15. Rogers 14. Baldwin 13. Foxy 12. Scott 11. Conbeer 10. Patchell 9. Cawdor 

1. Thomas 2. Hughes 3. Javan 4. Sam 5. Fifita 6. Blade 7. Lezana 8. Sione

16. Ryan 17. Wyn 18. Harri 19. Morgan 20. Josh 21. Blacker 22. Costelow 23. Johnny Williams

My selections are based on McNichol, Jac Price, Ken, Halfpenny & Dan Davis still recovering from knocks and being unavailable with Hardy being given some extra time off after a very busy summer. The same could go with Ryan, if so Taylor steps in. If McNichol is actually fit then I would have him at 14 with Bladwin starting at 13. Captaincy for me is Scott. 

I tend to agree with your current assessment of Foxy though I think you may be going a little over the top but I do believe that Dwayne is more than capable of selecting his best team. The problem I see is that with Joe Roberts injured we have little scope for movement.

Personally I would love to see Baldwin given a run of games at 13 & I would also like to see Johnny Williams tried there. Young Eddie James is another who may be considered but I understand his strength is at 12 where, of course, we are well stocked. 

Of course Dwayne is in possession of all the training facts so will be aware of all limitations/reduction in speed etc. 

I have to say that the back play in general was worrying on Friday.

Dan Jones gave 4 hospital passes,the flanker showed Scott and Steff Evs a clean pair of heels for their 1st,Gatsby was completely Lord Lucan,and in the final stages(which were exciting,true)any notion of allignment or structure had completely disappeared-admittedly no 10 on the field,but it really was under 11 stuff.Conbeer,Eddie James and to some extent Rogers gave cause for encouragement.Fifita operated at greater pace than the midfield.Hoping to see an improvement Friday.

Not to worry,before long we'll be able to pop over to Quatar for a game or 2.....good old URC!

  https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/todays-rugby-news-new-lions-24937671#ICID=Android_WalesOnlineNewsApp_AppShare" rel="nofollow - https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/todays-rugby-news-new-lions-24937671#ICID=Android_WalesOnlineNewsApp_AppShare

Hope we see more of Eddie James and Luca Giannini v Dragons, they looked impressive against the bears.

   Can see Eddie James pushing hard,, can play 12 or 13... With regards Baldwin, most of his rugby he as played on wing... Disappointed last week our most dynamic attacker, rarely saw ball, he needs to come off his wing and looking for work ie Steff Evans.

   I saw Josh Phillips give a very good performance on Saturday! Stated at 15,then moved to 10. The goalkicking performance in difficult conditions was World Class.. I remember Halfpenny give a similar performance for Cardiff RFC v Llanelli RFC as a  young man. 

Good to see Steff Evans not in this line up. He showed zero conviction in defence against Bristol. There's trying n getting it wrong, then not bothering at all. Let's see how they all do against the Dragons. A bizzare choice of opponents for a pre season friendly. 

Ok we now have the benefit of ongoing selection for the postponed Dragons game which suggest that my hopes could be possible. If so then I would make some changes to my selected 23 with McNichol starting at 14 & Baldwin at 13. I have a feeling that Dwayne will go with Johnny at 15, Rogers at 14 & Foxy at 13 but I live in hope. 

Please fellow posters only reply to this post on rugby issues and let the subject of whether this game goes ahead lie low until we have a definitive statement. Sports governing bodies will have their own reasons for decisions they have made/will make; we may choose to disagree with those decisions but they are decisions made outside of the Royal household or indeed Westminster. 

Our captain should be someone who is more likely to be rightful first choice, like Elias, Kal or Lousi. If it was Elias then a vice captain could be selected who won’t be involved in internationals 

Well N14 there has been a lot of debate about Foxy's pace issue & this, I must admit, is pretty clearly obvious by the way he has performed last season. What I will say is that Dwayne understands what is required to play 13 in his system & he, of course, is in possession of the training data which may or may not confirm a loss of pace. 

Speaking from personal, far lower level experience, my pace over 50 metres didn't drop off after a bad ACL injury but my decision making turning/changing direction was definitely affected by a sub conscious need to protect my knee hence making me seem slower all round. 

I have every faith that Dwayne will select his best players. He has proved, beyond any doubt last season, that reputations mean nothing which is exactly as it should be. 

All the training,all the analysis,all the data-all the infrastructure exists to put the players on the field who are good enough to win games.We judge what we see in the 80 minutes of a match-that is what counts.That's what sells tickets and wins trophies .Fox has not perforned for years.End of.The fact that he's still skipper,poster boy and probably first choice is difficult to understand,but far more difficult to accept,and it probably reveals much of what is wrong with this sport.There is a real danger that the dwindling band of people who bother to go down to the Parc behave like North Korean functionaries,like fawning flunkeys afraid to point out the fact that Kim Jong Il has got a stupid haircut.Foxy is not good enough any more.

Good shout.Lake couldn't hit the mud if he jumped into Bury Port harbour,and I fancy we got a few jumpers to steal a few-all the more important to pick players with pace to take full advantage.

I fear you're right about the back-row,and was looking fwd to see Macleod come on v Newport.

Having said that,Booth cannot be relied upon to pick his best players,and his selection might well help us.

Peel said that the 2 friendlies  were trials,so I'm not sure what to make of things now.

We’ve hardly had a mass of new players like some other clubs. It’s basically exactly the same squad as last year. Yes there’s new coaches but it’s not ripping up the rule book. 

You're not wrong.Peel made a point,though,more than once ,of referring to the 2 friendlies as "trials".He picked same pack to start both games.

Difficult to see who was on trial,esp. with 2nd game called off.Centres perhaps?

I'd like to see this backline start-

Cawdor,Costelow

Conbeer,JBW,,Baldwin,Mcnichol,Rogers.

My team would be;

15. McNicholl 14. Rogers 13. Davies 12. S. Williams 11. Conbeer 10. Costelow 9. Hardy 8. Kalamafoni 7. Macleod 6. Thomson 5. Fifita 4. Lousi 3. Sebastian 2. Elias 1. Jones

16. Hughes 17. Thomas 18. O’Connor 19. J. Price 20. Lezana 21. Davies 22. Patchell 23. J. Williams. 

 14,Rogers

 13.J.Williams

 12,S.Williams

 11,Conbeer

 10,Costelow

 9,Cawdor

 1,Wyn 

 2,Elias

 3,Sebastian 

 4,Fifita

 5,Louisi

 6,Blade 

 8,Kalamafoni

 7,Lezana

Subs. 16,E James

          17,Patchell

          18,Hardy

          19,Thomas

          20,Hughes

          21,HOC

          22.T.Price 

          23. Macleod 

  Five day turnaround not a chance. 

Training game adequate rests. You don’t have to play the full 80 

Ticket sales appear to have picked up a bit, really looking forward to it, WRU permitting.

Team selection will be fascinating now that the likes of McNicholl, Patchell, Costelow, Cawdor, Lousi etc have had no game time prior to the season. I wonder if they held an intra squad game this weekend instead.

I bloody hope so!

Love the analogy about Burry port harbour Dic..   Lake is good forward, but recently has struggled with line out.

Not long ago, we were saying the same about Ryan Elias!

Regarding back row, it's great to see josh back in the mix. He will undoubtedly have a big part to play. this season.

Its right you have identified the breakdown as an area of concern, with Morgan present.

ATM, i would start with Blade, Kal & Lezama. Blade for a tall man, is a better jackler than you think, but obviously not a specialist like Cubby. Lezana is more of a tackler and carrier.

If we are experiences problems can bring Josh (fresh) off the bench.

Regarding centres, I cannot see Dwaine not picking fox (whatever we think), who will probably pair up with Jonny Will. Going forward maybe inside centre maybe the best position for Jonathan.

Looking forward to the fifita /Sam L combination in SR. The theory sounds tantalising, but are they both two peas out of same pod??

Previously our successful combinations had Vernon Cooper and Chris Wyatt in the SR. Two very contrasting and complimentary players. Vernon did the spade work allowing Chris to do other things, with his athleticism.

When fully fit I reck Jac Price will fill the slot in the same way in the Vernon mould. He's still learning, but has impressed with the dog he has shown, with carries, huge number of tackles. Hopefully will continue his encouraging development

One legitimate pre season match before playing your rivals on opening day is not ideal.

Mike Tyson said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. Going up against proper opposition is the team getting re-familiarised with being punched in the face, tactically and physically, and dealing with those "punches" which they just won't get in training.

I'm sure the ref will mean we won't need that one 

Well, he's very keen on getting us into some KO rugby and himself into contention for the RWC, according to the Rugby Paper today.

Wait and see is the real answer to Foxy. I think the williams should be a centre pairing even if they are both 12’s naturally. 

Not a force on the field but doesn't seem to lack influence off it.2nd article this week.....obviously feeling the need for a pr push.

  Heard Shingler had knee op, at end of the week, just gone. Don't know how serious the problem was... 

Thing is though, is he a better 12 than Scott or Johnny?

Very poor comment 

And people wonder why players show no loyalty these days. Works both ways.

I'm loyal to the club.Nobody is bigger than the club;nobody should be.

Exactly. Just because they’ve been a great servant to the club doesn’t mean they should automatically play. 

Scott lacks the pace to play at 13. Hope that Baldwin gets a run at 13.

We can be as thrilled as we like.When places are ring-fenced,there are NO options.

Nobody is bigger than the club.

Sure hope we did something similar

Then we'll only have the ref to blame if we lose 

Looks like a centre playing on the wing.Nobody has excelled at 13,our back play is ponderous-so Baldwin,and Roberts,and James deserve a chance,and supporters deserve to see that the club is trying to improve.If he's good-great;if not,at least we shall know.Why should we not see?Who gains by not trying out our options?

I expect there's 1000 sold in the West.

I really hope there's a late surge.

The forecast for the week looks to be dry, so we could be treated to some good running rugby.

The Osprey fans are talking themselves up enough we don’t need to do it for them. They have a good first team but do not have the strength in depth that we have or other teams to manage during the internationals to trouble the top of the league. They will suffer as we have over the last ten years by having a lot of Welsh international players in their squad.

I'd go: 

15. Tom Rogers

14. Johnny Mcnicholl

13. Foxy

12. Scott Williams

11. Ryan Conbeer

10. Sam Costellow

9. Cawdor

8. Sione Kalamafoni

7. Tomas Lezana

6. Blade Thomson

5. Vaea Fifita

4. Sam Lousi

3. Hari OConnor

2. Ryan Elias

1. Wyn Jones

16. Taylor Davies

17. Steff Thomas

18. Javan Sebastian

19. Tom Price

20. Josh Macleod

21. Dane Blacker

22. Rhys Patchell

23. Johnny Williams

Family of 4 would be £60 tops. Yes there is a cost of living crisis but there’s ways of handling your money. Free parking Tesco or Morrisons bring their own food and drink. Yes the stuff is expensive there but there’s no rules saying you have to buy food and drink in the ground. Ticket sales are looking very poor with four days to go. 

Tickets for 4, 2 adults & 2 children, are £66 before fees - that's sitting in the end block of the south stand. Most supermarkets have restrictions on parking in their car parks & you're fined if you stay over that time limit. I get what you're saying, there are alternatives - the train for example comes out at £81.00 for a family of 4 from Pembrokeshire to Llanelli. There used to be loads of buses that would go to PYS from Pembrokeshire which were £5 each way but they have all but stopped now.

I'm not sure on the rules about food but most stadiums don't allow it - maybe PYS is different. 

Yes there are ways of handling your money, but when everything is going up, families may not have £60 plus fuel to spend on a Saturday afternoon.

You are fine in Morrisons. They took their cameras away. Park up near the Premier Inn. 

AH didn't know that - cheers.

BTW it's not me I am referring to in my post. I'm just trying to show how expensive a day out could be for people at the moment.

   International players all up for selection... Wherever you take families these days, entertainment wise, Cinema, shows or sporting events its costly. 

I'm expecting a high scoring encounter regardless of the result, bring it on!

Jones, Elias and Sebastian front row.

With a bit of luck we get to see the same Macleod that earned himself a call up to the Welsh squad, prior to the call up he was getting MOM every other game. Will definitely match up over the ball if we get to see that Macleod.

Gareth Davies over Hardy possibly? Cawdor still a class act and has that nettle for this type of game.

Costelow starts for me, Great all round player. Patchell let us down last season, think he has to earn the starting berth.

Scott Williams and Jonathan Davies centre pairing for me, had a full pre season together.

Back 3 of Rogers, McNicholl and Conbeer would be nice to see.

Rogers(fb), McNicholl, Conbeer 

S Williams, J Davies

G Davies, Patchell

Blade, Lezana, Kalamafoni

T Price, Fifita

S Thomas, Hughes, Sebastian 

T Davies, W Jones, O’Connor, Lousi, Macleod, Blacker, Costelow, J Williams 

Assuming Elias and Hardy aren’t ready this week, both on bench if their available.

As you say GPR, this really isn't the easiest start for us & could be a very high scoring match but we were fairly decent at defending mauls last season & that's an area the Ospreys excel in. I think we will win this but we will need to be alert & stop giving away silly penalties. I think Josh should start at 7 so we can have a threat over the ball as they have so many players who are good at that. 

If we win this one, then I can see us picking up 4 or 5 wins out of our first 5 games & that would really put us in good standing for the season.

I once bet on a two horse race and came third so take no notice of my predictions 😉 

It looks like the ends of pitch are not open yet for this match, but online there were plenty of seats available at ends of side stands...