Strong second half not enough for Scarlets victory

by Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

With the disappointment of Boxing Day a thing of the past, but unfortunately the whole future of Welsh rugby still very much hanging in the balance, the Scarlets made their way over Loughor Bridge for the final fixture in the Festive Local Derbies.

Once again, the Ospreys were the opponents and together with Nigel Owens as referee, it was a nervous build up to the game, particularly when reminded of the farcical ending of the same fixture last season.

Following a day of storms and high winds sweeping across the country, the conditions on the pitch were better than anticipated; though the support for the sides was very disappointing to say the least, especially following the official sell-out last week at Parc y Scarlets.

Keeping ball in hand and very much matching the forward power of the Ospreys, the Scarlets started the game well, controlling the break down and maintaining possession. The pressure soon turned into an opportunity for points as Rhys Priestland was given the chance to put the visitors ahead with a penalty attempt. Despite having the accuracy, the outside half unfortunately lacked the distance.

With ball in hand the Scarlets combined well to gather momentum and play themselves into the Ospreys 22, however, on this occasion were unable to take advantage to score as Full Back Gareth Owens spilled the ball just before the line.

Unfortunately it was Ospreys that opened the scoring following a break from ex Scarlets’ coach, Nigel Davies’ son, Sam Davies. Poor defending from the Scarlets, aided by forwards attempting to match the pace of backs, saw Ashley Beck cross under the posts for the first try, against the run of play. Dan Biggar added the easy conversion to give the home side a 7 point to 0 lead.

Despite the Scarlets’ strong start, the Ospreys began controlling the game following the scoring of the try and mistakes crept into the game of the visitors.

A break from Centre Scott Williams put the Scarlets into a promising attacking position, however the speed of his move seemed to take the rest of the team by surprise and he found himself lacking in support during one of the best passages of play from the men in red.

An immense effort from the Scarlets forwards saw them almost destroy the Ospreys scrum with panic passing resulting in yet another break from Scott Williams. Again, he lacked the support, demonstrating the huge gaping hole that the injury to Jonathan Davies has left in mid-field for the Scarlets.

Rhys Priestland was offered the chance to finally put some points on the board for the Scarlets just before half time and on this occasion made no mistake as he saw his kick sneak in just to the left of the posts to give a score line of 7 points to 3.

A penalty kick for the corner from Biggar saw the home team gifted a perfect field position right on the stroke of half time. Despite immense defending from the Scarlets forwards, Wing Aisea Natoga found himself clear in the corner and after checking with TMO Derek Bevan, referee Owens awarded the try in injury time. Biggar added the touch line conversion to increase his side’s lead and give the Ospreys a half time lead of 14 points to 3.

An early mistake from Dan Biggar at the start of the second half saw the Scarlets offered a chance to double their score with another Priestland kick; however he was just off-target with his effort.

With the Ospreys seemingly persistently off-side, the Scarlets found it increasingly difficult to gain ground and the frustration was echoed in their play as Biggar was offered the chance to increase the home team’s lead. He made no mistake to give the Ospreys a 17 points to 3 lead.

A high tackle on Priestland by Ospreys Scrum Half Rhys Webb saw Webb penalised and Priestland again offered a chance to increase the Scarlets’ score and fortunately he had both accuracy and distance on this occasion to bring the score line to 17 points to 6.

As conditions worsened and the rain and wind played a huge part in the game, the arrival of Adam Jones as a replacement for the Ospreys didn’t make the expected impact on the scrum that was expected. In complete contrast to seasons past, the Ospreys scrum was once again destroyed and the subsequent penalty saw Rhys Priestland narrow the gap to just 8 points, 17 points to 9.

With the Ospreys emulating their New Zealand All-Black counter-parts with regards to playing the game right on the edge of the laws, it took a couple of infringements before Nigel Owens finally became aware of the foul play and penalised.

This offered the visitors the chance to finally play in Ospreys territory as they attempted to work their way into the 22, however despite maintaining possession the play was very lateral and as his team continued losing ground, Priestland seemed to run out of any other idea but to kick away possession.

A break from Priestland whilst advantage was being played saw the Scarlets finally in the Ospreys 22, but unfortunately he was unable to get his pass away in time and the touch line became an extra defender for the home side.

With the Scarlets enjoying 70% of the second half possession, they still looked very unlike scoring a try until a yellow card saw try scorer Natoga sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on. The forwards inched ever closer to the white wash, but again the touch line left visiting supporters ruing missed kicks together with the inability to score a try when deep in the opposition 22 and with an extra man.

Prop Phil John winning the ball during the breakdown offered the opportunity once again for another Priestland break; however, a kick down field from an off-side Adam Jones saw the Scarlets back in their own half despite their best period of play during the game.

Using the TMO to full extent, Nigel Owens questioned the Ospreys taking players out without the ball, which was confirmed by Bevan and play went right back to the Ospreys 22 with Priestland’s penalty bridging the gap to just 5 points – 17 points to 12.

As the penalty count against the Ospreys increased a school-boy error from Priestland, who was unable to find touch with his kick for touch eased the pressure for the home team slightly.

Totally dominating the second half, the Scarlets again put the Ospreys defence under extreme pressure, but it took just one kick to put the Scarlets back in their own 22.

With just 2 minutes left on the clock, the visitors had one more opportunity to score that elusive try by keeping ball in hand and working through the phases to take advantage of their extra man. However, desperate defence from the Ospreys saw them cling on to their lead as the seconds ticked away and they managed to just steal the ball for Biggar to end the game.

With Heineken Cup action back next week and the Scarlets facing an away trip to Racing Metro, yet another defeat and yet another try-less performance is not the best start for the New Year. In this instance it was more that the Scarlets lost the game rather than the Ospreys won it and once again, Scarlets supporters everywhere face a long old season with few positives emerging at this point. Being a Scarlets supporter can be hard work!