Ospreys and Ulster picked up bonus-point victories in the PRO14 on Friday as they overcame Connacht and Edinburgh respectively.
Ospreys 39-10 Connacht
Ospreys eased to a 39-10 victory over Connacht at the Liberty Stadium.
Tries from Jeff Hassler, Dan Evans, Scott Otten, Ashley Beck and Hanno Dirkson saw the Welsh region ease to victory. Craig Ronaldson’s first-half effort was as good as it got for Connacht.
With both sides struggling in the PRO14 this campaign, Ospreys took charge inside two minutes with Dan Biggar nailing the first penalty of the evening. The Welsh international made it two from two before the clock had reached 10 minutes, in a half that the hosts largely controlled. Evans saw yellow for the home side for what looked like a knock-on, but the man disadvantage actually helped them stretch their lead.
The first try came for the 14 men, with Hassler ignoring the other 13. Possession was stolen on half-way and Ospreys’ 14 went the length unchallenged, allowing Biggar to make it a 13-0 lead.
Connacht got themselves back in the game with their first points of the night though on 21 minutes. Ronaldson had only entered the field a couple of minutes prior but he received the pass from Jarrad Butler to sprint through. The try scorer added two to cut the gap down to six.
The returning Evans built the lead back up though with Ospreys’ second try of the night. He found the line following a line-out to restore the advantage just before the half-hour. A kick from Jack Carty reduced the half-time deficit to 20-10.
The Ospreys added to their lead though after the break with try number three. A quick penalty saw Otten find the line, the TMO giving the all clear for a 27-10 lead.
And on the hour mark, Ospreys virtually sealed the win with a fourth try. A line-out caught Connacht napping and Beck went through, 34-10 the ever growing advantage.
Things soon got worse with try five, Dirksen given time and space to ease his way over for 39-10.
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: Hassler, Evans, Otten, Beck, Dirksen
Cons: Biggar 4
Pens: Biggar 2
Yellow Card: Evans
For Connacht:
Try: Ronaldson
Con: Ronaldson
Pen: Carty
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Hanno Dirksen, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Tom Habberfield, 8 James King, 7 Sam Cross, 6 Guy Mercer, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Ifan Phillips, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Morgan Morris, 21 Matthew Aubrey, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Owen Watkin
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Peter Robb, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Eoin McKeon, 7 Jarrad Butler (c), 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 James Cannon, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Conor Carey, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 John Muldoon, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Craig Ronaldson, 23 Darragh Leader
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy), Craig Evans (Wales)
Television match official: Neil Hennessy (Wales)
Edinburgh 20-32 Ulster
Ulster picked up a 32-20 win in a thriller at Myreside.
Darren Cave, Charles Piutau, John Cooney and Iain Henderson outscored the hosts efforts from Duncan Weir and a penalty.
It took nine minutes for the scoreboard to get ticking, with Weir’s easy penalty easing the hosts into an early lead. That lasted just a couple of minutes though, with Ulster soon grabbing the first try of the night. Jacob Stockdale found room down the wing to go on a run and he saw Cave in space, with the try swiftly following. Cooney added two to put Ulster into a 7-3 lead.
Weir was again on hand with his second penalty of the night to cut the gap back down to just a point, but Ulster again responded with a try.
Their second of the night came from Piutau, who had found himself in space following the switch of the ball to the wing. Cooney missed his effort this time but soon made up for it.
The Ulster 10 was the next man over the line on 24 minutes, the end man after a slick passing move that cut the hosts backline open. He made no mistake with the conversion either.
Edinburgh responded though before the break. Weir had the pitch to himself after stealing possession and went 60 metres downfield before converting, Ulster’s lead cut to 19-13 at the break.
Cooney added another three following the restart though to put the visitors back in command. But a penalty try brought Edinburgh within a couple of points with the Ulster defence struggling to keep the hosts out. With the gap down to two, a Cooney penalty was vital to take the lead back up to five. And Henderson wrapped up the win in the final moments for a 32-20 win.
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Weir, Penalty try
Con: Weir
Pens: Weir 2
For Ulster:
Tries: Cave, Piutau, Cooney, Henderson
Cons: Cooney 3
Pens: Cooney 2
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Jordan Lay
Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 WP Nel, 19 Lewis Carmichael, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Chris Dean
Ulster: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Louis Ludik, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 9 John Cooney, 8 Jean Deysel, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Matthew Rea, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Matthew Dalton, 3 Tom O'Toole, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Tommy O'Hagan, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Alan O'Connor, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Angus Curtis, 23 Tommy Bowe
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Wayne Davies (Wales), David Sutherland (Scotland)
Television match official: Sean Brickell (Wales)
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