Ospreys bounce back against Munster

Editor

The Ospreys got their Pro12 play-off hopes back on track with a convincing 26-12 win over Munster at the Liberty Stadium.

Dan Baker's try, along with 21 points from the boot of Sam Davies allowed the Welsh side to dominate a one-sided affair, despite late tries from Donnacha Ryan and Keith Earls.

The Ospreys headed into the game looking for their first win in four outings in all competitions, while Munster were unbeaten in four.

But the form book was turned on its head quickly, as Ospreys established a healthy half-time lead, principally thanks to the boot of Davies.

He struck a penalty goal after five minutes to put the hosts in front and he doubled the Ospreys' advantage with another after 23 minutes.

And nine minutes later the Welsh side established a significant cushion, after Baker continued his good try-scoring following strong work from his teammates in the pack.

Davies was wide with the conversion, but he added a penalty goal on 38 minutes and then a drop goal on the stroke of half-time to make it 17-0 at the break.

Ospreys added to their lead just after the hour through another Davies penalty and he struck twice more in the closing stages of the match to take his personal tally to 21 points.

Munster did manage to get over the line for two quickfire tries in the final minutes of the match. First, Ryan squeezed over and then Earls added a second consolation score, which Ian Keatley converted.

But the points counted for little, as Ospreys recorded a comfortable win to put a dent in Munster's title challenge

The scorers:

For Ospreys:
Try: Baker
Pens: Davies 6
Drop Goal: Davies 

For Munster:
Tries: Ryan, Earls
Con: Keatley
Yellow Card: Dave O'Callaghan

The teams:

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Tom Grabham, 13 Jonathan Spratt, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Hanno Dirksen, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Tom Habberfield, 8 Dan Baker, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 James King, 5 Tyler Ardron, 4 Lloyd Peers, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Dwyer, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Morgan Allen, 22 Martin Roberts, 23 Ben John.

Munster: 15 JJ Hanrahan, 14 Felix Jones, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Denis Hurley (c), 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Sean Dougall, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.
Replacements: 16 Kevin O'Byrne, 17 John Ryan, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Jack O'Donoghue, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 Andrew Smith, 23 Andrew Conway.

Venue: Liberty Stadium
Referee: Marius Mitrea
Assistant referees: Sean Brickell, Simon Rees
TMO: Simon McDowell