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Wales Online
Sport
Ben James

The Ospreys have all the pieces to overwhelm defences and it's time for their attack to show some bite and reach its potential

Ask most Ospreys fans where they'd want to improve heading into the new season and the answer you'd get from most is in attack.

Last year, they agonisingly finished just four points outside of the play-offs, having picked up just three try-scoring bonus points over the course of the campaign - with only Cardiff, Dragons and Zebre doing worse on that front. To make matters worse, those three bonus points all came in the final three matches of the season.

That late run of attacking form was enough to reel in the Scarlets on their way to the Welsh Shield - and with it, Champions Cup qualification - but it was abundantly clear that an improvement in attack was needed to break into that top eight. The question is how they go about achieving that?

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Well, for starters, they'll be doing it without former Clermont fly-half Brock James. It's not breaking news that James would be leaving his post as attack coach to head home to New Zealand, but a replacement has yet to be named.

Naturally, that's not exactly ideal, but whoever replaces him has some decent building blocks to work with.

At times, the Ospreys looked quietly impressive with ball-in-hand under James. Around the turn of the year in 2021, they were developing a steady attack that utilised the weapons they had.

They found ways of getting Justin Tipuric in space in wider channels, they ran smart blocker plays with packs of forwards that handed Stephen Myler time and space to pick out passes and probe for gaps, they even had the likes of George North and Mat Protheroe popping up in different areas across the backline.

When it worked, it seemed to work well - with their group of strong carriers in the pack handing them a solid starting block in possession. As well as being able to manufacture tries from mauls, that pack made playing off nine easier in terms of setting up centre-field rucks and playing from there.

Of course, that was what Toby Booth and James were building towards. Given the relative bluntness last season, they didn't always achieve what they set out to.

But, despite James' departure and the middling success of the attack, the squad has remained relatively settled. That's a massive positive for the Ospreys.

There's been little in the way of ins and outs, but that means another year of the group working together from day-to-day. More so than technical failings, that's perhaps the biggest issue facing the Ospreys' attack.

Booth is still waiting on the return of his Wales internationals to action ahead of the new campaign and their presence throughout the course of the 2022/23 is ultimately few and far between. Again, that's not a revelation, but rather a reality of Welsh rugby - but it does put added pressure on the depth within the squad.

Last year, it felt like the Ospreys lacked fluency as they dealt with missing Wales squad members and long-term injuries like Tipuric and North. Nowhere does that hit you more than in attack.

"Last year, we were either way out of it or way in it," remarked Booth last week. The general building blocks of what James was building in attack seem likely to remain, particularly with the addition of fly-half Jack Walsh.

"Jack's played at full-back and midfield," said Booth about his new signing. "He comes from a rugby league background which is quite exciting to see what he brings. It's always nice to have something different around."

That's an area that Booth in particular seems excited about. Getting more playmaking options, such as Walsh, Protheroe - who has experience at fly-half - or a fit-again Tipuric in different areas of the pitch to ask different questions of the defence could be devastating if it works.

In theory, their pack has enough about it in terms of ball carrying and playing ability to set a platform, allow their triumvirate of fly-halves - Myler, Walsh and the rejuvenated Gareth Anscombe - to push themselves and the ball wider should they wish and get their vast array of strike runners into the game.

Any backline that can piece together the likes of Alex Cuthbert, Keelan Giles, Luke Morgan, Owen Watkin, Kieran Williams, Michael Collins, North, Protheroe and any other names I've neglected to mention should be causing defences problems. With Rhys Webb still something of a threat at scrum-half, it was pleasing to see the support running looked good at the tail-end of the last campaign.

If they can play with tempo, they've got the tools and the patterns in attack to overwhelm defences. Just by using a simple blocking play and pushing the ball beyond 10 and into a midfield pod increases the chances of the defence making an error while folding and just makes it that little bit likelier one of their dangermen will get the ball in some space out wide.

Of course, all that is great in theory. The reality is that it didn't happen nearly enough last year. Booth knows that needs to change.

As he said, either they're way out of it or way in it. The hope for the Ospreys will be that it's the latter more often than not, because the pieces are certainly there.

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