Ospreys

Ospreys

Full name	Ospreys
Founded	2003
Stadion	Liberty Stadium
Places	20,750
president	Rob Davies
Trainer	Allen Clarke
Homepage	www.ospreysrugby.com
league	Pro14
2018/19	4. Conference A
home Away

The Ospreys ( whale. : Y Gweilch ., Dt Ospreys ) are a rugby union -Mannschaft from the Welsh city of Swansea . You play in the Pro14 and in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the Anglo-Welsh Cup . The home games are played at the Liberty Stadium . Until 2005, the team was called Neath-Swansea Ospreys (the company, however, still bears the old name).

history

Until the 2003/04 season, Welsh rugby was structured in a typical league pyramid, with nine professional clubs in the top division. The system was thus similar to the Guinness Premiership in England and the Top 14 in France. However, the Welsh market turned out to be too small for nine professional teams. Then the nine professional clubs began to combine to form regional teams. In the Swansea region these were the Neath RFC and the Swansea RFC , which each own half of the team. The amateur and junior teams continue to operate under the original names.

In the 2004/2005 season, the Ospreys won the championship title of the Celtic League for the first time. On November 1, 2006, they received the Australian national team for a friendly game at Liberty Stadium and won it 24:16. The second championship title followed in the 2006/2007 season; the Ospreys also made it into the final of the EDF Energy Cup , which was lost to the Leicester Tigers . In 2008 the successful revenge and the first cup win of a Welsh team succeeded.

In 2010, the Ospreys won the championship for the third time after they were able to prevail in the final in Dublin against Leinster . They did the same in 2012, when Leinster was defeated again in Dublin. In 2015 and 2017, the Ospreys were eliminated in the semi-finals against Munster .

Regional division

Welsh rugby regions

Professional rugby in Wales is based on four franchises owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and covering a specific area. The Ospreys franchise covers the area around the towns of Neath and Swansea , including Bridgend , Ogmore Vale , Port Talbot and Aberavon . The Ospreys are allowed to include all players who play for clubs in this area in their squad. Originally, the area around Bridgend and Ogmore was not part of the Ospreys franchise, but was in the catchment area of ​​the Celtic Warriors . This franchise was dissolved in 2004 after just one season and split between the Ospreys and the Cardiff Blues .

Stadion

During the first two seasons, the Ospreys played their home games at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea (home of the Swansea RFC) and at The Gnoll in Neath (home of the Neath RFC). In 2005, the Ospreys moved to the newly built Liberty Stadium in Swansea, which they share with the Swansea City football club and has almost twice the audience capacity.

successes

• Pro14 / Celtic League: Champion 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2012
• Anglo-Welsh Cup: Winner 2008, Finalist 2007

player

Current squad

The squad for the 2019/2020 season:

Front side (forwards) pier  Tom Botha  Ma'afu Fia  Gheorghe Gajion  Rhodri Jones  Nicky Smith  Gareth Thomas hooker  Scott Baldwin  Dewi Lake  Scott Otten  Sam Parry  Ifan Phillips Second row striker  Lloyd Ashley  Adam Beard  Bradley Davies  Will Griffiths  Alun Wyn Jones Winger / Number Eight  Dan Baker  Olly Cracknell  Sam Cross  Gareth Evans  Will Jones  James King  Dan Lydiate  Morgan Morris  Justin Tipuric  Guido Volpi

Back line (backs) Half of the crowd  Matthew Aubrey  Aled Davies  Harri Morgan  Reuben Morgan-Williams Connection half  Gareth Anscombe  Luke Price Inner three quarters  Corey Allen  James Hook  Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler  Owen Watkin  Kieran Williams  Scott Williams Outer three-quarters  Hanno Dirksen  Keelan Giles  Lesley Klim  Luke Morgan  George North  Tom Williams Goalkeeper  Dan Evans

British and Irish Lions

The following players have been nominated for the British and Irish Lions .

trip	player
2005	Brent Cockbain
	Gavin Henson
	Ryan Jones
	Shane Williams
2009	Tommy Bowe
	Lee Byrne
	James Hook
	Adam Jones
	Alun Wyn Jones
	Ryan Jones (2nd nomination)
	Mike Phillips
	Shane Williams (2nd nomination)
2013	Ian Evans
	Richard Hibbard
	Adam Jones (2nd nomination)
	Alun Wyn Jones (2nd nomination)
	Justin Tipuric
2017	Dan Biggar
	Alun Wyn Jones (3rd nomination)
	Justin Tipuric (2nd nomination)
	Rhys Webb

Records

Most games

	Surname	Games
1.	Alun Wyn Jones	238
2.	Paul James	232
3.	Duncan Jones	223
4th	Dan Biggar	221
5.	Andrew Bishop	209
6th	James King	200
7th	Adam Jones	195
8th.	Jonathan Thomas	188
9.	Richard Hibbard	175
10.	Justin Tipuric	172

Most attempts

	Surname	tries
1.	Shane Williams	57
2.	Dan Evans	44
3.	Rhys Webb	39
4th	Hanno Dirksen	38
5.	Nikki Walker	37
6th	Tommy Bowe	36
7th	Ashley Beck	30th
	Justin Tipuric
9.	Sonny Parker	29
10.	Dan Biggar	28

Most of the points

	Surname	Points
1.	Dan Biggar	2203
2.	Sam Davies	836
3.	James Hook	834
4th	Gavin Henson	788
5.	Shaun Connor	488
6th	Matthew Morgan	325
7th	Shane Williams	293
8th.	Dan Evans	225
9.	Rhys Webb	195
10.	Hanno Dirksen	190

Web links

• Website of the Ospreys

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 2019/2020 Ospreys Squad. Ospreys, accessed August 30, 2019 .