Ospreys gallop to victory
Two tries from Ashley Beck to secure a 44-17 win over Treviso kept alive the Ospreys faint hopes of a Heineken Cup quarterfinal place.
Beck also picked up the Heineken man of the match award for his performance as the Ospreys hit their Italian visitors for six to pick up their first try bonus point of the season in all competitions.
The Welsh region must now hope Pool 5 leaders Saracens don’t beat Biarritz on Sunday to keep alive the chase for Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup quarterfinal places moving into the final round next weekend.
Tommy Bowe got the six try romp started with a third minute interception try from 60 metres out to edge ever closer to the ERC Elite Award target of 25 Heineken Cup tries. That score took his tally to 22 and he should have got another in the second half when he carried two Benetton Treviso defenders with him over the line only to see hear the TMO rule out a score.
The Ospreys were in fluent mode and stretched their lead to 10-3 with a Dan Biggar penalty. Then Bowe broke through again to set up a charge for the visitors’ line that ended 10 metres out when the ball squirted out of the side of a ruck.
Up popped Treviso scrumhalf Edoardo Gori and he outdid Bowe by racing 80 metres to the left corner for a spectacular try. Kris Burton’s touchline conversion made it 10-10 in only the 11th minute and the home side knew they were in a fight.
But Beck’s two strikes before half-time gave his side a handy 25-10 interval lead and, after Bowe had been denied a second score four minutes after the break, the Ospreys pack flexed their muscles to pick up the first of two penalty tries awarded by English referee JP Doyle.
That score, with a Biggar conversion, stretched the lead to 22 points and also earned the Ospreys a much needed bonus point. But still Treviso refused to be shaken off and a try from close range by lock Gonzalo Padro, improved by Tobie Botes, cut the gap.
But the home side ended with a flourish and it was a brilliant break from rising young star Matthew Morgan that paved away for replacement scrumhalf Khan Fotuali’i to cross for try number five. The final blow came from another power packed scrum when Mr Doyle ran to the posts for a second penalty try just as Ospreys back row man Tom Smith was about to pick up a dive over.
Scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: Beck 2, Bowe, Penalty tries 2, Fotuali’i
Cons: Biggar 3, Morgan
Pen: Biggar 2
For Treviso:
Tries: Gori, Padro
Cons: Burton, Botes
Pen: Burton
Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Barry Davies, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Justin Tipuric (captain), 6 Tom Smith, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 Ryan Bevington 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Jonathan Thomas 20 Chauncey O’Toole, 21 Kahn Fotuali’i, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Tom Isaacs.
Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Andrea Pratichetti, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Marco Filippucci, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Paul Derbyshire, 5 Valerio Bernabo, 4 Gonzalo Padrò, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Franco Sbaraglini, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Enrico Ceccato, 17 Augusto Allori, 18 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 19 Cornelius van Zyl, 20 Benjamin Vermaak, 21 Simon Picone, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Tobias Botes.
