Wayward kicks prove costly as misery continues for coachless Ospreys
Ospreys’ miserable season continued as Cheetahs registered a hard-fought 18-13 Guinness Pro14 victory at the Gnoll.
The defeat came at the end of a forgettable few days for the Welsh region who parted company with head coach Allen Clarke earlier in the week.
Ospreys had led 10-8 at half-time but failed to back that up in the second half as they slumped to a sixth successive defeat in all competitions.
Cheetahs scored tries through centre William Small-Smith and hooker Wilmar Arnoldi with Ruan Pienaar and Tian Schoeman contributing the rest of the points with the boot.
For Ospreys, prop Ma’afu Fia crossed with fly-half Luke Price kicking eight out of a possible 14 points.
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After a dreadful week on the coaching and PR front, Ospreys welcomed back Wales trio Dan Evans, captain Dan Lydiate and Luke Morgan from injury.
Carl Hogg and Matt Sherratt had taken training this week after the side had won just one match all season and following a 44-3 mauling at the hands of Saracens in the European Champions Cup.
Ospreys were playing a league match at the Gnoll for the first time in 14 years – their last visit was in 2005 they beat Edinburgh 29-12 to seal the Celtic League title.
Congratulazioni @ZebreRugby
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 30, 2019
But they did not make the best of starts to their return after the Cheetahs went into the lead after eight minutes with a try for Small-Smith, who went over in the right corner after good work from a line-out by prop Boan Venter. Pienaar missed the conversion attempt.
Both sides swapped penalties through Price and Pienaar before Ospreys began to show some form.
The home side were sparked into life by a break and kick chase by Scott Otten. He earned a five-metre scrum when the Cheetahs were forced to kick dead and from the set-piece, Fia burrowed his way over under the posts for a try that was converted by Price.
Ospreys could have extended their 10-8 lead but Price missed a penalty from in front of the posts.
Four minutes into the second half Pienaar also failed to make the most of a relatively straightforward penalty shot after a high tackle from Lloyd Ashley.
Ospreys were handed another penalty chance just after the hour but again Price was wayward.
It took until the 65th minute for the South Africans to regain the lead, with Arnoldi crashing over for a converted try to make it 15-10.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5gSOMwALvf/
That set up an exciting finale as Ospreys went in search of a try that would give them a chance of a draw or the win.
Price’s penalty reduced the deficit to two points but Schoeman responded soon after with a penalty of his own, making it 18-13 to Cheetahs heading into the final five minutes
Visiting lock Sintu Manjezi was yellow carded in the final minute but Ospreys’ driving maul was held up at the end to seal the Cheetahs’ win.
– PressAssociation
Former England international Andy Goode recently came out of retirement for one night and one night only:
Comments on RugbyPass
I 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.
19 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.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments