Ospreys clinch Champions Cup spot after edging Leinster

David Skippers
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Josh Thomas’ late charge-down try guided Ospreys to a sensational 24-19 comeback win over PRO14 giants Leinster at the RDS Arena.

With replacement Andrew Smith sin-binned, Leinster lost their grip on a 19-3 lead as Ospreys ruthlessly reeled off converted scores from Olly Cracknell (68 minutes), Owen Watkin (71) and Thomas (75).

It was a season-defining result for Toby Booth’s men as it guarantees them a third-placed finish in Conference A and Champions Cup rugby for next season.

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The defeat will certainly sharpen Leinster minds ahead of next week’s PRO14 final against Munster. Tries from Harry Byrne and Jamie Osborne, on his second start, had them 12-3 ahead at half-time.

Fly-half Byrne bagged a brace but it went downhill for the defending champions during the final quarter. Thomas blocked a Byrne kick to score, adding his third conversion to seal Ospreys’ first victory in Dublin since their 2012 final triumph.

Frustrated by a trio of recent defeats, Ospreys went very close to an early try but Reuben Morgan-Williams was instead whistled for a knock-on.

Once Leinster exerted pressure in the right areas, the visitors struggled and lost prop Ma’afu Fia to the bin in the 19th minute.

A neat move off a scrum, combined with centre Osborne’s dummy run, played in Byrne for his 21st-minute converted try.

Luke Price responded with a penalty, only for Will Griffiths to fumble Byrne’s skyscraper restart. Osborne pounced on the loose ball and dived over for five more points in the right corner.

Price hit the post with a subsequent penalty and Ospreys failed to profit from two late penetrating runs by Morgan Morris, the Guinness player of the match.

Just three minutes into the second half, Byrne crossed from a Rowan Osborne pass after tighthead Michael Bent had taken advantage of a defensive gap.

Ciaran Frawley converted for a 19-3 lead and Leinster were looking comfortable. That was until their scrum began to concede penalties and Ospreys’ bench made a big impact.

Smith caught Dewi Cross with a high tackle in the 67th minute and the Ospreys pack piled through for Cracknell to dive in beside the posts.

20-year-old replacement Thomas coolly converted and also added the extras to Watkin’s rumble for the line, following a furious chase and steal by flanker Morris.

Victorious in Ireland on only two previous occasions since 2016, Ospreys snatched the result when Thomas followed through on his block, getting the better of Max O’Reilly.

Ulster thrash hapless Zebre

Meanwhile, Ulster finished their PRO14 season by running in seven tries in a 49-3 victory over a battling Zebre at the Kingspan Stadium.

The Northern Irish province, already guaranteed second place in Conference A, will have seen this encounter as a valuable outing ahead of their Challenge Cup last-16 game at Harlequins.

Skipper Jordi Murphy scored twice as Ulster racked up a second successive bonus-point win, although the complexion of the game was changed by the first-half sending off of Zebre’s replacement hooker Marco Manfredi which reduced the Italians to 13 men for the remainder of the game.

John Andrew, Michael Lowry, Robert Baloucoune, Rob Lyttle and Bradley Roberts also crossed for Ulster, with John Cooney kicking four conversions and Michael Lowry landing three.

Paolo Pescetto’s first-half penalty was all Zebre could manage in response.

Munster too strong for Benetton

Earlier, Alex McHenry, Keynan Knox, Roman Salanoa and Ben Healy all collected their first senior tries in Munster’s 31-17 bonus-point win over Benetton at Thomond Park.

Benetton’s hopes of avoiding a winless PRO14 campaign were raised by captain Dewaldt Duvenage’s superbly-created 22nd-minute try, but the Conference B winners hit back on the stroke of half-time through McHenry to lead 10-7.

Much-changed ahead of next week’s PRO14 final against Leinster, Munster then raced clear courtesy of those scores from props Knox and Salanoa.

Benetton can be proud of their finish, though, as they sandwiched Healy’s 73rd-minute effort with well-taken tries from Corniel Els and Giovanni Pettinelli.

History was made in Limerick as the referee and TMO roles were filled by female officials – Hollie Davidson and Joy Neville respectively – for the first time in a top-tier men’s professional club rugby game.

 

Benetton Treviso