Ospreys remain unbeaten

 

The win means Ospreys have now won all six of their opening fixtures and have avoided defeat at the hands of a fellow Welsh region since Steve Tandy took charge at the start of 2012.

 

Twelve early points from the boot of Dan Biggar and stellar performances from Jeff Hassler and Rhys Webb meant Cardiff struggled to find any momentum.

 

And, despite two late tries for the Blues, Ospreys never looked like they were in any danger of relinquishing their position as league leaders.

 

It didn't take long for Ospreys to take the lead with Biggar kicking an early penalty after the Blues were penalised for not rolling away.

 

And Biggar would add three more penalties – including his 1600th point for the region – as he stretched Ospreys' lead to 12-0.

 

The Blues eventually got on the board with a penalty of their own – Rhys Patchell with the long-range kick.

 

However, it was anything but a fightback as Dan Evans fought off the attentions of Adam Thomas and Alex Cuthbert to score the first try of the afternoon – Biggar duly converting.

 

And it was more of the same in the second-half with Ospreys putting the Blues under immediate pressure.

 

Evans was on hand to field a sliced Patchell clearance and find the left corner with an intelligent kick.

 

Ospreys were looking to make a real statement and the resultant line-out saw Sam Warburton penalised but Biggar opted to kick to the corner instead of adding an easy three.

 

The Blues were struggling to find any momentum and they were eventually opened up by Hassler who broke away but was stopped an inch short of the line.

 

However, Webb was on hand to score his fifth try of the season after having the awareness to quickly ground the ball on the line and Biggar easily converted for another two.

 

The visitors finally mounted an attack after 17 minutes of the second half and looked to be making progress until a sloppy turnover put an end to their best passage of play.

 

And they were nearly punished moments later when Hassler glided through the Blues defence and found Andrew Bishop who should have been in under the posts, but took his eye of the ball and was unable to take advantage of the opportunity.

 

The Blues finally started to put phases together but it was too little too late and they were undone by their own sloppiness after Gareth Davies' poor kick.

 

Ospreys were still pushing hard for another try and their pack drove agonisingly close to the line but was unable to cross over.

 

But, against the run of play, it was Cardiff who were the next to score as Thomas produced a strong break and put Lloyd Williams through with a one-handed offload and he crashed over.

 

And with Morgan Allen yellow carded late on for repeated infringements, Cardiff pressed for another try which they managed to secure through Kristian Dacey – Patchell making the conversion.

 

 

Tries: Evans, Webb

Cons: Biggar 2

Pens: Biggar 4

 

Tries: Williams, Dacey

Con: Patchell

Pen: Patchell

 

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Dan Baker, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 James King, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4 Lloyd Peers, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith.

Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Joe Bearman, 20 Morgan Allen, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Tom Grabham.

 

Cardiff Blues: 15 Adam Thomas, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Geraint Walsh, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Filo Paulo, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees (captain), 1 Gethin Jenkins.

Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Dan Fish

 

Referee: Leighton Hodges 

Assistant Referees: Sean Brickell, Gwyn Morris

TMO: Derek Bevan