Humphreys rounds on refs over scrum inconsistencies

THERE were mixed emotions for the Ospreys squad as they left Thomond Park last night with a losing bonus point but ruing missed opportunities in Munster’s back yard.

On the credit side, their bonus point keeps Heineken Cup pool three wide open as the Welsh region prepares to host the Irish province this Saturday at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea. On the other side of the ledger, the sin-binning of prop Paul James and the two Munster tries scored in his absence, as well as Ospreys’ failure to capitalise on their own numerical advantage following the sending off of Paul O’Connell, rankled deeply with forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys after the match.

“We’re disappointed we didn’t get the win,” Humphreys said. “We felt after Tommy (Bowe’s early second-half) try that if we could have got back down, perhaps got a bit of good possession and got a big score clear, it would have been different. We’re disappointed. Our intention was to come here and win and we didn’t do that.”