Man of the Match O’Brien Instrumental in Stuffing the Ospreys!

With Christmas as far away as ever, Scarlets supporters were hoping that they would get a double in the late Christmas present stakes from the region. An early Boxing Day announcement that Liam ‘Sanjay’ Williams would be returning to the region following his time at Saracens set the mood for the much-anticipated Boxing Day derby.
A win against arch-rivals, the Ospreys, would really be the icing on the Christmas cake for supporters west of Loughor Bridge.
Despite a challenging start to the season for the opposition, form goes out of the window on derby day! The Scarlets made three changes to the starting line-out with Angus O’Brien starting at 10, Ryan Conbeer replaced the injured Johnny McNicholl and Blade Thomson replaced Scarlets’ fans favourite Uzair Cassiem who took his place on the bench. Steff Hughes continued his run of games by being the only player who has played every second of Pro14 rugby this season.
It was a near-full house in Parc y Scarlets as the Scarlets’ intent to play running rugby was evident from the start as they tested the Ospreys’ defense with a series of passing phases of rugby that were accompanied by the thunderous roaring of ‘Scarlets’ to create an atmosphere that certainly the majority of the current coaching team would not have witnessed before.

The hosts were offered the chance for a 3 point lead after 10 minutes play, but they opted to kick for the corner, but with the line-out not going to plan, they were forced into a defensive scrum and the subsequent penalty offered the Ospreys the chance to clear.
The Scarlets continued their attack, coming to within inches of the whitewash, but they just lacked that one final pass before Leigh Halfpenny opened the scoring as he slotted over a simple penalty attempt to put the home side in the lead by 3 points to 0.
The Scarlets were finally rewarded for their efforts as they scored the first try of the evening. A beautiful pass from Angus O’Brien to Aaron Shingler who offloaded to Steff Evans saw the Wing dive over under the posts. Leigh Halfpenny added the extras as the Scarlets increased their lead to 10 points to 0.
A further Halfpenny penalty extended the hosts’ lead to 13 points to 0 and after half an hour play, the Ospreys had offered very little in attack. A penalty for offside against the Scarlets saw a rare visit into the Scarlets’ 22, but the Scarlets were hardly tested before turning the ball over as they regained control once more.
A promising training-pitch move from the Scarlets resulted in nothing as referee, Craig Evans, got in the way, but the home side were determined to score before the end of the half. Again, it was that man, Angus O’Brien that set up the score, with a superb cross-kick that was gathered by Ryan Conbeer who raced over for the try. Again, Halfpenny was on target with his conversion attempt to put the Scarlets in a commanding 20 points to 0 lead at half time.
It was better from the Ospreys at the start of the second half as a series of penalties saw them work their way down-field, but when they finally found themselves in the Scarlets’ 22, they were bundled into touch. Another huge kick from O’Brien saw the Scarlets back in the Ospreys’ half and back in possession.
As the weather deteriorated considerably, the Ospreys found themselves in possession, but they lacked any real penetration as they met a sea of Scarlet.
A dangerous, high tackle from Luke Morgan stopped an almost certain third try for the Scarlets as he was lucky to have only been shown a yellow card, however, the Scarlets were in a great attacking position, in the Ospreys’ 22. Determined to make their extra man count, they picked and drove and inched their way closer to the try line before Ryan Conbeer was on hand to finish off for his brace. Halfpenny was wide with his tricky conversion attempt as the Scarlets’ lead increased to 25 points to 0.
The try bonus point was in the bag just as the clock struck the hour, as great follow-up work from Steff Evans saw him race over for his brace. Again, Halfpenny saw his conversion attempt sail just wide of the posts as the lead extended to 30 point to 0.
Once again, great work from Angus O’Brien saw the Scarlets inch towards the try line, with replacement, Kieran Hardy on hand to snipe his way over for try number five. Leigh Halfpenny added the conversion as the Scarlets’ lead increased to 37 points to 0.
The Scarlets again turned down the opportunity for the three points as O’Brien kicked for the corner. The ball is recycled well before finding Josh Macleod lurking out on the wing. He somehow manages to gather the ball and dive over for the try. A superb kick from Angus sees him add the extras to put the Scarlet ahead by 44 points to 0.

Despite it appearing that the Scarlets had scored a further try that would see them possibly reach the half century, it was chalked off by referee Evans as the Ospreys attempted to end the game with a consolation score. A series of scrum penalties in the dying minutes and yellow cards for Werner Kruger and Jake Ball, but the Scarlets managed to hold out as the game ended 44 points to 0.
It was a second man of the match performance in a row for Angus O’Brien following his heroics against Bayonne a couple of weeks ago as he again controlled the game and was instrumental in setting up the tries.
Next Friday, the Scarlets travel to the capital city for the last of the Festive Derbies where they face the Cardiff Blues, kick-off is at 7.35pm.