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90 minute battle sees Ospreys claim dramatic Champions Cup win over Leicester

By PA
Nicky Smith of Ospreys is tackled by Leicester. Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images

Owen Williams knocked over a conversion with 92 minutes showing on the clock to give Ospreys a remarkable Heineken Champions Cup victory over Leicester.

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After being second best for most of match, Ospreys battered the opposition line for the whole of the last 15 minutes but somehow Leicester kept them out.

However a yellow card for replacement prop Dan Richardson proved the final straw as countless replays were shown before Jac Morgan was credited with a close-range try to secure a thrilling victory.

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Jack van Poortvliet and Harry Simmons scored Leicester’s tries, with Handre Pollard converting both and adding four penalties.

Dewi Lake, Keelan Giles and Morgan crossed for the Ospreys. Williams kicked two penalties and two conversions with Cai Evans adding a conversion.

Leicester took an early lead when Pollard kicked a penalty after Ospreys skipper Justin Tipuric was harshly adjudged to have infringed at the breakdown.

Ospreys soon had a similar penalty opportunity but they elected for an attacking line-out and were rewarded when Lake crashed over.

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Tigers responded quickly with a succession of line-out drives putting the visitors under extreme pressure. With their defence tied in, Van Poortvliet saw a gap to race over.

Three minutes later, Leicester looked to have scored again when Simmons tore through a huge hole to run 30 metres and crash over the opposition line but TMO replays showed that the wing had been held up by an excellent cover tackle by Michael Collins.

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However Leicester were still able to extend their lead with a penalty from Pollard before Ospreys suffered another setback when Evans hobbled off to be replaced by George North.

In the absence of Evans, Williams took over the goal-kicking with his 40-metre attempt sailing wide but he soon made amends with a another kick from a similar distance.

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The Welsh region suffered another injury blow when hooker Lake was helped off with a leg injury to be replaced by Scott Baldwin, but committed tackling kept Tigers out before a second penalty from Williams brought the scores level at 13-13 at the interval.

Leicester began the second strongly with an excellent break from Pollard winning his side a platform in the opposition 22. From there Tigers maintained the pressure and a pre-planned move saw Simmons bemuse the visitors to score his side’s second try.

The hosts looked in control but they gifted their opponents the chance to remain in contention. Deep in the Ospreys 22, Tigers threw a wild pass which Joe Hawkins hacked on before Giles collected to stroll 65 metres to score with a conversion from Williams tying up the scores going into the final quarter.

Two penalties in quick succession from Pollard saw Leicester regain the lead before Ospreys staged a tremendous late rally. Both North and Kieran Williams were hauled down inches short before Morgan’s late effort gave them a huge victory.

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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