Ospreys sealed their first home win of the RaboDirect PRO12 season with a 30-15 victory over Munster at the Liberty Stadium.
The Ospreys were clear and deserved 30-15 winners as they outplayed Munster from start to finish.
The home side had by far the better of the first half and Dan Biggar kicked them into an early lead with a couple of penalties before their possession and territory was rewarded with a try in the 20th minute.
Substitute scrum-half Peter Stringer's kick was charged down by Justin Tipuric and a powerful run from Andrew Bishop laid the platform for the ball to be spun wide and full-back Richard Fussell got on the end of it to score in the left-hand corner.
Munster did work their way back into the match to some extent but were unable to take advantage of a good spell of pressure towards the end of the half and had to settle for two Ronan O'Gara penalties, which made the score 13-6 at the break.
And, despite the fact that the visitors had been distinctly second best, another three points from O'Gara early in the second half reduced the deficit to just four points and made the home fans sit far less comfortably in their seats.
Ill-discipline cost the Irishmen dear soon afterwards though as Tommy O'Donnell was sent to the sin bin, leaving his side a man light in the forwards and allowing Biggar to kick another three points.
And more punishment was to come as the dominance of the Ospreys' pack came to the fore and the referee was forced to award a penalty try when Munster were driven backwards in the scrum.
Munster's response was to make as many as five replacements in the pack all at once but, although O'Gara and Ian Keatley kicked penalties to reduce the arrears, they didn't threaten the opposition try-line enough to make the comeback a realistic proposition.
Hooker Richard Hibbard was standing out wide and gleefully gathered in a loose pass that missed out Adam Jones and went to ground before crossing to seal the win and cap his 100th league appearance with a try.
The visitors' discipline got even worse in the final stages as replacement Damien Varley was given a straight red card after being on the field for less than 20 minutes.
And, although the Ospreys were unable to get a fourth try and snatch the bonus point that their dominance possibly deserved, the defending champions are now on the up after putting a poor start to the season behind them and racking up their second successive win.
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: Fussell, Hibbard, Penalty
Cons: Biggar 3
Pens: Biggar 3
For Munster:
Pens: Keatley, O'Gara 4
Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Tom Isaacs, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (capt), 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Jonathan Thomas, 20 George Stowers, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Ross Jones.
Munster: tbc
Referee: Dudley Phillips (Italy)
Comments
king_red says...
melkdave just spends his time trolling the threads with Irish teams on them these days. Yak, yak, yak!
Penney's tried out a bunch of different combinations every game so far this season as a let's see exercise. Hopefully this result will clear up a few issues for him and Foley and Mannix etc. and such a lop-sided (and somewhat predictable) side won't be picked again. Still early days for the Rabo as whole.
Posted 16:50 30th September 2012
GCP_JONES says...
@melkdave.....
Did you not see Ulster on Friday night?. I think that Rob Penney got the team selection wrong with Du Preez (Kilcoyne should start), O'Gara having poor games. Earls,Lualua mid-field did'nt work. In fairness there back-row was about 3rd choice combination.
I think its unfair to comment constantly about squad selection in Ireland, Leinster for example have 12 injuries, I still think the likes of munster leinster will be in the mix come end of season, by using there squad simple as that.
Who do you support by the way?
Posted 10:01 30th September 2012
Qkram79 says...
@Melkdave:
Regular feature? Ulster are unbeaten and Munster have lost 2 ... And one of those was to an Irish team by a point. Leinster always start slow. You'd be better off waiting a while before shooting your mouth off because these teams have a habit of making a fool of you. Your anti Irish trash talk is so predictable. Every time i read one of these stories I already know the junk you're going to post. Why don't you steer clear of the Celtic league if it's such a joke ... It seems like you give it waaaay too much attention for something that is so meaningless.
Posted 09:03 30th September 2012
melkdave says...
Annother irish side being outplayed ,It seems to be a regular feature so far this season,.Top players may be rested and fresh ,but undercoked by the look of it.Perhaps the time has finaly arrived where Leinster and Munster cant reley on their 2nd string to win the majority of league games anymore.Lets hope so anyway..As it woud make the Pro12 a little more interesting,as far as the champinship playoffs are concerned.
Posted 00:51 30th September 2012