ogmore areas to the east.^[12] However, for logistical reasons it was decided that no home games would be played at Bridgend RFC's Brewery Field.^[13] Former Warriors players David Bishop, Brent Cockbain, Ryan Jones and Sonny Parker were signed by the Ospreys'.

2004–2007

The 2004–2005 season saw significant on field improvement for the region. A capacity crowd of 10,280 were present at The Gnoll on 26 March 2005 to witness the Ospreys claim their first ever piece of silverware. A 29–12 win over Edinburgh, with two rounds of the competition still remaining, saw the team crowned Celtic League champions.^[14] However Impressive back to back wins over Harlequins were not enough to overcome Munster in the pool stages of that season's Heineken Cup. On 14 May 2005 it was announced that the 'Neath-Swansea' part of the team's name would be dropped, with them to be referred to as the Ospreys.^[1]

A growing sense of expectation surrounded the team heading into 2005–2006, an expectation they struggled to cope with, finishing a disappointing seventh in the Celtic League. A difficult Heineken Cup pool made up of tough opposition in Leicester Tigers, Stade Francais and ASM Clermont Auvergne proved too difficult, as they finished a distant third. A gutsy home victory over Stade ^[15] and a last gasp defeat to Leicester,^[16] did however offer some crumbs of comfort. In April 2006, it was announced that noted former New Zealand All Blacks scrum half Justin Marshall had signed to play for Ospreys.

The Ospreys won the Celtic League during the 2006/07 season, topping the league by a single point and taking the title with an away win at Borders. Winning the Celtic League for a second time meant the Ospreys were the first team to have won the Celtic League twice. In February 2008, the Ospreys provided 13 of the starting line-up for Wales in their Six Nations match against England, setting a new record for the number of players from one region playing for their national side. During the 2007/08 season the Ospreys reached Quarter-final of the Heineken Cup for the first time but unexpectedly lost to Saracens. The following week they won the EDF Energy Cup beating Leicester Tigers at Twickenham.

In November 2006 when it became apparent that Wales 'A' would not be able to face Australia midweek during their November tour, the Ospreys became the first Welsh region to play a major international side since regional rugby was introduced, a match they won 24–16.^[17] Following the win over the Wallabies, the term Ospreylia became ingrained in popular culture^[18][19][20] with it being adopted by the region and its supporters as a description of the geographical area covered by the region, with supporters known as Ospreylians. Peter Black, Assembly Member for south west Wales has declared himself as AM for Ospreylia on his own blog.^[21]

On 23 February 2007, the Ospreys played their first 'A' team match, against Newport-Gwent Dragons 'A' at Bridgend, which was the first 'A' match fixture for any of the Welsh regional sides. They lost the match 22–10. They have since gone on to play Worcester 'A' in April, a game which they lost 24–23 to an injury-time penalty.

2008–2011

In February 2008 Andrew Hore was appointed as the Ospreys as elite performance director. Previously Hore had been high performance manager with the New Zealand Rugby Union.^[22]

A disappointing fourth place finish in the Celtic League and a surprise Heineken Cup quarter-final exit to Saracens F.C. saw head coach Lyn Jones resign at the end of the 2007–2008 season, on 16 May 2008 Assistant Coach Sean Holley and forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys would continue as part of a new management structure being overseen by Andrew Hore, until a replacement could be found.^[23] Scott Johnson, the former Head Coach of the Welsh national team, and Attack Coach when Wales won the Six Nations Championship Grand Slam in 2005 for the first time in 27 years, was announced as Director of Coaching at the Ospreys on 29 January 2009.

On 21 April 2009, the Ospreys had six players included in the British and Irish Lions' squad for the 2009 South African tour: Lee Byrne (Fullback), Tommy Bowe and Shane Williams (Wings), Mike Phillips (Scrum Half), Alun-Wyn Jones (Lock) and Adam Jones (Prop). One notable omission however, was Wales and Ospreys captain Ryan Jones. The Ospreys announced the signing of former New Zealand All Blacks captain Jerry Collins on 9 May 2009.^[24] Collins had been a stalwart for the All Blacks, since 2004 but retired from international rugby in 2008.

A 29–28 defeat by Biarritz on 10 April 2010 dashed the team's hopes of a first ever Heineken Cup semi-final appearance. A late Nicky Walker try in San Sebastien proved in vain.^[25] However on 29 May 2010, the Ospreys won the 2009–10 Celtic League by defeating Leinster in the final by 17–12 at the RDS Arena in Dublin.^[26]

Following a wide-ranging review, Andrew Hore, previously elite performance director at the Ospreys, became on 26 April 2011 chief operations officer at the region.^[22]

2010–11 would not see the region reach the heights of the previous one. Despite winning all their home pool games in the Heineken Cup, a failure to win on the road proved costly, with Munster and Toulon progressing instead. Another win for Munster at Thomond Park on 14 May 2011, ended the Ospreys Celtic League aspirations at the semi-final stage.^[27]

2012–

Former player Steve Tandy was appointed as new Ospreys head coach on 15 February 2012 replacing Sean Holley in the role, as Scott Johnson also departed to take up a coaching role with Scotland.^[28] Both Holley and Johnson's final game as part of the coaching setup at the Liberty Stadium had been an 36–5 away loss to Biarritz, which marked the end of a Heineken Cup campaign that saw them again fail to win on their travels. New coach Tandy enjoyed a successful start to his tenure, winning eight of his first ten matches as full-time Head Coach, including winning the 2011–12 Pro12 following a 31–30 win over Leinster at the RDS, thanks to a late Shane Williams try in his final match for the region 29–30 and Dan Biggar adding a difficult conversion for the win 31–30.^[29]

Honours

• Celtic League/Magners League/Pro12:
  • Winners: 2004–05, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2011–12
• Anglo-Welsh Cup
  • Winners:2007–08
  • Runners:2006–07

Season records

Celtic League & Pro12

Season	Pos	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Bonus	Points
2003–04	5th	22	11	1	10	9	55
2004–05	1st	20	16	1	3	10	76
2005–06	7th	22	11	0	9	3	55[n 1]
2006–07	1st	20	14	0	6	8	64
2007–08	7th	18	6	1	11	11	37
2008–09	4th	18	11	0	7	8	52
2009–10	2nd	18	13	0	5	6	52
	Semi-final	Ospreys 20 – 15 Glasgow Warriors
	Grand Final	Leinster 12 – 17 Ospreys
2010–11	4th	22	12	1	9	13	63
	Semi-final	Munster 18 – 11 Ospreys
2011–12	2nd	22	16	1	5	5	71
	Semi-final	Ospreys 45 – 10 Munster
	Grand Final	Leinster 30 – 31 Ospreys
2012–13	5th	22	14	1	7	4	62
2013–14	5th	22	13	1	8	6	66
↑ 11 teams were involved in this season, so one team did not play each week and were awarded 4 points instead. Therefore, each team finished the season with 8 more points than the table would seem to warrant.

Celtic Cup

Season	Round	Match
2003–04	1st	Leinster 35 – 21 Neath-Swansea Ospreys

Heineken Cup

Season	Pool/Round	Pos	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Bonus	Points
2003–04	Pool 2	4th	6	1	0	5	0	4
2004–05	Pool 4	3rd	6	3	0	3	2	14
2005–06	Pool 4	3rd	6	2	0	4	1	9
2006–07	Pool 3	2nd	6	4	1	1	2	20
2007–08	Pool 2	2nd	6	5	0	1	1	21
	Quarter-final	Saracens 19 – 10 Ospreys
2008–09	Pool 3	2nd	6	4	0	2	4	20
	Quarter-final	Munster 43 – 9 Ospreys
2009–10	Pool 3	2nd	6	4	1	1	2	20
	Quarter-final	Biarritz Olympique 29 – 28 Ospreys
2010–11	Pool 3	3rd	6	3	0	3	2	14
2011–12	Pool 5	3rd	6	2	1	3	3	13
2012–13	Pool 2	3rd	6	2	1	3	2	12
2013–14	Pool 1	4th	6	1	0	5	1	5

Anglo-Welsh Cup

Season	Group/Round	Pos	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Bonus	Points
2005–06	Group A	3rd	3	1	0	2	2	6
2006–07	Group A	1st	3	3	0	0	2	14
	Semi-final	Ospreys 27 – 10 Cardiff Blues
	Final	Leicester Tigers 41 – 35 Ospreys
2007–08	Group C	1st	3	3	0	0	2	14
	Semi-final	Ospreys 30 – 3 Saracens
	Final	Ospreys 23 – 6 Leicester Tigers
2008–09	Group C	1st	3	2	0	1	2	10
	Semi-final	Gloucester 17 – 0 Ospreys
2009–10	Pool 1	4th	4	1	0	3	1	5
2010–11	Pool 4	3rd	4	3	0	1	2	14
2011–12	Pool 1	3rd	4	1	0	3	1	5
2012–13	Pool 4	3rd	4	1	0	3	2	6
2013–14	Pool 3	2nd	4	1	0	3	2	6

Home grounds

In their first two seasons, the Ospreys shared their home games between St Helen's (home ground of Swansea RFC) and The Gnoll (home ground of Neath RFC). Since their third season in 2005–06, they have played at the purpose-built 20,000 seat Liberty Stadium in Landore, Swansea, which is shared with Swansea City. The Liberty Stadium, with double the capacity of St Helen's, has seen a capacity crowd for the matches against international tourists Australia (1 November 2006^[30]) and against local rivals the Scarlets.^[31] On 12 November 2010 the team played their first competitive fixture at the Brewery Field home ground of Bridgend Ravens in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.^[32]

Current standings

Pro12 Table
	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Tries For	Tries Against	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
1	Glasgow Warriors (Q)	20	15	1	4	498	329	+169	58	30	8	0	70
2	Munster (Q)	20	14	1	5	508	317	+191	59	25	7	3	68
3	Ulster (Q)	20	14	1	5	491	317	+174	56	29	6	3	67
4	Ospreys (Q)	20	14	1	5	501	328	+173	48	27	6	2	66
5	Leinster	20	9	3	8	437	352	+85	48	37	7	4	53
6	Scarlets	20	9	3	8	419	369	+50	40	37	4	3	49
7	Edinburgh	20	10	1	9	371	364	+7	38	42	3	3	48
8	Connacht	20	9	1	10	387	385	+2	41	44	2	4	44
9	Newport Gwent Dragons	20	7	0	13	347	429	−82	33	46	3	6	37
10	Cardiff Blues	20	6	1	13	395	524	−129	41	55	2	2	30
11	Benetton Treviso	20	3	1	16	293	614	−321	32	78	2	2	18
12	Zebre	20	3	0	17	251	570	−319	25	69	0	3	15
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[33] number of matches won; the difference between points for and points against; the number of tries scored; the most points scored; the difference between tries for and tries against; the fewest number of red cards received; the fewest number of yellow cards received.
Green background (rows 1 to 4) are play-off places, and earn a place in the European Rugby Champions Cup. Blue background indicates teams outside the play-off places, that earn a place in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The top team from each country will qualify. Yellow background indicates the team that advances to a play-off semi-final against the seventh placed side from the Aviva Premiership, or the 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup winners if they have not already qualified for the competition.[34] Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the European Rugby Challenge Cup.

Current squad

2014-15 Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Scott Baldwin Hooker Wales Matthew Dwyer Hooker Wales Scott Otten Hooker Wales Sam Parry Hooker Wales Dmitri Arhip Prop Moldova Ryan Bevington Prop Wales Cai Griffiths Prop Wales Aaron Jarvis Prop Wales Duncan Jones Prop Wales Nicky Smith Prop Wales Tom Sloane Prop Wales Dan Suter Prop Wales Gareth Thomas Prop Wales Marc Thomas Prop Wales Nicky Thomas Prop Wales Rynier Bernardo Lock South Africa Tevita Cavubati Lock Fiji Lloyd Evans Lock Wales Rhodri Hughes Lock Wales Alun Wyn Jones * (c) Lock Wales Lloyd Peers Lock Wales De Kock Steenkamp Lock South Africa Rory Thornton Lock Wales Tyler Ardron Flanker Canada Adam Beard Flanker Wales Jordan Collier Flanker Wales Olly Cracknell Flanker Wales Rob Dudley-Jones Flanker Wales James King Flanker Wales Dan Lydiate * Flanker Wales Tom Smith Flanker Wales Tommy Spinks Flanker Scotland Justin Tipuric Flanker Wales Morgan Allen Number 8 Wales Dan Baker Number 8 Wales Joe Bearman Number 8 England Ifereimi Boladau Number 8 Fiji

Player Position Union Tom Habberfield Scrum-half Wales Martin Roberts Scrum-half Wales Rhys Webb * Scrum-half Wales Dan Biggar * Fly-half Wales Sam Davies Fly-half Wales Ashley Beck Centre Wales Andrew Bishop Centre Wales Ashley Evans Centre Wales Aled Jenkins Centre Wales Josh Matavesi Centre Fiji Jonathan Spratt Centre Wales Joe Thomas Centre Wales Tom Williams Centre Wales Hanno Dirksen Wing South Africa Aisea Natoga Wing Fiji Tom Grabham Wing Wales Jeff Hassler Wing Canada Dafydd Howells Wing Wales Eli Walker Wing Wales Dan Evans Fullback Wales Richard Fussell Fullback Wales Ross Jones Fullback Wales Morgan Williams Fullback Wales

• * denotes a player on a WRU 'National Dual Contract'.
• Joe Bearman is Welsh qualified through residency.
• Hanno Dirksen is Welsh qualified through residency.

Coaching staff

Steve Tandy (Head Coach)
Chris Gibbes (Forwards)
Gruff Rees (Backs)
Chris Towers (Head Physio)
Brian O'Leary (Physio)
Mark Bennett (Head of Strength & Conditioning)
Kevin Morgan (Conditioning)
Craig Maloney(Technical Analyst)
Jon Williams (Nutritionist)
Stephen Mellalieu (Sports Psychologist)

Notable players & coaches

See also: Category:Ospreys (rugby team) players.

British and Irish Lions

The following players were selected for the British and Irish Lions touring squads while playing for the Ospreys.

Brent Cockbain: 2005 Gavin Henson: 2005 Ryan Jones: 2005, 2009 Shane Williams: 2005, 2009, 2013 Tommy Bowe: 2009 Lee Byrne: 2009 Adam Jones: 2009, 2013 Alun Wyn Jones: 2009, 2013 Mike Phillips: 2009 James Hook: 2009 Richard Hibbard: 2013 Ian Evans: 2013 Justin Tipuric: 2013

Centurions

Players who have reached the 100 appearance mark for the Ospreys.

Barry Williams: (2003–2007) Shaun Connor: (2003–2008) Steve Tandy: (2003–2010) Huw Bennett: (2003–2012) Paul James: (2003–2012) Cai Griffiths: (2003–2012) Shane Williams: (2003–2012) James Hook: (2004–2012) Sonny Parker: (2004–2012) Adam Jones: (2003–2014)

Duncan Jones: (2003–) Jonathan Thomas: (2003–2013) Andrew Bishop: (2005–) Richard Hibbard: (2004–) Ryan Jones: (2004–2014) Ian Evans: (2005–) Alun Wyn Jones: (2005–) Nikki Walker: (2006–2012) Ian Gough: (2007–2014) Dan Biggar: (2008–)

Ashley Beck: (2007-)

Notable Non-Welsh Players

Notable non-Welsh players who have 20 or more international caps to their name and represented the Ospreys.

• Tommy Bowe
• Jerry Collins
• Marty Holah
• Stefan Terblanche
• Justin Marshall
• Nikki Walker
• George Stowers
• Tito Tebaldi

Former coaches

• Lyn Jones (2003–2008)
• Sean Holley (2008–2012)

ERC Elite Awards

During the 10th anniversary season of the Heineken Cup, ERC, the tournament organisers, introduced the ERC Elite Awards scheme to recognise and reward the glittering list of elite players and teams who have made outstanding contributions to the northern hemisphere's leading club rugby tournament.

Ospreys were awarded the ERC team award for playing 50 games ^[35]

Ospreys players who have been awarded 50 tournament caps are:^[36]

• Ian Gough
• Adam Jones
• Duncan Jones
• Shane Williams
• Jonathan Thomas
• Sonny Parker

See also

• Pro12
• Anglo-Welsh Cup
• Heineken Cup
• European Challenge Cup

Footnotes

External links

• Ospreys (official site)
• Ospreys on itsrugby.co.uk
• Aberavon RFC (official site)
• Bridgend RFC (official site)
• Neath RFC (official site)
• Swansea RFC (official site)

Ospreys Players Coaches History Current season Grounds St. Helen's The Gnoll Liberty Stadium Teams Swansea RFC Neath RFC Rivalries West Wales derby Related articles Judgement Day All articles

Celtic League and Pro12 Teams Benetton Treviso Cardiff Blues Connacht Edinburgh Glasgow Warriors Leinster Munster Newport Gwent Dragons Ospreys Scarlets Ulster Zebre Former Bridgend Caerphilly Cardiff Ebbw Vale Llanelli Neath Newport Pontypridd Swansea Defunct Aironi Border Reivers Celtic Warriors Grounds Stadio Comunale di Monigo Cardiff Arms Park Galway Sportsgrounds Murrayfield Scotstoun Stadium RDS Arena / Aviva Stadium Thomond Park / Musgrave Park Rodney Parade Liberty Stadium Parc y Scarlets Ravenhill Stadium Stadio XXV Aprile Seasons Celtic League 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 Pro12 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 Grand Finals 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Winners 2002: Leinster 2003: Munster 2004: Scarlets 2005: Ospreys 2006: Ulster 2007: Ospreys 2008: Leinster 2009: Munster 2010: Ospreys 2011: Munster 2012: Ospreys 2013: Leinster 2014: Leinster

European Rugby Champions Cup European Professional Club Rugby 2014–15 Teams Bath Benetton Treviso Castres Olympique Clermont Glasgow Warriors Harlequins Leicester Tigers Leinster Montpellier Munster Northampton Saints Ospreys Racing Métro Sale Sharks Saracens Scarlets Toulon Toulouse Ulster Wasps Seasons 2014–15 Pool stages 2014–15 Finals 2015 Qualification play-off 2014–15 2015–16

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