Ospreys keep cup hopes alive

Harlequins 19 Neath-Swansea Ospreys 46

Neath-Swansea Ospreys kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup with a bonus-point Pool Four victory over Harlequins.

Wales centre Gavin Henson led the charge with a 26-point haul – a tally which included a try in each half – and there were also touchdowns for Stefan Terblanche, Ryan Jones, Shane Williams and Matthew Jones.

The lively Henson took the man of the match honours, despite a disappointing display with the boot which saw him complete just seven of his 12 shots at goal, but prop Duncan Jones also caught the eye with an impressive performance.

However, at times it was men against boys as Quins were feeble in so many departments of the game, not least discipline with the yellow cards given to Luke Sherriff, Karl Rudzki and Ace Tiatia taking their inevitable toll.

Their defence was easily breached – more than one of the Ospreys’ tries could have been prevented had they shown more commitment in the tackle – and they offered little as an attacking force.

England centre Will Greenwood scored a try but it was up to the pinpoint kicking of fly-half Adrian Jarvis to salvage some pride – he finished with 14 points after landing all his attempts at goal.

It was Jarvis who drew first blood with a penalty and Quins threatened to increase the score in the 10th minute following a jinking run from hooker Tani Fuga but his side were penalised at the breakdown.

Mark Evans’ men were seeing plenty of the ball but could make little headway through the Ospreys’ defence and had to settle for another Jarvis penalty after one offensive.

Scrum-half Jason White was sent to the sin bin for repeatedly straying offside but the Ospreys took the yellow card in their stride and even scored the first try of the match.

Adrian Durston did the initial damage with a mazy run from full-back which swept him 30 yards upfield and past a clutch of defenders, but it was Henson who set-up the score with a perfectly weighted crossfield kick.

Quins left winger Simon Keogh had to back-pedal furiously but he could not make up the ground on Terblanche and the South African leapt high to catch and ground the ball.

Henson – the Ospreys’ most dangerous player – missed the conversion but slotted a tricky long-range penalty moments later, before another three points from Jarvis reduced the deficit to a single point.

The Welsh side then showed real class by running-in a stunning try in the 38th minute, started by Sonny Parker’s powerful break from the midfield.

The outside centre ran hard and straight, bursting through Quins’ defence with ease, and the ball went through several pairs of hands before finding Spice who was collared when receiving the final pass.

But the Ospreys retained possession at the breakdown and an onrushing Henson crashed over the line, before adding the extras.

The teams exchanged tries in the space of two minutes of first-half injury time, Will Greenwood crossing for Quins and Jones breaking through for the Ospreys, but neither score will have impressed the respective defensive coaches.

It was Quins’ turn to have a player sent to the sin bin in the 48th minute when openside Sherriff was collared for using his hands in the ruck and Henson booted the ensuing penalty.

The home side were toothless in attack – their back moves were rushed and usually halted by handling errors – but with Jarvis proving so accurate with the boot, they were able to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

He landed his fourth penalty but his side were reduced to 13 men for one minute when Rudzki was shown a yellow card for punching, and in the 66th minute things went from bad to worse when Henson broke two feeble tackles before touching down.

The Wales international converted his own try and then watched as Quins hit the self-destruct button once again, substitute hooker Tiatia receiving his side’s third yellow card.

Williams took the opportunity to cross in the corner and then fly-half Matthew Jones wrapped up the scoring with a try in the corner in injury time, completing a miserable afternoon for sorry Quins.