Ospreys claim narrow derby victory over Cardiff
Cardiff fly-half Jarrod Evans missed a difficult penalty with the last kick of the game to give the Ospreys a second festive win as they triumphed 22-19.
After defeating Scarlets 34-14 on Boxing Day, Ospreys were made to work much harder for their victory before a sell-out crowd at the Arms Park but a strong second-half performance from their pack saw them overturn a half-time deficit.
Sam Parry, Owen Williams and Dewi Lake scored their tries with Williams converting two and adding a penalty.
Owen Lane, Liam Belcher and Josh Adams scored Cardiff’s tries with Evans kicking two conversions.
Cardiff were gifted an early lead when, five metres from his own line, young Ospreys full-back Jack Walsh dithered in dealing with a speculative kick ahead from Tomos Williams to leave Lane with a simple chance to score.
Evans converted from the touchline to give his side a 7-0 advantage at the end of a competitive first quarter.
Ospreys were encouraged by a strong burst from centre Keiran Williams, which saw him evade tackles from Cardiff forwards Rhys Care and Lopeti Timani, and they were further boosted when Parry tied up the scores by crashing over from a driving line-out.
Heavy rain set in to make conditions extremely difficult before the home side scored their second try when Belcher, with strong support from Timani, finished off a driving line-out.
Both sides lost their try-scoring hookers to injury with Belcher and Parry departing in quick succession as Cardiff held on to their 12-7 lead to the interval.
Three minutes after the restart, Ospreys drew level following a melee on the hosts’ line.
A clearance kick from an under-pressure Tomos Williams went haywire with Owen Williams on hand to collect and force his way over.
The visitors’ pack were becoming increasingly dominant and it came as no surprise when replacement hooker Lake scored their third try as the home eight again crumbled at a line-out.
There was to be no respite for the beleaguered Cardiff forwards as their opponents brought on international props Nicky Smith and Tomas Francis to provide further ammunition.
Cardiff looked likely losers but were given a boost when Ospreys No 8 Ethan Roots was yellow-carded for a tip tackle on Liam Williams.
They soon capitalised as Ospreys lost a scrum on half-way for Evans to fire across a superb cross-field kick which Adams collected to race 40 metres to score.
Evans converted from the touchline and it was 19-19 with 11 minutes to play before Owen Williams missed with the first penalty kick at goal in the match.
Cardiff’s Kirby Myhill was sin-binned for a high tackle before Ospreys were restored to full complement for the final five minutes and they made it count when Williams succeeded with the winner.
Comments on RugbyPass
The 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?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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 …
30 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
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments