Ospreys down Black Lion to bag first win

WRAP: Ospreys avoided Challenge Cup embarrassment as they coasted to a 39-14 win over Georgian side Black Lion in Tbilisi.

Mark Jones handed six players their first starts of the season and they responded by running in seven tries to claim a bonus-point victory.

Gwilym Evans, Morgan Morse, Huw Sutton and Luke Morgan all crossed in the first half for Jones’ much-changed side.

Morgan, Lewis Lloyd and Kian Hire added to the Welsh side’s tally in the second half but Lawson Creighton managed just four points with the boot.

Black Lion have previously scored upset wins in Europe and had a flicker of hope when Giorgi Spanderashvili landed a 20th-minute response to the early efforts from Evans and Morse.

But Ospreys pulled away and will now relish consecutive home games against Dragons and Cardiff after a marathon start to the season that also saw them play two United Rugby Championship matches in South Africa.

*Ulster opened their Challenge Cup campaign with a 40-21 win over Zebre Parma, scoring six tries to secure five points.

Young hooker Henry Walker marked his first senior competitive start with a brace, while David McCann celebrated his first match as captain with a try.

Ulster led 19-0 at halftime but had to withstand a spirited Zebre fightback before Martin Moloney’s late try secured the crucial bonus point under the competition’s new rules.

*Find all scores and scores below!

Black Lion 14-39 Ospreys

The scorers:

For Black Lion:
Tries: Spanderashvili, Giorgadze
Cons: Tabatadze 2

For Ospreys:
Tries: Evans, Morse, Sutton, Morgan 2, Lloyd, Hardy
Cons: Creighton 2

Teams:

Black Lion:15 Luka Tsirekidze, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Luka Tabatadze, 12 Data Akhvlediani, 11 Romani Makhatadze, 10 Giorgi Babunashvili, 9 Giorgi Spenderashvili, 8 Potu Leavasa, 7 Lasha Tsikhistavi, 6 Luka Narsia, 5 Michael Curry, 4 Mikheil Babunashvili (captain), 3 Nika Khatiashvili, 2 Irakli Kvatadze, 1 Dato Abdushelishvili.
Replacements: 16 Vakhtang Jincharadze, 17 Giorgi Mamaiashvili, 18 Giorgi Chkhartishvili, 19 Lado Chachanidze, 20 Sandro Mamamtavrishvili, 21 Otar Giorgadze, 22 Temur Dzodzuashvili, 23 Otar Metreveli.

Ospreys: 15 Lewis Edwards, 14 Luke Morgan, 13 Owen Watkin (captain), 12 Lalakai Foketi, 11 Iestyn Hopkins, 10 Lawson Creighton, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morse, 7 Gwilym Evans, 6 Huw Sutton, 5 Ryan Smith, 4 Lewis Jones, 3 Ben Warren, 2 Lewis Lloyd, 1 Steffan Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Efan Daniel, 17 Cameron Jones, 18 Kian Hire, 19 Ben Roberts, 20 Morgan Morris, 21 Luke Davies, 22 Harri Wilde, 23 Evardi Boshoff.

Referee: Benoit Rousselet
Assistant Referees: Remi Aigubonne, Tomas Chereque
TMO: Herve Lasusa

Zebre 21-40 Ulster

The scorers:

For Zebre:
Tries: Licata, Ortombina, Montemauri
Cons: Giacomo, Montemauri 2

For Ulster:
Tries: Walker 2, Stockdale, McCann Lowry, Moloney
Cons: Doak 3, Benson 2

Teams:

Zebre: 15 Giovanni Montemauri, 14 Giulio Bertaccini, 13 Marco Zanon, 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Tobias Wade, 10 Giacomo da Re, 9 Alessandro Fusco (captain), 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Bautista Stavile Bravin, 6 Giacomo Ferrari, 5 Alessandro Ortombina, 4 Francesco Ruffolo, 3 Juan Barbotti, 2 Tommaso di Bartolomeo, 1 Sergio Pelliccioli.
Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Federico Pisani, 18 Francisco Minervino, 19 Leonard Krumov, 20 Jacopo Botturi, 21 Patricio Baronio, 22 Riccardo Casarin, 23 Mirko Belloni.

Ulster: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Daniel Hawkshaw, 12 Jake Flannery, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jamie Benson, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 David McCann (captain), 6 James McKilllop, 5 Cormac Izuchukwu, 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Keynan Knox, 2 Henry Walker, 1 Tom O’Toole
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Joe Hopes, 20 Martin Moloney, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Jack Murphy, 23 Michael Lowry

Referee: Ben Connor
Assistant Referees: Rhys Jones, Marcus Caudle
TMO: Adam Jones