Danny Wilson has ripped into his Cardiff Blues players – and his own coaching – after their derby night hammering by the Ospreys. The Blues coach watched his team lose 46-24 at the Liberty Stadium on Friday night, a scoreline that deceivingly suggests the visitors were half as good as the hosts. They weren’t.

Gareth Anscombe has conceded the Cardiff Blues are heavily in debt to the Ospreys ahead of Friday night’s Guinness Pro 12 derby. The Blues outside-half – who has been denied a head-to-head with his Wales rival Dan Biggar by the Ospreys’ decision to pick Sam Davies – admits the one-sided nature of recent clashes means a Blues win is long overdue.

Alun Wyn Jones has gone from chubby teenager to one of the greats of Welsh rugby, according to his Ospreys coach Steve Tandy. Jones will make his 200th appearance for the Ospreys on Friday night, a landmark the region hope to celebrate by making it four victories from four Guinness Pro 12 matches when they face Leinster in Dublin.

Steve Tandy has used the Ospreys’ perfect start to the season as a pointer to why their Pro12 campaign failed to take off a year ago. The head coach sits at the top of the Guinness Pro12 table after the Ospreys became the first team in tournament history to take maximum points from their first three matches.

Rob McCusker has had his short term deal with the Ospreys extended until the end of the season. The 30-year-old former Wales back row forward joined the region on a one-month contract last month as cover for injured players.

Tough taskmaster Steve Tandy has told his Ospreys team they must improve despite their statistically perfect start to the season. The head coach and his team are top of the Guinness Pro 12 table after two bonus-point victories brought them a maximum 10 points – a breezy start to the campaign, matched only by Glasgow.

Alun Wyn Jones and Dan Biggar will continue to sit things out when the Ospreys take on Guinness Pro 12 champions Connacht next week. The Wales pair – both on WRU dual contracts – missed the Ospreys’ comfortable 59-5 victory over Zebre on Friday night.

Justin Tipuric will gain his first taste of competitive rugby since this year’s Six Nations when he returns to start in the Ospreys’ No.7 jersey on Friday night. The Wales flanker suffered concussion playing against Italy in March which ruled him out of the tour to New Zealand.

Steve Tandy has warned his Wales players they will not be given automatic places at the Ospreys when the Guinness Pro12 season kicks off next week. The region play their final warm-up match away to Leicester Tigers on Friday night, before starting their campaign at home to Zebre seven days later.

Rhys Webb wants to follow his mate Aaron Ramsey in making 2016 the year of the dragon. Wales scrum-half Webb watched Ramsey shine at the Euros in France, even though he was too jet-lagged to take up the Arsenal’s star offer of match tickets.

Bradley Davies has revealed he would have quit international rugby if he had stayed with Wasps. The Wales second row moved to the Ospreys at the start of the summer because he believed that was the only way he could prolong his Test career.

Justin Tipuric insists he is back to full fitness after the concussion problems that left him struggling to see properly. The Wales flanker will play his first match for five months on Friday night when he lines up for the Ospreys in Belgium.