Ospreys crush rivals Scarlets

Ospreys 60 Scarlets 17

Outside-half Dan Biggar supplied 26 points as Ospreys completely crushed regional rivals the Scarlets by seven tries to two in this rearranged Magners League clash at the Liberty Stadium.

The one-sided bonus point victory takes the Ospreys into second place in the league table, ahead of the Scarlets.

The match had been delayed 24 hours from the scheduled Boxing Day kick-off because of frozen pipes at the Liberty Stadium.

The pitch had been playable thanks to the undersoil heating but health and safety issues regarding the lack of running water in three of the stands meant that the game had to be postponed.

But it was the Scarlets who froze when the match eventually kicked off. Apart from the opening few minutes the Ospreys completely dominated the first half as they assumed a 20-3 half-time lead, and went on to score six tries in a second period which saw Martin Roberts and Sean Lamont both sent to the sin bin for the visitors.

Dominance at the set-piece and at the breakdown as well as Scarlets’ indiscipline allowed to the Ospreys to take control of the match.

But the Scarlets were good value for an early 3-0 lead with a Rhys Priestland penalty before the home side turned the screw for the rest of the half.

The Scarlets did not help themselves by conceding soft penalties on 10, 14 and 18 minutes – all kicked by man of the match Biggar.

And the Ospreys went a long way to winning the game with a try for James Hook on 25 minutes. It started when a long throw form a Scarlets’ line-out went astray, with Mike Phillips gathering before Richard Fussell and Tommy Bowe combined well to put Hook went over in the left corner.

Problems at the scrum saw the Scarlets concede two more penalties on 34 and 39 minutes which the on-song Biggar made no mistake in converting for a handsome interval lead.

The Scarlets’ problems increased at the start of the second half when scrum-half Roberts was sin-binned for dissent and they conceded two tries in the space of two minutes through Jonathan Thomas and Biggar, who ran back a loose kick from Priestland.

Against the run of play Gareth Maule grabbed a try back for the Scarlets but the Ospreys hit back with another three tries in the space of nine minutes as Fussell crossed to secure the bonus point with Bowe and Paul James following suit.

With Ospreys replacement lock Ian Evans in the bin for a stamp, Jonny Faamatuainu gave the Scarlets’ score a bit of relative respectability with a try from a quick tap penalty.

But appropriately it was the home side who had the final say with a try for replacement scrum-half Jamie Nutbrown.