Connacht 6 - 17 Ospreys

The Ospreys moved back to the top of the PRO12 as their understrength side still proved too strong for Connacht in a windy Galway.

Miah Nikora and Matthew Morgan swapped early penalties before scrum-half Rhys Webb's break set up Morgan to score under the posts on 32 minutes.

Nikora kicked another penalty before the break but with the wind advantage to follow, the Ospreys were in control.

Sonny Parker's try made the game safe as Connacht lacked a cutting edge.

The Ospreys were without 18 squad members because of Wales and Wales Sevens duty and injuries but Tommy Bowe was in action for the Welsh outfit in his native country.

Connacht had the gale force wind at their backs in their first half but kicking was still difficult and Nikora was off target with the game's opening penalty chance in the 11th minute.

As Connacht pressed, Paul O'Donohue sniped towards the Ospreys line in the 13th minute before being bundled into touch.

Connacht's early pressure did yield a penalty for Nikora in the 16th minute but Morgan quickly levelled for the Ospreys after a George Naoupu infringement in a ruck.

The conditions suggested that Connacht would need a healthy lead going into the second half so the game was going to plan for the Ospreys.

It got even better for the visitors in the 32nd minute as scrum-half Webb's midfield break set up Morgan to score under the posts and the fly-half added the conversion for good measure to increase the Ospreys lead to 10-3.

Nikora replied with a Connacht penalty but Richard Hibbard wasted a chance to score a second Ospreys try before the break as the visitors had numbers out wide.

However given the conditions, the Ospreys' 10-6 interval lead appeared a dominant position.

Connacht summoned up a big effort after the break and pressure in the Ospreys 22 resulted in Ian Gough being yellow carded in the 45th minute.

But after opting for the line-out, Connacht failed to control the possession and the chance was lost - something that happened on several occasions during the 80 minutes.

Replacement scrum-half Murphy attemped to generate quicker Connacht possession but the visitors held firm and invariably punted the ball, wind-assisted, back into home territory.

After the Connacht huff and puff had come to nothing, Duncan Jones, making his 150th appearance for the Ospreys, produced a run which helped set up the decisive second try on the hour.

After Jones had charged to the edge of the Connacht 22, slick handling in the Ospreys backs culminated in Richard Fussell setting up replacement Parker to score under the posts.

Morgan added the conversion and with almost 20 minutes left, the game was already over.

The defeat leaves Connacht without a win since 23 September.



Connacht: Gavin Duffy (c); Brian Tuohy, Dave McSharry, Henry Fa'afili, Tiernan O'Halloran; Miah Nikora, Paul O'Donohoe; Brett Wilkinson, Adrian Flavin, Rodney Ah You; Dave Gannon, George Naoupu; TJ Anderson, John Muldoon, Ray Ofisa.

Replacements: Ethienne Reynecke, Ronan Loughney, Stewart Maguire, Mike Kearney, Eoghan Grace, Frank Murphy, Niall O'Connor, Mark McCrea.

Ospreys: Barry Davies; Tommy Bowe, Andrew Bishop, Ashley Beck, Richard Fussell; Matthew Morgan, Rhys Webb; Duncan Jones, Richard Hibbard, Aaron Jarvis, Ian Gough, James King, Tom Smith (capt), Chauncey O'Toole, Joe Bearman.

Replacements: Mefin Davies, Cai Griffiths, Joe Rees, James Goode, George Stowers, Tom Isaacs, Sonny Parker, Hanno Dirksen.

I think the beeb have confused Duncan and Adam Jones.

The Ospreys Website wrote:

Meanwhile, Adam Jones has returned to the Ospreys for treatment after being released from the Wales squad on Monday due to his ongoing calf issue.

Currently top of the league table with just the one defeat in eight PRO12 fixtures to date, the Ospreys face Connacht in Galway on Saturday evening before Munster are the visitors at the Liberty Stadium a week later.
According to Bowe, the players at the region are champing at the bit to get back into action after last weekend's draw in Treviso.

Tommy Bowe wrote:It's a huge couple of weeks again for us really" said the Ireland wing.

Obviously we were disappointed with the draw in Treviso, but we can't dwell on it because we've got another tough run of games coming up, starting with Connacht away this Saturday. The Sportsground is always a very difficult place to play.

We've lost a few of our Welsh guys again but that gives a great opportunity for some of the other guys to come back into the team and really put their stamp on it and help us to cement our place at the top of the league over the next two weeks.

It's a great chance for them and anyone who's an Osprey should be excited about it. Some of the guys who had the chance back in September have remained in and around the team after everyone came back from the World Cup and they've done very well, so it's another great opportunity for someone to put their hands up.

It's going to be a very difficult couple of weeks up against two good teams who offer different challenges, but this group of players know what's required and we'll be looking at these next two weeks as a real opportunity for us build on the excellent results and got us off to a flier in the PRO12 earlier in the season.

Ian Gough will make his 100th appearance for the region in Connacht this weekend, after committing his future to the Ospreys by penning a new two-year deal to stay at the Liberty Stadium.
Having joined the Ospreys in the summer of 2007, Gough made his debut for the region in October that year, having been part of the Welsh squad at the Rugby World Cup, wearing the Ospreys jersey for the first time in a 13-13 draw with Edinburgh at Murrayfield.
Capped by Wales at every age-grade level, he won 64 senior caps, the last of which came against Fiji at the Millennium Stadium in November 2010. Having signed a new contract that runs until the summer of 2014, the experienced second row has now switched his focus to the game against Connacht, which will be his 100th for the region.

"It's a big achievement however you look at it" he said.

"I'm really pleased to get there. It was only a month or so ago that I was looking at my appearances and realised I was getting pretty close so it's nice to get there. I got to 92 at the Dragons so I fell just short there, which makes it even nicer to complete the century at the Ospreys.

"The next target for me now is to maybe break through the 200 regional appearances barrier at some time this season, and having signed a new contract I want to take it on some way beyond that number.

"It's nice to be in a club where the fellow members are true Ospreys legends. Paul James tops the list on 168, and there a few who've just gone past 150 recently, but everybody there who has gone over 100 are boys who've shown good loyalty to the region."

Ospreys Forwards Coach Jonathan Humphreys admits he is a long-term Gough admirer, and congratulated him on both his new contract and reaching the 100-cap mark, saying he can be an inspiration to his fellow Ospreys, young and old.

"I'm delighted for Goughie, on both reaching his 100th cap and his new contract. He was a player that I wanted in our squad for a considerable period of time before we finally got hold of him. He's been a fantastic servant to the region and a real asset to the team, a very durable character and one of the natural leaders in our environment.

"He brings an aggressive physical edge and a wealth of experience at the highest level of the game to the group, as well as a desire to share that knowledge and help people around him. That's fantastic for the younger players in the group who can learn so much from him.

"He's also an aspiring coach who is learning the ropes at age-grade level where he will have such a strong influence over the next generation of Ospreys, not just those he is training and playing alongside on a daily basis."

In addition to continuing playing for the next two years, Gough's fledgling coaching career will see him working with the Eyasses as he remains a positive influence on the up and coming players.

According to Gough himself, nothing will change for him as continues passing on his considerable knowledge to local youngsters, on and off the pitch.

"I'm just going to keep doing the same thing I've always done" he explained.

"Work as hard as I can, play hard and support everyone around me. I'm also working with the U18's at the moment, having done the U16's last season and hopefully I can carry on with that moving forward. I've got ambitions as a coach and hopefully, if I can help to bring through a couple of youngsters on to become senior Ospreys players I'll be delighted.

"As an age-grade coach I can't get too harsh on the young kids because in a year or two they might be training with the senior team and smashing into me! Seriously though, it's important as a senior pro that I do what I can to help youngsters develop. We've got boys on the fringes, young men, who are learning the game and when they are right and ready to take the mantle over then it'll be time to step aside. I know that, it's the nature of the game, but I've got another two years to serve the team, and in that time, whatever I can pass down to the next generation, I will.

"I'm a bit old school, my attitude is about getting out of bed every day, putting your boots on and getting through it. It's another day done. Mefin Davies is my inspiration at the moment, if he can keep going I can keep chasing him."

I going for a Connacht home win here,

Need the Ospreys to start dropping points so the rest can catch up.

COME ON CONNACHT

Connacht aren't just a snappy nipper to the ankles of the top of the league, they are a bloody good rugby team, and despite the ospreys standings we are not a good side at the moment. Our pack usually seems to go well but behind the scrum half we can be a real mess.

There are some good young Ospreys at the region but they haven't blended in well with the established players.

onnacht have come on leaps and bounds under Elwood, and really deserve respect, esp in the Sportsground.

I think they can get a win here, but'll it'll be close.

altough Connacht may need to rest players, after the H-cup, and they don't quite have the squad that the others have.

Did well in patches against Toulouse last week.

Could have scored another try or 2, were close.

Did well to stop Toulouse getting the 4th try.

A win(or 2) would be great for the confidence before the Heineken Cup resumes, when we play Gloucester at home.

Connacht looked very good, played with their tails up against Quins, I only saw highlights of the Toulouse game...!

We seemed to have found good form at the beginning of the year though that dwindled some as the RWC players returned. They seemed to have made us disjointed. It was a bit like watching a team in the first few games of the season as opposed to mid way through. But we are not the only side in the Rabo to look that way.

Probably should have stuck with more of the young fellas and introduced senior players later in the games until they were finding their way...!

I'm going for an Ospreys win, no surprises there.

Easy win for Neath/Swansea Ospreys tonight even though they dont have the side they did last year

I can't see the Ospreys winning this game.
We have been stripped to the bare bones due to international call ups (18 players unavailable?), it's amazing we can still call on such a good team under these circumstances, but I think too much of the guts have been taken away from us to compete in Ireland.

It's annoying we have lost our players 8 days before an international, they should of played for us on Saturday then gone on Wales duty, weve lost them for 2 weeks really which isnt fair.

18 players unavailable due to international call up

overlordofthewest wrote:18 players unavailable due to international call up

BBC Rugby wrote:Tommy Bowe has recovered from a dead leg for the Ospreys' trip to Connacht on Saturday, but they are without 18 players through Wales and Wales Sevens duty and injuries.

"

Yay! Tommy's back

UP THE OSPREYS!

He's gonna have his work cut out. Tiernan O'Halloran is a talent...

maestegmafia wrote:

overlordofthewest wrote:18 players unavailable due to international call up

BBC Rugby wrote:Tommy Bowe has recovered from a dead leg for the Ospreys' trip to Connacht on Saturday, but they are without 18 players through Wales and Wales Sevens duty and injuries.

"

My mistake, I didn't realise injuries were included.








Forgot about the 7's too if Im honest.

No problem mate, I think it was a misleading post by AD above.

God I hope it is a decent match as there has been some dross rugby on today.

The weather's bad out there by looks. Howling gale and due to be wazzed on....could be advantageous to Connacht.

Good grief! Gough looks like the wild man of Borneo with a massive beard!

Tommy looks as per...his mo has come along nicely.

Will be interesting to see how this O's team fare.

Good start by the O's so far, but they're playing into the wind at the moment. This will make kicking difficult. O's given a free kick after Muldoon is pinged for something (I missed what it was).

Leant in a bit there I thought

Miah Nikora injured...!

Hes back up...! looked nasty, webb lucky there i think having watched the replay

awful weather

Oh here we go....an O's forward going to be binned by any chance?

Gough FFS! What was that for?!

Gough has been a naughty boy.

Nikora kicks the penalty. The wind sends it left. Terrible conditions though. If the weather was more kind that would've gone over.

0 - 0.

Strong wind - Connacht miss their first penalty opportunity.

Another penalty to Connacht

That was very silly by Gough. He was lucky not to get binned.

I think we should see more attempts at tries this evening. Wind's too strong to rely on kicks.

O's giving away too many penalties at the moment. Nikora going for the sticks again.

3 - 0.

very tough out there playing into that wind and rain, but maybe the ospreys should be playing a more structured game...?

Morgan's not great at kicking for territory to be fair, although that could be exasperated by the wind.

Connacht waking up now. O's need to get a try in....they're up to the ten metre line...

Wind looks ridiculous - 3 - 3

Duncan Jones is driving well...

good kick considering the weather 3 - 3

Ospreys penalty...Morgan kicking into the wind, and thankfully it goes over even though it wasn't straight.

3 - 3.

Thats a large Connacht scrum

The wind is very strong - you can see that every time the ball goes into the air it gets blown away. They need to keep the ball in play and go for tries.

Connacht on the attack now. Normally that would be a good position for a drop goal, but in this wind, I wouldn't recommend it.

Ospreys defence looking resilient...

John Muldoon getting feisty...not like him. The ref has told him off a couple of times already.

Some good wins by Ospreylian teams in the Welsh premiership today by the looks too

Gough getting a second bollocking. He'll be in the bin before the night's out.

Good advert for summer rugby so far. What time is Strictly on?

Casartelli - feel free to turn over then. SCD is on at seven on BBC 1. Off you go...

Nice turnover by matt morgan, poor by fussell

Fussell is looking poor in the last couple of games....I wonder how much longer he can stay in the squad? They've tried him in different positions too.

I'll give it 5 mins. See if the wind drops.

I doubt it very much. They are playing towards the Atlantic...

Good drive by Connacht.

Barry Davies looking a lot like Daniel Day-Lewis' character Bill "The Butcher" Cutting in Scorcese's film The Gangs of New York.