Cardiff secure Welsh Shield with win over Ospreys
URC REPORT: Thomas Young scored a brace of tries as Cardiff won the Welsh Shield with a 38-21 United Rugby Championship victory over Ospreys on Judgement Day at the Millennium Stadium.
Young and Welsh international scrumhalf Tomos Williams shone brightest in a terrific team effort.
Young scored two tries, Max Llewellyn, Mason Grady and Rhys Carre the others with Rhys Priestland converting all five and adding a penalty.
Sam Parry, Dewi Lake and Gareth Thomas scored tries for Ospreys, all of which Gareth Anscombe converted.
Rhys Webb led out Ospreys on his 200th appearance for the region but it was Cardiff who made the better start.
They declined two kickable penalties in favour of more attacking options but it proved the wrong option as mistakes prevented them from capitalising.
However, they continued to dominate the opening quarter in terms of territory and possession and came closest to scoring when Grady lost possession as he attempted to force his way over.
As a result, a penalty-ridden and largely featureless first quarter finished scoreless with Ospreys conceding nine penalties in the first 25 minutes and eventually that ill-discipline took its toll when Young crashed over from close-range.
Priestland converted before Cardiff soon scored an excellent second try when Williams quickly took a tap penalty to race 40 metres before sending Llewellyn over.
Worse was to follow for lethargic Ospreys when Young burst away from a maul to kick ahead for Grady to collect and squeeze the ball down for the touchdown.
A brilliant half for Cardiff was nearly sealed when Jarrod Evans, Williams and Llewellyn produced some mesmerising handling to see Young cross but TMO replays ruled out the try for a marginal forward pass.
However, the capital region still led 24-0 at the interval after Priestland kicked a penalty to complete a half in which Ospreys failed to strike a single blow.
Five minutes after the restart, they did open their account when Parry finished off a line-out drive but Williams intercepted to send Young on a 45-metre run to the line for his second try.
Thomas scored a second for Ospreys in a more competitive second half and Lake added another after Cardiff’s replacement James Botham had picked up a yellow card.
But Cardiff deservedly had the final say when Carre powered over with three minutes to go.
Player of the Match
It was an exceptional performance from Williams, whose dynamism put him head and shoulders above every other attacker on the field. He completely outshone his Welsh rival Rhys Webb to spearhead his side to a morale-boosting victory.
Play of the Match
Cardiff dominated the first half-hour and needed to capitalise. Livewire Williams sought to take every opportunity with some alert play and it was his 40-metre run from a quickly taken tap-penalty to create a try for Llewellyn that ensured his side were on the road to victory.
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: Parry, Thomas, Lake
Cons: Anscombe 3
For Cardiff:
Tries: Young 2, Llewellyn, Grady, Carre
Cons: Priestland 5
Pen: Priestland
Yellow card: James Botham (Cardiff, 66′)
Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Michael Collins, 14 George North, 13 Keiran Williams, 12 Owen Williams, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Dan Lydiate, 6 Rhys Davies, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Nicky Smith (captain).
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Huw Sutton, 20 Ethan Roots, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Harri Doel, 23 Max Nagy.
Cardiff: 15 Rhys Priestland, 14 Mason Grady, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Josh Turnbull (captain), 5 Seb Davies, 4 James Ratti, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Corey Domachowski.
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Rhys Carré, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 James Botham, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Ben Thomas, 23 Harri Millard.
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Gareth Newman (Wales) & Gwyn Morris (Wales)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
