After the delight of the past two international weekends, this season’s Welsh flag-bearers proved themselves capable of following suit with a comfortable victory over the Borders.
Admittedly, the opposition on this occasion was nothing more than plucky, but in brushing aside the travelling Scots, the Ospreys increased their healthy advantage on top of the pile.
Ospreys chose to do without their Welsh internationals for this contest, preferring instead to show faith in youngsters Andrew Bishop and Richard Rees behind the scrum and Paul James in the front row. However, the depth of talent at The Gnoll these days is a real feature and all three would be pressing for a starting place in any of the other three regions.
Any chance of the Borders causing an upset was all but extinguished within the opening 10 minutes as the Ospreys displayed that strength in depth with a try from second row Andy Newman. Shaun Connor converted from close in and that set the trend.
It came as no great surprise when the Ospreys improved their advantage in the 10th minute with Connor’s first penalty of the night. Having missed the first five months of the season with a broken leg, Connor’s return was most welcome. After all, the meteoric rise of Gavin Henson means the Ospreys will have to rely on Connor and young Matthew Jones for the remaining weeks of the Six Nations and possibly beyond if Sir Clive Woodward requests that his probables are wrapped in cotton wool ahead of the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.
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Connor’s second penalty on 15 minutes extended the lead to 13 points and when the flanker James Bater took receipt of cleanly won lineout ball to score on 19 minutes, the game was as good as over.
Charlie Hore kicked a first-half consolation from 40 metres eight minutes from the interval, but that solitary contribution was overshadowed three minutes later by the introduction of prop Duncan Jones, who has missed the first part of the Six Nations with a broken thumb. A minute later the Ospreys dashed 70 metres with ball in hand to send in Richie Pugh for a try that provided further confirmation of his outstanding pace.
The second half began in rather tame fashion as the Ospreys tried a little too hard for the bonus point. However, with the Wales under-21 centre Andrew Bishop showing some wonderful touches on his first appearance in the senior Ospreys’ side, the home team still had plenty of options with which to press for maximum spoils.
To their credit, the Borders carried on regardless and when right wing Stuart Moffat was tripped by Steffan Terblanche with the line at his mercy, the visitors might have been awarded a penalty try.
Referee Colin Stanley ignored their plea, but five minutes later Hore swept through a rare gap in the Ospreys’ midfield to cross between the posts.
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Andrew Millward made sure of the bonus point when he was driven over from a lineout four minutes from time. Connor converted and that was that.
STAR MAN: Richie Pugh (Ospreys)
Ospreys: S Terblanche; D Tiueti (A Durston 73min), A Bishop, E Seveali’I, R Mustoe; S Connor (M Jones 77min), R Rees (R Wells 73min); P James (D Jones 35min), B Williams (capt) (R Hibbard 76min), A Millward, A Newman (L Tait 32mins), L Bateman, J Bater, R Pugh (S Tandy 79min), A Lloyd.
Tries: Newman 4, Bater 19, Pugh 40, Millward 76
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Cons: Connor (4). Pens: Connor (2)
Borders: G Morton; S Moffat, C MacRae, C Hore, N Walker; A Warnock, J Weston ( I Wilson 73min); T McGee (G Cross 71min), R Ford (W Kay 75min), A Douglas (capt), M Blair (K Brown 49min), C Stewart, J Dalziel, A Miller, W McEntee.
Try: Hore 60
Con: Hore. Pen: Hore
Referee: C Stanley (RFU). Attendance: 4,057
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