STUNNED SCARLETS TURKS STUFFED BY OSPREYS

For the second time in two days, the convoy of Scarlet made its way over the Bridge into Swansea for the Battle of the West.
Yesterday’s game was called off very late in the day due to apparent frozen pipes in three of the stands, much to the annoyance of many, including the Scarlets team who had already travelled to the game.
This was followed by the speculation of when the big game would be held?
Despite suggestions from the Scarlets that the game be played in coming weeks, the decision was made yesterday evening by the Ospreys, to fast forward the game a mere 24 hours.
As a supporter, you do have to feel for the squad too….yes, they’re professional sportsmen, but they are still human, and whilst we were all able to enjoy the Christmas festivities, they had to ensure pre-match preparations were stuck to, and in the same way days with family had to be rearranged to ensure we made the journey today, so it was for the players.
It’s been so long now since the Scarlets beat the Ospreys, it’s beginning to feel like a distant memory, but, despite this, the air was full of expectation. The Scarlets have been playing good rugby this season, the squad seem to have come of age and both sets of supporters firmly believed that the time had come….the men in red would finally lay ghosts to rest, and secure the all-important victory.
Instead, it turned into a horror show for the Scarlets army. I’m not sure what was the worst part….the score line? The increasing injury list? Or the fact that the Ospreys have now leap-frogged the Scarlets as they go to second in the Magners League.

It all started so well, with the Scarlets gaining an early penalty, which gave them good field position.
They moved the ball through the phases, inching forward, until full back Dan Newton broke through, much to the delight of the away supporters.
Rhys Priestland gave the Scarlets an early lead with his successful penalty just on the 5 minute mark. Little did we think then, that they would be the Scarlets’ only points of the half though!
It wasn’t long before the Ospreys took control of the game, securing good field position in the Scarlets 22, with Barry Davies crossing for a try that was fortunately disallowed as he was in front of the kicker.
Strangely, the Scarlets were penalised for exactly the same offence just seconds later, which offered Ospreys Outside Half, Dan Biggar the chance to equalise the score at 3 points all.
The Scarlets continued their attack, but were penalised for their efforts and it was up to Morgan Stoddart to intercept a pass to save a possible Ospreys try. Unfortunately, he was then penalised for throwing the ball away, and following a ‘handbag’ exchange with Biggar, the Ospreys were able to double their score with another successful Biggar kick.
Biggar was able to increase the Ospreys score to 9 points to 3, as Jonny F was penalised for holding on to the ball, to the disgust of the Scarlets supporters who felt that James Jones was a little premature in blowing his whistle for the penalty.
Unfortunately, Rhys Priestland seemed to over complicate things, trying to create, when cool heads were needed, and the phases were needed to go through. In fact, the Scarlets as a whole can be criticised for being too imaginative, rather than ensuring the basics were done well and points were on the board, before attempting the fancy stuff! This wasn’t helped by referee James Jones who seemed to be blowing his whistle rather than allowing the Scarlets to play.
The one area the Scarlets did control for a while was the line-out, and this possession enabled the men in Scarlet a little time with ball in hand, until they were penalised yet again. This proved very disappointing as they were trying so hard to take full advantage of their attacking opportunities, but the Ospreys proved too strong in the tackle area.
James Hook scored the opening try of the game following a good run from his Centre partner Tommy Bowe, running past the Scarlets defenders to squeeze in in the corner. Biggar was unsuccessful with the conversion, but with the score at 14 points to 3, it began to look like an Osprey mountain for the Scarlets to climb.
The visitors were then penalised yet again for not rolling away following the re-start, despite protests from Matthew Rees who was being held and therefore stopped from moving out of the way by Osprey Jerry Collins….right in front of referee James Jones!!
It was almost on the half hour mark that the Ospreys were finally penalised, offering possession and field position for the Scarlets in the Ospreys half for the first time in a very long period, but as soon as they crossed the gain-line, the Ospreys re-gained the ball, as mistakes crept in to the Scarlets game.
Iestyn Thomas was unlucky to be penalised in the scrum when it was clear that both himself and Adam Jones had both infringed, and this offered yet another kicking opportunity for Biggar, who increased the Ospreys lead to 17 points to 3.
Unfortunately, Rhys Priestland kicked the ball out on the full following the re-start, which again offered the Ospreys the chance of a good attacking position following the scrum back on the half way line, but once again the Scarlets showed their dominance in the opposition line-out. But, they subsequently lost their own line-out in a good attacking position.
Yet another Scarlets penalty enabled Biggar to give the Ospreys a lead of 20 points to 3 going in to half time, leaving the Scarlets faithful shell-shocked, and wandering just how the team were going to fight their way back. The Scarlets did finish the half strongly, with some good passing, but were unable to add to their points before going into the break.
They did however attempt to start the second half strongly, attacking well in the opening stages, just as they had done at the start of the game.
Yet again, another baffling refereeing decision proved to be their downfall and yet another penalty against the Scarlets secured attacking field position for the Ospreys once more.
The Scarlets were offered a chance when Jerry Collins was penalised, but Rhys Priestland made a school-boy error when he missed touch with his penalty kick and despite the Scarlets continuing on the attack, disappointingly Scrum Half, Martin Roberts was sin-binned for swearing at the referee, having been told in the first half not to referee the game!
With the Scarlets down to 14 men, Mike Phillips took full advantage of his opposite number being off the pitch, but the Scarlets were a
ble to clear the lines for a while until the Ospreys were able to break through an effectively 11 man Scarlets defence as Johnathan Thomas crossed for the Ospreys second try with both Johnathan Edwards and Dan Newton on the floor, injured, and then Morgan Stoddart!
With the scoreboard now reading Ospreys 25, Scarlets 3, the concern of the away fans were for Edwards and Stoddart, both limping off, adding to the increasing injury list with such an important time coming up with the final group stages of the European Cup.
Rhys Priestland tried to raise Scarlets’ spirits with a great break from inside his own 22, but on a day when everything went against the men in red, his kick was gathered by his opposite number Dan Biggar who raced in to score another Ospreys try under the posts. His conversion brought the score to a painful 32 points to 3, with 12 of those points scored when the home team had the extra man advantage.
Suddenly, the game began showing signs of slipping into a similar fashion of that second half performance against the Tigers in the European Cup. However, this time, the Scarlets fought back almost immediately with Josh Turnbull securing the ball against the head in the scrum, Sean Lamont showing good pace to almost cross before Gareth Maule finally did score a try to give the Scarlets faithful hope that the team were going to show character and determination and claw their way back into the game. Rhys Priestland converted to bring the score to 32 points to 10, and the away supporters’ hopes were lifted further with the appearance of Centre Jon Davies making his first appearance since being injured back in October.
The Scarlets continued on the attack but again the tackle area proved to be the downfall, with Jerry Collins forcing little Lee Williams to knock on in the tackle.
Martin Roberts was welcomed back to the field with an elbow in the face from Duncan Jones, who was penalised, despite the feeling that his actions did deserve a yellow card.
The Scarlets decided to run the ball almost from their own line and worked their way into the Ospreys half with good passing and recycling of the ball.
The Scarlets were yet again down to 14 men following the sin-binning of Wing Sean Lamont who, following the interception of linesman Tim Hayes (following the jeers of the crowd) was sent off for a dangerous use of the arm in the tackle. He must surely be feeling aggrieved with the decision as replays showed that this decision was totally incorrect and was at the very most a penalty as his forearm was not used in the tackle.
Just as things were going badly for the Scarlets, they got even worse when Richard Fussell crossed for the Ospreys fourth try of the afternoon to knock another nail in the Scarlets’ coffin. Biggar added the extras to bring the score to 39 points to 10.
It wasn’t long before Tommy Bowe added the fifth Ospreys try following a lucky catch, and with the Scarlets defence almost non-existent. Biggar again added the conversion to bring the score to 46 points to 10 before being replaced by Andrew Bishop.
The Scarlets again showed their character by not giving up, despite the Ospreys proving far too strong for them up front, and them obviously feeling extremely disheartened as it felt that every time they attempted to play rugby and try and bridge the gap in the score board, the Ospreys and James Jones proved a combination too hard for the Scarlets to tackle.
It became even more painful to watch when the TMO awarded a sixth try to the Ospreys through replacement prop Paul James, bringing the score to 53 points to 10, with quarter of an hour remaining. Hook added the extras.
This was the fifth try that was awarded against a 14 man Scarlets team, proving that the yellow card can be so important in a game.
Ian Evans was the next to face a yellow card following illegal use of the boot on Jonny F, right in front of the referee, with the ball nowhere near, but unfortunately, the Tongan’s retaliation by throwing the ball at Evans meant that the penalty decision was reversed, so despite losing a man, bizarrely the Ospreys were awarded a penalty, which added to the increasing frustration in the refereeing decisions of the afternoon.
The visitors took full advantage of their extra man with some great passing rugby, which almost culminated in a Scarlets try from Dan Newton. It was a try seconds later, with Jonny F crossing when the penalty was taken quickly. Rhys Priestland again converted to brin

g the score to a slightly more respectable 53 points to 17, though I doubt anyone would have predicted such a score line before the game.
With five minutes remaining on the clock, the Scarlets again attempted to attack, but again decisions went against them and unfortunately it was the Ospreys who scored the final points of the game with replacement Scrum Half Richard Nutbrown sneaking over from close range to bring the final score to 60 points to 17.
And so, the 15 or so miles back to Turkland was yet another long, silent journey home. Expectations had been dashed. For once, it wasn’t a close game that could have and should have been won. Admittedly, on paper, the score was an accurate one, with the 500 plus capped Ospreys squad far more experienced than the Scarlets with just over 100, and several key members missing through injury.
But there are no excuses, on the day the Ospreys controlled the game, stopped the Scarlets playing the familiar style of rugby they are used to, and with frustrations increasing in refereeing decisions going against us, it was hard, very hard.
If you ask any Scarlets supporter which game would they like to win, it is almost a guarantee that the answer will be ‘Ospreys’. Unfortunately, yet again they have succeeded in securing the double once again this year, which leaves us supporters looking forward to next year and hoping yet again it will be a different story.
But before then, we have the rest of this season to concentrate on. Let’s just hope that the new year will bring the boys bac

 

k on track with a good win against the Dragons on Saturday, kick off 6.30pm.