Connacht blow 21-point lead as Ospreys pinch Challenge Cup win
Sean Jansen of Connacht is tackled by Gareth Thomas of Ospreys during the EPCR Challenge Cup match between Ospreys and Connacht at Dunraven Brewery Field in Bridgend, Wales. Photo by Chris Fairweather/Sportsfile
Connacht blew a glorious chance to get their Challenge Cup campaign off to a winning start when they surrendered a 21-0 lead they built up in the opening 27 minutes.
Connacht seemed poised to have the bonus point in the bag by the break in tough conditions but failed to kill off the Ospreys challenge and paid the price in the end.
Connacht led 21-5 at the break having played with the breeze on a raw, cold, dank day at the Brewery Field in Bridgend which was a throwback to old-school rugby.
The dominance of the Connacht scrum — the starting front three of Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan and Finlay Bealham had 710 appearances between them and it didn’t weaken when 91-cap Jack Aungier was sprung early — saw penalties to the visitors on the first three Ospreys’ scrums told its own story.
Jack Carty penned Ospreys back from the hand as he used the breeze to maximum effect against an Ospreys side who struggled to get out of their own half.
The pressure began to yield scores. Several drives after winning a second penalty on the Ospreys scrum, after good hands from Shane Jennings and Finn Treacy, ended with Finlay Bealham driving over from close range. But that was his last action as the Irish tighthead suffered a head knock in the move and was replaced by Aungier.
French referee Evan Urruzmendi eventually dished out a yellow card to Ospreys flanker James Ratti for a deliberate knock-on short of the home line after 17 minutes and Connacht scored from the tapped penalty with No.8 Sean Jansen timing his run to perfection to get over.
The lead was pushed out to 21-0 after 23 minutes when Aungier got in after a superb 50:22 from Carty down the right. Full-back Sean Naughton, who kicked eight from eight in the league win over Stormers a week earlier, continued his superb form off the tee with his third conversion.
Ospreys loosehead Garyn Phillips was binned when another scrum collapsed after 28 minutes but they defended well and finished the half on the offensive despite twice failing to find touch with two penalties and then having a crooked throw when Dan Edwards eventually found touch.
They got momentum before the break when they got their set-piece sorted and after hooker Sam Parry was stopped short, flanker Harri Deaves got over in the right corner to cut the interval deficit to 21-5.
The Ospreys got right back into contention towards the end of the third quarter when a tapped penalty from Edwards put centre Phil Cokanasiga through to score under the posts as the home side were rewarded for a sustained bout of pressure.
Connacht, having been pinged for a crooked throw five metres from the Ospreys line, had a chance to hit back after the Welsh scored but they knocked on after tapping a close range penalty as the rain belted down and the game became a real dogfight.
Ospreys got on top in the scrum even before Aungier went off injured — Buckley returned with Jordan Duggan moving to tighthead — but another scrum collapse saw Buckley binned and Connacht down to 13 men for ten minutes when it went to uncontested scrums.
Ospreys set up a grandstand finish when they scored off an uncontested scrum with replacement loosehead Gareth Thomas scoring to cut the margin to 21-17 after 67 minutes.
That got the Ospreys fans singing in the rain and they hit the front for the first time five minutes from time when they used their numerical advantage to send winger Iestyn Hopkins down the left to score.
Connacht piled on the pressure in the closing stages but over three minutes of attacking with the clock in the red yielded nothing as Ospreys held on for victory.
Tries: H Deaves, P Cokanasiga, G Thomas, I Hopkins. Con: D Edwards.
Tries: F Bealham, S Jansen, J Aungier. Cons: S Naughton (3).
J Walsh; D Kasende (K Giles 54), E Boshoff, P Cokanasiga, I Hopkins; D Edwards, R Morgan-Williams; G Phillips (G Thomas 38), S Parry (c) (Lewis Lloyd 67), T Botha (R Henry 50); R Davies, R Smith (H Sutton 68); J Ratti, H Deaves, R Moriarty (G Thomas 28-38).
S Naughton; S Jennings (H West half-time), S Gilbert (S Walsh 73), B Aki (c), F Treacy; J Carty, B Murphy (C Reilly 70); D Buckley (J Duggan 48), D Heffernan (E de Buitlear 48), F Bealham (J Aungier 12, Buckley 54); J Joyce (D Murray 58), D O'Connor; J Murphy (P Boyle 48), S O'Brien, S Jansen.
Evan Urruzmendi (France)
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