Edinburgh 33 Ospreys 17
EDINBURGH ran in five tries to record a bonus-point win over Ospreys in the Magners League.
Wing Tim Visser picked up a hat-trick after coming off the bench when Simon Webster suffered an early injury.
Webster was able to walk off with a rib problem after 15 minutes, but a much more serious injury appeared to be sustained in the second half when the game was stopped for a prolonged period after lock Craig Hamilton was hurt at a ruck.
Hamilton was taken to hospital as a precaution after suffering a head injury.
Edinburgh had the better of possession and territory early on but were undone as much by their own errors as the Ospreys defence.
The breakthrough eventually came in the 34th minute after a five-metre scrum gave Edinburgh an attacking platform.
Nick De Luca found Ben Cairns in the line and he passed to Visser to draw two defenders before returning the ball to Cairns for the score, which was converted by David Blair.
The Ospreys passed up a clear-cut chance to score in the last minute of the first half when full-back Gareth Owen could not find his support, so Edinburgh led 7-0 at the interval.
And the home side soon ended the game as a contest with four tries in eight minutes in the second half.
Cairns set up the first with a break from deep before Visser hared in from the left.
The second saw Visser get possession on his 10-metre line on the right wing from where he ran and then kicked long to the line to follow up and score.
For the third he was fed by hooker Andrew Kelly and ran in under the posts.
On the other wing, Mark Robertson showed he could stretch his legs too, running in a beauty from his own half. Replacement Phil Godman knocked over all but one conversion.
The Ospreys roused themselves in the final quarter to get on the scoresheet when TV evidence allowed wing Nikki Walker to be awarded an unconverted score.
And further tries from flanker Jerry Collins and Sonny Parker gave the scoreline a more respectable look.
3 Comments
by BRIAN, WEST CROSS
Monday, March 08 2010, 5:16PM
“ONCE AGAIN A GUTLESS TOOTHLESS PERFORMANCE BY A BAD OSPREYS TEAM THEIR WAGES SHOULD BE WITHHELD LIKE A BOXERS WHO DOSENT PERFORM . THE POWERS THAT BE WONDER WHY THE CROWDS ARE SMALL .WHO WOULD WANT TO PAY GOOD MONEY TO WATCH THAT CRAP .THE DRAGONS LEAD THE WAY ON SPIRIT AND FIGHT ONCE AGAIN.”
by Barney, Swansea
Monday, March 08 2010, 11:44AM
“Five tries in around 20 minutes, just shows the much vauted strength in depth is hot air. The Dragons and the Scarlets are the only regions bringing through young players, Tovey and Tavis are the future of Welsh rugby not the hyped up Osprey players.
The end of the season has come to early for the Ospreys, they are off the boil and Biaritz is looming in France and it looks like they havent planned and structured their season to look at the big picture. There is a distinct possibilty the Ospreys could end up with nothing again.
When you look at that All Black Backrow, seasoned Internationals, two Welsh international locks and alledgedly the future front row of Wales, its frightening for all the wrong reasons. Phillips is two months away from match fitness, Biggar is believing his own hype and is going backwards really quickly and Sonny Parker and Bishop are so one dimensional its boring. Walker on the wing looks disinterested and playing Owen at full back, what a waste of a talented player.
The Ospreys were blown away yesterday and the only reason they scored a try, was that Edinburgh who enjoyed 70% posession, decided to chill out and play tackling practice. The sixty man squad is obviously working and with a crowd of 3,000, you would think the Ospreys were feeling at home.
Its a long season and the Ospreys look as if they needed a shorter one, never mind Phillips has a nice £1 million contract and the gate recepits will cover that for 1 month.”
by Chris, London
Sunday, March 07 2010, 5:03PM
“That display was clueless, toothless and gutless. You'd think these guys would be playing to keep their places while the internationals are away. We had a good enough team playing to have won, but we didn't even start playing till the 65th minute by which time the game was over as a contest. In fairness to Edinburgh they completely outplayed in every facet of play - our support play was especially slow. Phillips didn't look match fit and can't start against Ireland next week - Richie Rees has to start after his performance against France. And as for Biggar he seems to be going the same way as Hook and has caught the aimless kicking bug going around the Ospreys camp. The papers talk up the baby Ospreys, but the youngsters at both the Scarlets and the Dragons are playing better. We are getting worse at the wrong time of the season with so many away games still to come. I lay the responsibility completely at the door of the coaches who seem to have no idea what to do to change things around.”