Ospreys stun Connacht in brilliant comeback, Dragons' woes continue

WRAP: Ospreys completed a stunning fightback to overturn a 0-21 deficit at Brewery Field and beat Connacht 24-21 in their opening European Challenge Cup pool match, whilst the Dragons’ struggles continue.

Wing Iestyn Hopkins went over for the game’s decisive try with six minutes remaining, soon after Connacht fly-half Sean Naughton had missed a crucial penalty for the visitors against their United Rugby Championship rivals.

Connacht took full advantage as Ospreys pair James Ratti and Garyn Phillips were sent to the sin bin within the space of 11 first-half minutes, storming into a 21-0 lead through tries from Finlay Bealham, Sean Jansen and Jack Aungier, all converted by Naughton.

Ospreys loose forward Harri Deaves went over for an unconverted score on the stroke of half-time, and the home side further reduced the deficit in the second period via Phil Cokanasiga’s converted try, which made it 21-12.

The home side capitalised on Connacht prop Denis Buckley’s yellow card and hauled themselves to within two points of the visitors when Dan Edwards converted Ryan Smith’s try.

After Naughton missed a late penalty, which would have given his side a five-point lead, Ospreys wing Hopkins went over for the match-winning try in the 74th minute to edge them 24-21 ahead, and although Edwards missed the conversion, the Welsh side held on for a memorable victory.

In the earlier match, Filo Tiatia’s Dragons remain winless in 2025 after a heavy 17-41 loss to Perpignan in their European Challenge Cup opener.

Perpignan have lost 11 straight matches in the Top 14, but they came out comfortably on top despite an early red card for Duncan Paia’aua.

That came in the 14th minute for a high hit on Sam Scarfe, with Perpignan already 7-0 up thanks to a try from James Hall.

They had extended their lead to 17-0 by half-time, Mahamadou Diaby adding a second try, and it was 22-0 by the time Dragons finally claimed their first score in the 54th minute as Joe Westwood crossed over.

There was to be no comeback, though, with Jefferson Joseph and Bastien Chinarro adding further tries for the hosts before Will Austin grabbed a first in Dragons colours.

Perpignan were then awarded a penalty try and Ben Carter shown a yellow card for dragging down the maul, and although Austin crossed for a second try late on, the Dragons were well beaten.

Ospreys 24-21 Connacht

For Ospreys:
Tries: Deaves, Cokanasiga, Smith, Hopkins
Cons: Edwards 2

For Connacht:
Tries: Bealham, Jansen, Aungier
Cons: Naughton 3

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Evradi Boshoff, 12 Phil Cokanasiga, 11 Iestyn Hopkins, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Harri Deaves, 6 James Ratti, 5 Ryan Smith, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry (captain), 1 Garyn Phillips.
Replacements: 16 Lewis Lloyd, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Rhys Henry, 19 Huw Sutton, 20 Gwilym Evans, 21 Luke Davies, 22 Max Nagy, 23 Keelan Giles.

Connacht: 15 Sean Naughton, 14 Shane Jennings, 13 Sam Gilbert, 12 Bundee Aki (captain), 11 Finn Treacy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 David O’Connor, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitlear, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Sean Walsh, 23 Harry West.

Yellow cards: James Ratti (Ospreys, 16), Garyn Phillips (Ospreys, 27′), Denis Buckley (Connacht, 66′)

Referee: Evan Urruzmendi (France)
Assistant referees: Pierre-Baptiste Nuchy (France), Cyrille Boulay (France)
TMO: Patrick Dellac (France)

Perpignan 41-17 Dragons

Scorers

For Perpignan:
Tries: Hall, Diaby, Joseph, Chinarro, Le Corvec, Penalty try does not require a conversion
Cons: Kretchmann 2, Aprasidze
Pen: Kretchmann

For Dragons:
Tries: Westwood, Austin 2
Con: O’Brien

Red card: Duncan Paia’aua (Perpignan,14′)
Yellow card: Ben Carter (Dragons, 70′)

Teams

Perpignan: 15 Jordan Petaia, 14 Tavite Veredamu, 13 Freddy Duguivalu, 12 Duncan Paia’aua, 11 Jefferson Joseph, 10 Gabin Kretchmann, 9 James Hall, 8 Andro Dvali, 7 Jamie Ritchie (captain), 6 Mahamadou Diaby, 5 Bastien Chinarro, 4 Matteo le Corvec, 3 Nemo Roelofse, 2 Sama Malolo, 1 Giorgi Tetrashvili.
Replacements: 16 Victor Montgaillard, 17 Bruce Devaux, 18 Akato Fakatika, 19 Davit Lagvilava, 20 Jaco van Tonder, 21 Gela Aprasidze, 22 Job Poulet, 23 Mayron Fahy.

Dragons: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Fine Inisi, 13 Dai Richards, 12 Joe Westwood, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Angus O’Brien (captain), 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Mackenzie Martin, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Ben Carter (captain), 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Luke Yendle, 2 Sam Scarfe, 1 Rodrigo Martinez.
Replacements: 16 Will Austin, 17 Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, 18 Rob Hunt, 19 Barny Langton-Cryer, 20 Harrison Keddie, 21 Che Hope, 22 Tinus de Beer, 23 Ewan Rosser.

Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
Assistant referees: Riccardo Angelucci (Italy), Luca Bisetto (Italy)
TMO: Giuseppe Vivarini (Italy)