‘It was clear he was unable to function’ – Ospreys boss blasts cheating accusations to avoid Sharks’ Springboks-powered scrum
Ospreys' Garyn Phillips leaves the pitch and an inset of a scrum.
Ospreys boss Mark Jones says his prop stocks have ‘been reduced’ following the 21-17 United Rugby Championship (URC) victory over the Sharks.
The magnitude of the result for the Welsh side’s pursuit of a spot in the URC’s play-offs has been overshadowed by the controversies in the game, with Luke Morgan injuring Ethan Hooker with a cheap shot when the winger was scoring a try.
That incident has stolen the spotlight, but Ospreys have also faced accusations of cheating to avoid a scrum contest in the latter stages of the game, with both of their loosehead props sustaining injuries, which led to uncontested scrums.
Ospreys could easily produce evidence to prove Garyn Phillips’ injury
The timing of Garyn Phillips’ withdrawal from the action sparked the controversy with the replacement prop taken off the pitch after the Ospreys‘ scrum was overpowered, following the introduction of Springboks Ox Nche and Vincent Koch, with the Sharks forcing the Welsh side over their own try-line to secure a scrum feed of their own.
That led to a lengthy eight or so minute delay as referee Mike Adamson ordered uncontested scrums, with the management teams and officials debating how many players the Welsh team should have on park as per World Rugby’s protocol. Ultimately, it was settled that the number was 14 as play resumed.
Speaking ahead of the Ospreys’ Welsh derby against Cardiff this weekend, Jones says that Phillips will miss the clash through the injury he suffered when scoring a try against the Sharks, but revealed that starting loosehead against the Sharks, Gareth Thomas, could still feature.
“Our prop availability list has been reduced. There has been a lot of talk, and I haven’t read through it all, but there’s a suggestion that Garyn Phillips wasn’t injured,” he told reporters.
“It would be quite easy for me to produce his scans if you’d like, and if anybody would like to see them. We are more than happy to share that, but it’s not my scan; it’s Garyn’s and that’s his private information, but Garyn won’t be featuring for us this week.”
Ospreys boss slams ‘disgraceful’ abuse of Welsh wing and claims ‘no malice’ in Ethan Hooker dogshot
Jones disappointed by questions over integrity
Phillips attempted to play through the pain of his injury, but the Ospreys boss says that it was quite clear that he couldn’t and that a change needed to be made.
“He’s injured as a result of scoring his try, actually, and then tried his absolute best to carry on for the team afterwards. He tried to get into a couple of scrums, and you can clearly see from the scrums that he’s just unable to function,” he said.
As for Thomas, he failed his first HIA test after being removed from the field of play but Jones confirmed that he passed his second test on Monday morning, which is a standard protocol, and could be in contention to face Cardiff on Friday evening.
“Gareth Thomas failed his HIA 1 test by a doctor and was unable to continue; therefore, we weren’t in a position to field a front-row,” he added.
“So those are the facts. It’s unfortunate, there are people there who have got incredible integrity, players, staff and we at the Ospreys pride ourselves in our integrity, and we are pretty disappointed if people are suggesting we didn’t adhere to everything that we should be doing on gameday.”
Tom Botha in doubt for Cardiff showdown
The head coach added that starting tighthead prop Tom Botha is also touch-and-go to play against Cardiff due to a neck concern which led to his substitution against the Sharks.
“He was another one who was struggling with a neck issue, and he had to go off as a result of it,” Jones explained.
“We tactically took him off in the game because we felt we didn’t need to break him, but he was struggling when he went off the field. He was unable to return to the field, too. So, we’ve nursed him over the last few days, and he has been able to take part in some training.
“We are hoping again, like Gareth, that he’ll be available for selection for Friday night’s game, but he’s got to come through today’s training and make sure that there’s no reaction to his neck issues.”
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