Ospreys boss Toby Booth says his team’s emotional Heineken Champions Cup win out in Montpellier has set the benchmark ahead of the BKT United Rugby Championship festive derbies. Booth’s men pulled off a stunning 21-10 victory away to the French title holders thanks to tries from hooker Sam Parry, centre Kieran Williams and Player of the Match, No.8 Morgan Morris. It’s handed them a huge boost in morale as they prepare for the URC Boxing Day clash at home to the Scarlets and then the New Year’s Day trip to the Arms Park to take on Cardiff.

Ospreys head coach Toby Booth praised his team after their first win in Europe for two years – but insisted it was just reward for their recent efforts. The Swansea-based region shocked the TOP 14 champions with tries from Sam Parry, Kieran Williams and Morgan Morris, and produced an immense defensive effort to restrict the hosts to just one score. Brandon Paenga-Amosa crossed for Montpellier, who were ultimately outfought and outclassed on their own turf.

Dewi Lake has enlisted the help of an England World Cup winner to ensure he lands his darts as a line-out thrower. The Ospreys hooker – who could make his comeback from injury against Montpellier in the Heineken Champions Cup this weekend – is taking advice from Simon Hardy, a line-out specialist with Sir Clive Woodward’s all-conquering World Cup winning side of 2003. Lake, who has been transformed from a No.8 to an all-action hooker in the professional ranks, has been having one-to-one coaching with Hardy at the Ospreys.

Joe Hawkins has been tipped by his coach Toby Booth and teammate Max Nagy to help turn around the Ospreys’ fortunes when they welcome the English Champions, Leicester Tigers, to the Swansea.com Stadium on Sunday.  Hawkins made his senior international debut for Wales last month in the agonising 39-34 loss to Australia.  Now, the 20-year-old inside centre has been tipped to revive the Ospreys in a tough Heineken Champions Cup opener, which is live on S4C. 

By David Williams Morgan Morris is fast emerging as a talisman for the Ospreys out in South Africa and his ball carrying ability will be much in demand against a wounded Sharks side in Durban. While the Ospreys were picking up a try bonus-point in their 43-26 defeat to the Bulls in Pretoria in Round […]

By David Williams Owen Watkin says Wales will have to front up physically against Georgia if they are to unleash their potent back-division this Saturday. Wales’ pack were impressive during last weekend’s hard-fought 20-13 victory over Argentina where they enjoyed 58 percent of territory against the abrasive Latin Americans. Georgia will pose a similar challenge […]

Justin Tipuric has admitted he was surprised to be asked to take over the Wales captaincy for the autumn internationals. The Ospreys flanker will skipper Wales in the Autumn Nations Series starting against New Zealand next week. The 33-year-old, who has won 86 caps, takes over from the injured Dan Biggar.

Toby Booth has told the Ospreys it’s time to wise up after what’s shaping up to be a disappointing weekend for the four Welsh regions. Only the Dragons – who host Munster on Sunday afternoon – can prvent a clean sweep of defeats for the Welsh sides in the United Rugby Championship. With Cardiff having conceded eight tries in a 52-24 thrashing in Glasgow, the Scarlets also shipped over a half century of points at home to Ulster, and leaked seven tries, in going down 55-39.

Duty calls for Wales star Alex Cuthbert these days – but not in the way it once did. The Ospreys wing, whose team face the Emirates Lions on Saturday night, admits he once spent too long playing Call of Duty on his PlayStation. Now, at 32, he is one of the elder statesmen of the Ospreys squad and the duties are those of a father of two children and father-figure to the young thrusters among the region’s exciting back line.

It may be that other events have overshadowed its build-up, or that last season’s Welsh contribution was extremely modest, but the United Rugby Championship is back this weekend. The summer break has sometimes appeared long and disjointed, but Daniel Parker has tied it all together in one very helpful preview. Thanks, Dan. After what feels like a long and disjointed summer break, the United Rugby Championship returns this weekend. The pick of the opening round matches is the Loughor Bridge derby between the Ospreys and the Scarlets – a tie which should set the early tone of the new campaign for Wales’ two best-performing regions last term

Jonathan Davies insists his priority now is to help the Scarlets achieve a super-charged start to the season and that any Wales ambitions must flow from that. The 34-year-old was left out of Wayne Pivac’s squad that toured South Africa this summer, but that does not mean he has accepted his international days are over. But what has changed for a player who has been as integral as anyone to the national cause for over a decade is the pecking order of his personal focus.

Following two years of negotiations, the Welsh Rugby Union have performed a dramatic U-turn and tabled a six-year multimillion pound deal for the professional game which relies upon further debt and benefactor support having previously choreographed their removal. Wales’ four professional sides – Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets – have been struggling on and off the field for the best part of a decade with the WRU refusing to invest in its professional game the same way as their United Rugby Championship union counterparts.  After months of discussions surrounding a way forward for the professional game in Wales, including the resignation of Professional Rugby Board chair Amanda Blanc, the WRU’s long-term funding deal is set to meet stiff opposition.