Richard Hibbard: Scored a crucial late try for the Ospreys
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The Ospreys spoiled Brian O'Driscoll's return from injury as they claimed a shock 23-22 win over Leinster at the RDS.
A 77th-minute try from hooker Richard Hibbard was converted via the top of the post by Dan Biggar, ending the PRO12 leaders' 20-game unbeaten streak.
Fergus McFadden scored three penalties and converted Ian Madigan's try as the Irish province led 16-6 at the break, Dan Biggar replying for the visitors.
McFadden added two more three-pointers in the second half, but the Welsh region hit back with a try from George Stowers and five more points from Biggar, before it was left to a converted try from Hibbard to steal the win.
Top-of-the-table Leinster have only lost two games all season and find themselves nine points clear of second place Munster. A victory here would not only have virtually guaranteed their passage into the play-offs, but also a home semi-final.
In the second minute centre McFadden slotted a penalty, but Biggar responded with one of his own for the visitors. The hosts' kicker then added a second three-pointer of the evening before converting another opportunity after 26 minutes.
Madigan then went over for the Irish province as they opened a 16-3 lead. However, Biggar scored his second penalty just before the interval.
The second half continued in the same vein with Leinster dominating and McFadden converted another from the tee. However, the Ospreys mounted a quick-fire fightback.
After their fly-half had reduced the deficit, Stowers powered over to take the score to 19-16. Their resurgence was curtailed, though, when McFadden added his fifth penalty and Justin Tipuric was sin-binned.
However, in a dramatic finale, Hibbard bundled over and Biggar converted to seal a remarkable win.
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Try: Madigan
Con: McFadden
Pens: McFadden 5
For Ospreys:
Tries: Stowers, Hibbard
Cons: Biggar 2
Pens: Biggar 3
Yellow card: Justin Tipuric (Ospreys, 62)
Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 David Kearney, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Fergus McFadden, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Leo Auva'a, 7 Dominic Ryan, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Brad Thorn, 4 Leo Cullen (c), 3 Nathan White, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Jamie Hagan, 19 Damian Browne, 20 Kevin McLaughlin, 21 John Cooney, 22 Eoin O'Malley, 23 Fionn Carr.
Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 George Stowers, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Tom Smith, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Ryan Jones, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Ian Evans, 20 James King, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Tom Isaacs.
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Comments
makemehappy says...
@curates_egg - it clearly depends which part of the post it bounces off. Could you quote the precise ruling? Thanks
Posted 13:15 26th March 2012
crunchfit says...
@bluelion
This piece was not written by PR, I don't think.
Posted 09:42 26th March 2012
curates_egg says...
@makemehappy simple physics - a conversion is scored when the ball passes through the posts. If the ball bounces off the top of a post, it cannot pass through the posts. No matter what team you support or what you want to believe, it cannot happen.
Just think about it: the ball has already passed the crossbar but it has crossed it on top of the post i.e. not between it. No score.
Posted 21:23 25th March 2012
makemehappy says...
@curates_egg - its clearly over the line. That's why it was given. It also seemed a legitimate enough conversion to me. More over than not!
Posted 10:14 25th March 2012
curates_egg says...
@jontheref if the ball hit the top of the posts it cannot come back inside the posts because as soon as it bounces, it is already over the target line. It is too late. It was not a legitimate conversion.
@makemehappy You can debate the TMO tries - for me there is an grounding by Hibbard but no angle showing it is over the line.
Look, Ospreys probably deserved a win but that conversion was not legitimate.
Posted 09:59 25th March 2012
makemehappy says...
@curates_egg - so you think that a try should be given when you can't see the ball, and that a try should be disallowed when the ball is clearly grounded???? Interesting ideas. Admittedly with the Hibbard try only the last couple of replays showed the try being scored, but the ball clearly touches the ground for a split second. You'd really have to be biased not to think that. As for the disallowed try - shame they couldn't improve the lighting, as the images appeared dark (not surprising with the shadows). They didn't increase the lighting, and since you couldn't see the ball being grounded, they couldn't give the try. It really is that simple.
Posted 17:35 24th March 2012
jontheref says...
Great win.
For Ospreys.
Thought the 16th man, Funkygibbon had all but won the game for Leinster with his penalty count v O's.
Biggars last kick was great, and very, very lucky.
Expect to see Munster back in 2nd after their game though.
As to TMO.
I thought Leinster had scored, but he could find no evidence. Good camera angle gave it to Hibbard, for the conversion to seal it.
curate
Why got to the TMO for the conversion, the ball came back inside the posts. TJ and ref thought so.
marzie
Forward passes?
At this level one was marginal at best, I'd be more concerned about refereeing of the breakdown, he was awful.
At least that is static, and he should get it right.
makemehappy
Well said. Clown is complimentary to this bozzo.
Yellow card, Tipuric followed him to ground, more than Ferris did!
:-)
Posted 16:05 24th March 2012
curates_egg says...
It was a decent match and Ospreys deserved it just as much as Leinster...BUT...
How can a conversion that hits the top of the posts be judged to have gone between them? Why not go to the TMO if the touch judges and ref don't know the rules.
However, also found the two TMO try decisions bizarre. I thought Heinke VDM scored and Hibbard didn't.
Also, Tipuric yellow seemed harsh.
Posted 09:57 24th March 2012
paddy91317 says...
OK we lost maybe just what we needed, the result wasn't the most important thing Drico, Leo and Thorn all got valuable game time.........
PS.hope Hagan is alright because he is the future for us in tight-head
Posted 09:05 24th March 2012
GoWalesGo says...
Ole.. Ole Ole Ole... Ospreys... Ospreys...
Posted 08:16 24th March 2012
makemehappy says...
I can't believe that clown of a ref is allowed to referee, and especially in Ireland. He must be the only person in the world that thought Leinster deserved penalties in the scrum. They were destroyed there. Everyone agreed on that - Shane Byrne, the other commentators etc.
Then there was the Leinster try - why didn't he call the tackle on Kahn, without the ball, which occured right in front of him???? He can't have missed that.
Then there was the yellow card - enough said - madness!
Given all the above, I won't dwell on the constant slowing down of the back by Leinster in the ruck. You couldn't fail to miss it, unless you were the idiot with the whistle.
That should have been at least a 15 point win to the Ospreys, given all the above. Nobody could deny that if they watched that game.
Before anyone comments - I didn't think the Ospreys played that well, and I think they are generally bloody awful and boring! Why do they pick Eli Walker?
Posted 07:38 24th March 2012
Hermes says...
I got the feeling all through this game that Leinster have bigger fish to fry. They are targeting Munster match and to peak at hc match. Let's hope hagan or white recover for quarter.
Posted 00:59 24th March 2012
marzie says...
Not too bothered by this seeing as we still enjoy a big margin at the top of the table, were missing all our first-team internationals and were a little unlucky with the Ospreys benefitting from a try that shouldn't have been - two forward passes - and a try that wasn't given - to Leinster, when it was clear the ball was grounded immediately after the footage was repeatedly wound and rewound.
Losing to jammy Welshmen is getting increasingly irritating however. Sigh...
Any news on Jamie Hagan? He looked in a bad way.
Posted 23:32 23rd March 2012
leinster_goy says...
good call by bluelion. maybe some of leinster's players have been guilty of believing their own hype with the 20-game unbeaten run.
don't get me wrong, they deserve to be top of the table but all the same they have benefited from some ridiculous luck during that run - for example they would have lost in cardiff in january only for halfpenny missing two simple kicks. also lucky against the scarlets a few weeks ago
one thing that needs to be said is that losing both tightheads in the space of 15 mins was a game-changer. it turned our scrum into mashed potatoes and effectively lost the game for us. rotten luck yes, but i think we were overdue given what i've mentioned above
i do not believe that hibbard grounded the ball for the decisive score but its a moot point since ospreys would have had a 5m scrum and won a penalty try anyway
there was some very poor decision-making by the team in blue. madigan had a good first half but bottled it in the second. he missed touch on two occasions, missed numerous tackles and generally was outclassed by biggar. he still has a long way to go. also, isa had, by his own high standards, a stinker. his running was poor and he popped manys an aimless kick right down the throat of the ospreys back three. dommers came off second best against tipuric again. cullers and drico looked, understandably, rusty
my view is that schmidty will secretly be relieved with this loss. it is a wake-up call that will bring them all back down to earth and with the first teamers due to return, it sets up a ding-dong battle with the red ***** next week. a big improvement is expected guys
Posted 23:27 23rd March 2012