Ospreys qualify for Champions Cup with play-off victory over Scarlets
Ospreys booked their place in the Heineken Champions Cup by winning a close-fought Guinness PRO14 play-off against Scarlets 21-10 at the Liberty Stadium.
The result means Scarlets will have to settle for playing, for the first time, in the second-tier competition – the Challenge Cup.
Ospreys’ victory came through tries for George North, Olly Cracknell and replacement wing Hanno Dirksen, who was also yellow-carded in the first half. Sam Davies kicked two conversions and Luke Price one.
Scarlets played their part in the one-off match, with Jonathan Davies grabbing their only try and Leigh Halfpenny kicking a penalty and a conversion.
Ospreys included Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones in what could be his last game for the region. The 33-year-old has yet to decide on his future.
Hooker Scott Baldwin was playing his last game for Ospreys before joining Harlequins.
Jake Ball was back at lock for Scarlets after injury, while props Phil Price and Werner Kruger were
included in the front row, with Wales props Rob Evans and Samson Lee both injured.
The play-off came about with Ospreys and Scarlets finishing fourth in Conference A and B respectively, with no Welsh team qualifying automatically for the 2019-20 Champions Cup.
Ospreys had the better of the first half to lead 14-10 at the break but the Dirksen yellow card had brought Scarlets right back into the contest.
It was Ospreys who set the tone early on when man of the match Owen Watkin set Keelan Giles down the left. The pacey wing looked likely to score but was stopped in his tracks by Halfpenny.
But the home side’s attacking intent and an efficient line-out produced the opening try on nine minutes when Watkin put North over on the right. Davies converted.
Halfpenny did get Scarlets on the scoreboard with a penalty five minutes late.
However, a loose kick by wing Ioan Nicholas from deep inside his 22 allowed Ospreys to double their
score. Dan Evans counter-attacked and Cracknell was put in under the posts.
Davies converted as Ospreys led 14-3 on 18 minutes.
But the yellow card for Dirksen for a dangerous challenge in the air against McNicholl suddenly changed the momentum.
A minute after the sin bin Jonathan Davies went over after a dart down the right by McNicholl. Halfpenny converted to reduce the deficit to four points.
At the start of the second half Sam Davies missed a 45-metre penalty and then scuffed a drop-goal attempt.
The turning point in the second half came when replacement fly-half Rhys Patchell missed touch with a penalty attempt.
By contrast Price found touch with his kick a minute later and from that position Ospreys scored their third try when Price put Dirksen over on 71 minutes. Price converted to all but seal the region’s place at Europe’s top table.
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments