Ospreys return to the summit

The Ospreys will top the table when the Pro12 returns next month as Dan Biggar worked his magic in a 22-11 victory over Newport Gwent Dragons on Sunday.

At a rain-sodden Liberty Stadium, Biggar was the architect of Tyler Ardron's firsthalf try and kicked over another 17 points in an inspired display.

Prydie responded with two penalties and the gritty visitors threatened a comeback when Richie Rees rumbled over, but the Ospreys were not to be denied.

The Dragons have found joy on their recent travels, winning three of their last four away games in all competitions, and started the game in confident fashion after Jason Tovey kicked a third-minute penalty into the corner.

They mounted a barrage at the try-line and after another Ospreys infringement, decided to take the points and Prydie duly obliged.

But the man with the trusted boot at the Ospreys is Biggar, and after executing a chop tackle on the Dragons 22, slot through a three-pointer of his own.

The scores remained even however, in much part due to the Dragons' ferocious scrummaging, and Tovey once again booted a penalty towards the corner after turning down a kick at goal.

This time the Ospreys turned the ball over and then, in the 29th minute, the game sprung to life when Dmitri Arhip seemingly barged his way across the whitewash following a five-metre lineout.

But on closer inspection from the TMO, Rhys Webb knocked on in the build-up while Arhip failed to cross the line.

With Warren Gatland watching on, this was a chance to impress and his flyhalf elect, Biggar, produced the game's first moment of inspiration after his marauding run found fellow international Dan Lydiate.

The ball eventually found its way back to Biggar, who fed Ardron to finish down at the left before adding a superb conversion.

Prydie and Biggar traded penalties to close the half out and on the two sides' return, Ospreys gained the upperhand.

A Dragons infringement allowed Biggar another pop at goal and, like you'd expect from the competition's most accurate kicker, made no mistake.

But it wasn't just in the kicking game where the hosts were cranking up the pressure, big gains from the likes of Richard Fussell and Justin Tipuric negated by poor handling.

A further Biggar penalty followed as Dragons struggled to hold on and they were losing their dominance at the scrum, with Brok Harris sent to the sin bin after a number of resets.

Ospreys' Scott Baldwin joined him soon after and the away side then found some momentum, with a series of pick-and-goes thwarted by the hosts' line.

Finally, however, replacement scrumhalf Rees, fooled the defenders with his eyes to take the ball over the whitewash himself with ten minutes remaining.

Crucially, however, Prydie missed the conversion as his effort smashed off the post, before Biggar added another penalty at the death to complete the job.

*Elsewhere, After an impressive firsthalf Ulster survived an Italian onslaught to escape Treviso with a 24-20 win.

Firsthalf tries from Paddy Jackson, Ruan Pienaar and Tommy Bowe gave Ulster a 24-0 lead with less than 30 minutes played.

But the hosts scored late in the half and that was the first of 20 unanswered points for the Italians who looked to mount an unlikely comeback.

All Sunday's scores and scorers!

Treviso 20-24 Ulster

For Treviso:

Tries: Christie, Minto

Cons: Hayward 2

Pens: Hayward 2

For Ulster:

Tries: Pienaar, Jackson, Bowe

Cons: Jackson 3

Pen: Jacson

Yellow card: Craig Gilroy (Ulster, 10)

Teams:

Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Andrea Pratichetti, 10 Sam Christie, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Dean Budd, 7 Alessandro Zanni (captian), 6 Marco Barbini, 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 4 Tomas Vallejos, 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Matteo Zanusso.

Replacements: 16 Albert Anae, 17 Josè Novak, 18 D'arcy Rae, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Francesco Minto, 21 Meyer Swanepoel, 22 James Ambrosini, 23 Alberto Lucchese.

Ulster: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart Olding, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Clive Ross, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Alan O'Connor, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rory Best, 1 Callum Black.

Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Bronson Ross, 19 Louis Stevenson, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Jared Payne, 23 Peter Nelson.

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

Assistant referees: Wayne Davies (Wales), Barrie Gregory (Wales)

TMO: Derek Bevan (Wales)

Ospreys 22-11 Newport Dragons

For Ospreys:

Try: Ardron

Con: Biggar

Pens: Biggar 5

For Newport:

Try: Rees

Pens: Prydie 2

Yellow cards: Brok Harris (Newport Dragons, 62), Scott Baldwin (Ospreys, 64)

Teams:

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Richard Fussell, 13 Ashley Beck, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Tyler Aldron, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4 James King, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Duncan Jones.

Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Hanno Dirksen.

Dragons: 15 Tom Prydie, 14 Matthew Pewtner, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Jonathan Evans, 8 Taulupe Faletau. 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Lewis Evans, 5 Rynard Landman (captain), 4 Andrew Coombs, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Phil Price.

Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Owen Evans, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 James Thomas, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Dorian Jones, 23 Geraint Rhys Jones.

Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Martyn Lewis (Wales)

TMO: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)