Glasgow keep European hopes alive after edging Ospreys

Adam Kyriacou

Glasgow Warriors fly-half Ross Thompson fired 15 points to keep their Champions Cup hopes alive as they edged out Ospreys 30-25 at Scotstoun.

The Welsh region started the night 10 points ahead of Danny Wilson’s team but the Warriors will cling to the hope they can still hunt their third-placed rivals down after slashing their lead by three, with a top-three finish expected to be enough to qualify.

Toby Booth’s Swansea-based outfit now round off the regular season with a trip to Dublin to face reigning PRO14 champions Leinster.

Glasgow still have to play both Dragons and Benetton but know two victories may still not be enough.

Thompson was the coolest man on the pitch as he fired three penalties and a hat-trick of conversions in another hugely impressive display from the 21-year-old.

Lee Jones, Rufus McLean and Aki Seiuli also crossed the try-line for Glasgow, with Ospreys responding through Morgan Morris and Gareth Evans either side of a penalty try.

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But it is the losing bonus-point which could yet come in most handy for Booth’s side.

Ospreys’ only previous Scotstoun win was back in November 2016 and it looked like they were on course for another four minutes in as they won the first penalty, booted to the corner then launched a savage maul attack, with Morris smashing his way over.

Worse was to come for Glasgow on the quarter-hour mark as they found themselves overstretched again, with referee Sam Grove-White producing a double whammy as he awarded a penalty try as well as sin-binning Ollie Smith for a deliberate knock-on as Dewi Cross threatened in the far corner.

With his side 12 points down, Wilson could only shake his head in disbelief. But three Thompson penalties – countered by a solitary Luke Price kick – ensured Glasgow went in just six points down at the interval.

And they were in front within four minutes of the restart as Smith made amends for his earlier mistake to put in a vital tackle as Dan Evans looked primed to burst clear.

With the ball dislodged from the full-back’s grasp, Ospreys were left defenceless as Jones pinned his ears back and darted the length of the field to score a sensational solo effort, with Thompson’s conversion nudging Wilson’s team ahead.

The lead lasted just four minutes as Gareth Evans powered off the base of the scrum before shunting over for a third Ospreys try.

But Thompson produced another moment of magic in the 51st minute as he measured a sublime grubber through for McLean to score before adding the extras from out wide with another effortless swing of his boot.

Seiuli then crashed through for Warriors’ third try on 62 minutes as the Ospreys maul defence splintered, with another Thompson beauty sealing the conversion and an eight-point lead.

It looked like there might by late drama as TJ Ioane was yellow-carded to leave Glasgow playing out the final stages a man light, but Ospreys could only muster a Price penalty as Glasgow claimed a vital win.

Good night for Joey Carbery

At Thomond Park, Joey Carbery looks to be finding form at just the right time after impressing in Munster’s 28-10 bonus-point win over Scarlets.

Carbery’s comeback from injury continued with his first start since January 2020, and the Ireland fly-half caught the eye just a fortnight out from the PRO14 final.

Munster booked their final place last week and confidently built a 21-3 half-time lead here thanks to tries from Gavin Coombes, Shane Daly and Niall Scannell.

Angus O’Brien kicked a lone penalty for Scarlets, who had come in search of a win to guarantee Champions Cup rugby next season.

A yellow card for Scarlets replacement Tevita Ratuva preceded Kevin O’Byrne’s 58th-minute bonus point effort. There were 82 minutes on the clock when Steff Evans scored the visitors’ consolation try.

Munster were first to threaten in wet and windy conditions, although Johnny McNicholl was alert to the dangerous kick from Nick McCarthy.

Dane Blacker’s brilliant sidestepping run promised much, yet Scarlets’ follow-up was foiled by a turnover penalty won by James Cronin.

The breakthrough came in the 19th minute when Coombes powered over for his ninth try of the season having shown terrific hands from the initial scrum.

Carbery’s conversion was soon followed by a penalty from O’Brien, punishing a block by Daly to make it 7-3.

The Munster wing made amends just a few minutes later, trailing Carbery’s silky run from a kick return and evading Tyler Morgan’s tackle to score.

A worrying injury for Fineen Wycherley, who was stretchered off, brought Academy back rower Alex Kendellen on for his Munster debut.

Scarlets paid the price for a series of penalties when the returning Aaron Shingler was sin-binned for an early challenge on a lineout lifter.

In the Wales international’s absence, Munster hooker Scannell plunged over from a dominant maul just before the break. Carbery expertly converted from out wide.

Current Wales centre Johnny Williams replaced the injured McNicholl, and in a scrappy third quarter, Scarlets’ set-piece struggles continued with Munster winning a scrum against the head.

Ratuva then saw yellow for collapsing a Munster maul, with the subsequent drive putting O’Byrne over. The conversion followed from Carbery, who was replaced on the hour mark with his night’s work finished.

Although frustrated by Munster’s maul defence, Scarlets were able to profit from Cronin’s late sin-binning. Evans tidied up a loose pass and took a return offload from Sam Lousi to go over. O’Brien converted from the left touchline.

Leinster ease past Zebre

Earlier, Dave Kearney scored a hat-trick of tries as Leinster recorded a 48-31 victory over Zebre in Parma.

Leo Cullen’s men clinched a place in the PRO14 final by beating Ulster last weekend and maintained the momentum in their penultimate match of the regular season.

Dan Sheehan, Cian Kelleher, Luke McGrath and Kearney all went over in the first half as the defending champions raced to a bonus point despite losing Alex Soroka to the sin bin for 10 minutes.

Giovanni D’Onofrio touched down for Zebre early in the second half, but a Pierre Bruno yellow card proved costly as Sheehan immediately added his second try before Kearney went over twice more to complete his treble.

Eduardo Bello and Niccolo Taddia crossed for the battling hosts in the closing stages, but there was no way back by that point.