Dan Edwards snatches victory for Ospreys over Ulster with last-minute drop-goal
Dan Edwards scored a brilliant last-minute drop-goal to earn Ospreys a dramatic 19-17 win over Ulster and give a much-needed boost to the Welsh regions.
After weekend defeats for Cardiff, Scarlets and Dragons, a fourth Welsh loss looked likely until Edwards’ late intervention at the Swansea.com Stadium.
Fly-half Edwards finished with 14 points, adding his match-winning drop-goal to three penalties and the conversion of a try from Keiran Williams, as Ospreys joined their mid-table opponents on six wins from 10 games.
Marcus Rea and Tom Stewart scored Ulster’s tries, with Nathan Doak converting both and Jake Flannery adding a late penalty which had briefly looked like snatching victory for the visitors.
Ospreys had the first chance for points but Edwards fired wide with a 40-metre penalty attempt and that was the only moment of interest in an error-ridden and scoreless first quarter.
The home side had marginally the better of that opening period, putting their opponents under considerable pressure in the scrums, but Ulster should have taken the lead.
The Irish province were presented with a simple kick at goal, but Jake Flannery chose a quickly-taken cross-field kick which Jacob Stockdale was unable to collect to secure the touchdown.
Ulster suffered an injury blow when prop Marty Moore was forced to leave the field and they soon received another setback when Edwards kicked Ospreys into the lead with a 29th-minute penalty.
The visitors’ woes continued when their captain and Ireland international Iain Henderson became their second forward to depart with injury.
However, Ulster regrouped to score the opening try in the 34th minute. They won three penalties in quick succession and were rewarded when Rea finished off a succession of forward drives.
Doak converted before Edwards kicked his second penalty to leave Ospreys trailing 7-6 at the interval.
Eight minutes after the restart, Ospreys lost Morgan Morse to a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on, but the next score went the way of the hosts when Edwards kicked a third penalty.
James Ratti became the second Ospreys player sent to the sin bin and the home side down to 13, Ulster capitalised when Stewart finished off a line-out drive.
But the game swung again when Ulster replacement Luke Marshall was yellow-carded within two minutes of entering the field and the hosts made them pay with a superb breakout try.
Deep in the Ospreys 22, a poor pass from Flannery was intercepted by Jack Walsh who sent Edwards away on a 55-metre run. The outside half was chased down by Flannery but his pass found Williams who ran unopposed to the line, with Edwards adding the extras to make it 16-14 to Ospreys heading the final 10 minutes.
Ospreys must have feared the worse when Ulster reclaimed the lead with five minutes remaining when Flannery knocked over a superb penalty from inside his half, but Edwards had other ideas as his late drop-goal sealed the spoils for the hosts.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments