Bonus-point win for Ospreys

Editor

Ospreys picked up a derby win over Cardiff Blues on Saturday, prevailing 40-27 in the Judgement Day clash at the Principality Stadium.

A frantic second half saw the lead change hands a number of times, before two late tries from Rhys Webb secured the victory.

Hanno Dirksen also scored a brace, while Sam Underhill and James King capped off the six-try performance for the Swansea side.

Despite early dominance from the Ospreys, it was Blues fly-half Gareth Anscombe who slotted the first points from the tee after 10 minutes.

Ospreys' King then picked up from the back of a scrum on Blues' five metre line to reach for the try with 25 minutes on the clock, allowing Dan Biggar to open his account with the conversion.

Anscombe then added two more penalties to the Blues' tally in the final ten minutes off the half, giving his side a half-time lead of nine points to seven.

Within two minutes of the restart Cardiff extended their lead, as Aled Summerhill collected a sweeping pass from Anscombe to carry over in the corner, but the fly half pulled the conversion wide leaving the score at 14-7.

Another Anscombe penalty edged the Blues further ahead, extending their lead at the Principality Stadium to 10 points.

Following another Ospreys scrum five metres from the try line, the ball was shipped out to Rynier Bernardo on the right, who then found a pass to Dirksen through his legs to reach for the corner. Biggar missed the resulting conversion, but his next attempt took his side in to the lead after another Dirksen try had levelled the scores as Ospreys capitalised on poor handling from the Cardiff side.

An excellent individual effort from Josh Navidi saw him slide over the whitewash after shrugging off a number of Ospreys tackles, before Anscombe easily converted to make it 24-19.

With 10 minutes remaining Ospreys secured a bonus point, as scrum-half Webb found Underhill to carry over from close range. Biggar added the conversion to put his side two points in front, before Anscombe slotted a penalty to steal the lead once more.

An excellent try from Webb saw him collect the ball from the back of a ruck, before diving in to the corner in emphatic fashion to restore Ospreys' lead, allowing Biggar to convert excellently from the touchline.

Webb secured his hat-trick in the dying embers of the game to ensure the win for the Ospreys, before Biggar's conversion made the final score 40-27.

The scorers:

For Cardiff Blues:
Tries:
Summerhill, Navidi, Anscombe
Cons: Anscombe
Pens: Anscombe 5

For Ospreys:
Tries:
King, Dirksen 2, Underhill, Webb 2
Cons: Biggar 5

Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Aled Summerhill, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Tom James, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 James Down, 4 Josh Turnbull, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins (c)
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Jarrad Hoeata, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Gavin Evans

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Jonathan Spratt, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Ben John, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb (c), 8 Dan Lydiate, 7 James King, 6 Olly Cracknell, 5 Rynier Bernardo, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Brendon Leonard, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Josh Matavesi

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Leighton Hodges (Wales), Martyn Lewis (Wales)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)