Impressive Ospreys hammer Cardiff
The Ospreys, temporarily at least, moved to the top of the Magners League table on Friday night thanks to an impressive 26-0 derby victory over the Cardiff Blues at the Liberty Stadium.
Two tries from wing Niki Walker and one from captain Ryan Jones provided the bulk of the points for the home side while another impressive display from Dan Biggar would have pleased the Ospreys management.
His performance will no doubt have also been a great delight to the national coaching staff but an injury to Blues centre Tom Shanklin may well have dampened their excitement somewhat.
The unlucky Lions tourist is the latest big-name Welsh star to suffer an injury setback – joining the like of Martyn Williams, Stephen Jones, James Hook, Alun Wyn Jones, Mike Phillips and Matthew Rees on the sidelines.
Biggar started the scoring for the home side with a penalty after just ten minutes before, a quarter of an hour later, Ricky Januarie and Jonathan Thomas combined to send in Walker for his opening try.
With Shanklin forced off the pitch the Ospreys struck again very quickly with returning fullback Lee Byrne the man to make the break this time before unleashing Walker.
Well clear the Ospreys enjoyed a good night at the set-piece as well, dominating the physical contest as well and looking comfortable on defence for the majority of the match.
Biggar added two more penalties, on 41 and 50 minutes, to give the home side a 19-0 lead.
Jones put the match to bed with a try in the corner minutes later – resulting in a sloppy final period of the game. Disappointingly for the Ospreys they were unable to press home their dominance and find the bonus point fourth try but their win will be enough to see them move to the top of the standings ahead of Saturday’s fixtures.
The Scorers
For Ospreys
Tries: Walker 2, R Jones
Pen: Biggar 3
Cons: Biggar
For Cardiff
None
Ospreys: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Ryan Jones (captain), 7 Marty Holah, 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Jonathan Thomas, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Ian Evans, 19 Filo Tiatia, 20 Jamie Nutbrown, 21 Jonathan Spratt, 22 Gareth Owen.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Tom Shanklin, 11 Tom James, 10 Sam Norton-Knight, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Scott Morgan, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Gary Powell, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Gethin Jenkins (captain).
Replacements: 16 Gareth Williams, 17 Taufa’au Filise, 18 Paul Tito, 19 Ben White, 20 Gareth Cooper, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Gareth Thomas.
Referee: James Jones (WRU)
