Boan Venter hat-trick can't stop Ospreys

URC WRAP: The Ospreys overturned an 11-point half-time deficit to beat Edinburgh 23-19 in Swansea.

Tries from Mat Protheroe and Sam Parry, along with 13 points from the boot of Stephen Myler, got the Welsh region over the line in this United Rugby Championship outing.

Edinburgh loosehead Boan Venter scored a remarkable hat-trick of tries – the first prop to achieve the feat in the competition’s history – while Jaco van der Walt kicked four points.

After a dull opening to the game, Ospreys second row Lloyd Ashley got sent to the sin bin for tripping Edinburgh fullback Henry Immelman.

The visitors turned down a kickable penalty, opting to go for the corner instead.

Their driving line-out was extremely effective, with Venter powering over from close range. Van der Walt converted and Edinburgh went back on the attack.

A break from Cammy Hutchison put them on the front foot, before a tremendous offload from number eight Mesu Kunavula allowed Venter to touch down for his second try in four minutes.

Van der Walt added the extras, but Myler finally got the Ospreys on the scoreboard with a straightforward penalty, meaning the hosts trailed 14-3 at half-time.

The Ospreys began the second half with more intent and scored their first try when a well-timed offload from outside-centre Michael Collins sent Protheroe over, with Myler converting.

The momentum was now in the Ospreys’ favour and they took the lead when abrasive number two Parry squeezed over at the far right-hand corner after a period of sustained pressure from the home side, with Myler again adding the extras from the touchline.

Edinburgh hit straight back when Venter showed tremendous strength to power over from short range for his third try.

In what has become a rare occurrence in the modern era, Van der Walt’s conversion was charged down by the Ospreys in front of the posts.

A clean break by former Wales number nine Rhys Webb then put the Ospreys on the front foot in Edinburgh’s half. The visitors were forced to infringe at the breakdown, allowing Myler to kick the Welsh region into a one-point lead with just 10 minutes remaining.

Edinburgh began to cough up numerous penalties, which gave the Ospreys the field position to squeeze them into making unforced errors.

A further penalty from the boot of Myler, 35 metres out, put the visitors out of penalty range, meaning they needed a try to win the game – which never materialised.

* In other Saturday action Munster maintained their perfect record against Zebre Parma by winning 34-17 to make it 18 wins from as many meetings between the sides.

* Rufus McLean and Kyle Steyn both touched down twice in Glasgow Warriors’ runaway 42-20 win over Connacht at the Sportsground.

* The Saturday scorers and scorers

Connacht 20-42 Glasgow Warriors

The scorers

For Connacht
Tries: Arnold, Boyle
Cons: Forde 2
Pens: Forde 2

For Glasgow Warriors
Tries: McLean, Steyn, Brown, McLean, Steyn, Matthews
Cons: Weir 3
Pens: Weir 2

Teams

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Alex Wootton, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 10 Cathal Forde, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Jarrad Butler (captain), 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 Leva Fifita, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Greg McGrath, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Jordan Duggan.
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Tietie Tuimauga, 19 Oisín Dowling, 20 Seán Masterson, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Shayne Bolton, 23 Oran McNulty.

Glasgow: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Kyle Steyn, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Rufus McLean, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Thomas Gordon, 6 Ryan Wilson (cc), 5 Richie Gray, 4 Kiran McDonald, 3 Enrique Pieretto, 2 Fraser Brown (cc), 1 Oliver Kebble.
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Lewis Bean, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Jamie Dobie, 22 Ross Thompson, 23 Stafford McDowall.

Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland), Stuart Douglas (Ireland)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)

Zebre Parma 17-34 Munster

The scorers

For Zebre Parma
Tries: Cronje, Laloifi
Cons: O’Malley, Rizzi
Pen: O’Malley

For Munster
Tries: O’Donoghue, Goggin, Wycherley 2, Barron
Cons: Flannery 3
Pen: Crowley

Teams

Zebre: 15 Junior Laloifi, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Erich Cronjé, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Jacopo Trulla, 10 Timothy O’Malley, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Iacopo Bianchi, 6 Liam Mitchell, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 David Sisi (captain), 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio.
Replacements: 16 Massimo Ceciliani, 17 Andrea Lovotti, 18 Joshua Zilocchi, 19 Leonard Krumov, 20 Potu Junior Leavasa, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Antonio Rizzi, 23 Giulio Bisegni.

Munster: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Liam Coombes, 12 Dan Goggin, 11 Shane Daly, 10 Jake Flannery, 9 Neil Cronin, 8 Jack O’Sullivan, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (captain), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Keynan Knox, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Jeremy Loughman.
Replacements: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Roman Salanoa, 19 Thomas Ahern, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Chris Farrell.

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Federico Vedovelli (Italy), Maria Beatrice Benvenuti (Italy)
TMO: Alan Falzone (Italy)

Ospreys 23-19 Edinburgh

Scorers

For Ospreys
Tries: Protheroe, Parry
Cons: Myler 2
Pens: Myler 3

For Edinburgh
Tries: Myler 3
Cons: Myler 2

Teams

Ospreys: 15 Mat Protheroe, 14 Keelan Giles, 13 Michael Collins, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Rhys Webb (captain), 8 Ethan Roots, 7 Harri Deaves, 6 Will Griffiths, 5 Lloyd Ashley, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Rhys Henry, 19 Huw Sutton, 20 Morgan Morris, 21 Reuben Morgan Williams, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Tiaan Thomas Wheeler.

Edinburgh: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 Cammy Hutchison, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Henry Pyrgos (captain), 8 Mesulame Kunavula, 7 Connor Boyle, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Glen Young, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Angus Williams, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Harrison Courtney, 18 Lee-Roy Atalifo, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Ben Muncaster, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Charlie Savala, 23 Mark Bennett.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Gwyn Morris (Wales), Mike English (Wales)
TMO: Ian Davies (Wales)

Source: @URCOfficial