Too strong: Matthew Morgan bursts clear
The Ospreys kept their Heineken Cup play-off hopes alive after beating Treviso 44-17 at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea on Friday.
The Ospreys avoided making it three successive defeats in all competitions as they made light work of a spirited Treviso side, despite missing a number of key personnel through injury.
The Welsh side knew they needed a big result here to keep their faint Heineken Cup hopes alive, and got off to the perfect start when Tommy Bowe dived over after just two minutes, Dan Biggar adding the extras.
The sides then traded a penalty apiece, before Treviso hit back with a try of their own soon after, scrum-half Edoardo Gori the scorer, Chris Burton adding the conversion to level the match up.
The home side were enjoying more of the possession though, as they began to dominate proceedings, Biggar restoring their lead with a penalty.
Indeed they then scored their second try of the game midway through the half, when Ashley Beck grounded and Treviso were looking shaky.
The inside centre then added a second try to his personal tally as he dived over for the Welsh side's third of the evening, which Biggar converted to leave it 25-10 at the interval, with the Ospreys in control.
The hosts picked up where they left off after the break, and increased their lead further when constant pressure deep inside the Treviso '22 resulted in a penalty try to ensure a much needed bonus point, with Biggar on hand again with the conversion.
Treviso did hit back with a Gonzalo Padro try with twenty-five minutes remaining, but the Ospreys answered with yet another try of their own, with substitute Kahn Fotuali'i getting in on the act with ten minutes to play.
An emphatic win was then made even more comfortable in the dying minutes with the Welsh side were awarded their second penalty try of the contest, with Matthew Morgan rounding off a 44-17 win with the conversion.
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: Beck 2, Bowe, Fotuali'i, penalty tries 2
Con: Biggar 3, Morgan
Pens: Biggar 2
For Treviso:
Tries: Gori, Padro
Cons: Burton, Botes
Pen: Burton
Ospreys: 15 Barry Davies, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Tom Smith, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 Ryan Bevington 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Jonathan Thomas 20 Chauncey O'Toole, 21 Kahn Fotuali'i, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Tom Isaacs.
Treviso: Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Andrea Pratichetti, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Marco Filippucci, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Paul Derbyshire, 5 Valerio Bernabo, 4 Gonzalo Padrņ, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Franco Sbaraglini, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Enrico Ceccato, 17 Augusto Allori, 18 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 19 Cornelius van Zyl, 20 Benjamin Vermaak, 21 Simon Picone, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Tobias Botes.
Referee: JP Doyle
Comments
Carpelone says...
Let's put it in this way, It was a quite entertaining game, I did not see players desperate to tackle, Ospreys were a class or two above Treviso, but the ref was awful. He was a happy helper for the Ospreys. France, SA, or Italy's scrum should get 3 or 4 penalty tries per game it those are the standards.
Posted 15:55 14th January 2012
jontheref says...
Ref ( who is at the top of the tree in posing!) was competant, which is something I have not been able to say about the HC refs I have seen in this group.
Some starnge calls, but pen tries more than justified.
If Gough does get cited, it will show the farcial nature of the citings.
Treviso deserved a few citings as well.
One high tackle on Shane in front of his posts nearly decaitated him.
Poor passing, and slow in spreading the ball, cost O's 3 to 4 tries.
Good holding up by treviso on two occasions.
good value for their tries, though ref missed the player going to ground to win the ball for the first.
TJ was trying to communicate this, and was left rooted when the 9 went on his run. Ref missed that, but overall O's missed much more.
As said, too little too late.
Posted 09:25 14th January 2012
carpelone says...
Scrummaging was quite a joke, and so were the penalty tries.
Ospreys were allowed to engage earlier.
Treviso's defence was awful.
I expect Gough to be cited, two episodes in a single match.
Posted 00:22 14th January 2012
J_HDK says...
hope....
Probably two favours from biarritz and one from treviso required
Posted 00:09 14th January 2012