Super Scarlets Secure Super Win Over Ospreys

By Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

Following last Saturday’s narrow defeat over the bridge in the Liberty Stadium, the Scarlets welcomed the Ospreys to fortress Parc y Scarlets for the final match in the festive season’s series of Derby matches.

Bouyed by the news minutes before kick off that instrumental Ospreys player, Rhys Webb had been withdrawn due to a stomach bug, it was hoped that 2014’s unbeaten home record could continue way into 2015 along with being crowned winners of the South Wales Evening Post Cup.

The noise was thunderous as both teams ran through the smoke onto the pitch and despite the heavy rain earlier on in the day, conditions were perfect for a open running game of rugby.

The home team demonstrated their intent from kick off, with a superb passage of passing rugby, keeping ball in handas they inched closer to the Ospreys try line. The reward for the efforts was an easy penalty attempt right in front of the posts for Outside Half Rhys Priestland. With just 2 minutes on the clock, the Scarlets opened the scoring 3 points to 0.

However, the Ospreys’ reply to the opening from the Scarlets was to string together a number of passes of their own, fortunately being denied any real headway into the Scarlets’ half as the men in Scarlet once again took posession.

With the Ospreys forwards attempting to drive their way into the Scarlets 22, the crowd were soon vocal in their appreciation of Dan Biggar’s kick being chraged down resutling in a great field position for the home team. Yet again, that last pass let the Scarlets down as they did everything but cross the whitewash. The clearing kick led to the first, inevitable fight of the game following the line-out which saw the Scarlets rewarded with a penalty.

The boos ran through the stadium as Captain Scott Williams was sent to the sin bin for an alleged high tackle which automatically handed the advantage to the visitors and it seemed that the level of farcial refereeing that has been evident during the last few weeks once again reared it’s ugly head.

Taking full advantage of the extra inches he managed to sneak, Dan Biggar opened the scoring for the Ospreys as his penalty drew the scores level at 3 points all.

Following lenghty debates among the officials and several viewings on the stadium screen, Rhys Preistland was offered the opportunity to once again put the Scarlets in the lead, however his kicked sailed wide of the posts. These interventions from the TMO are spoiling the flow of the game along with the refereeing as referees now rely too much on the screen rather than making decisions of their own. Surely this is something that needs to be looked into before the game begin to take an hour per half to play!

It took a full 20 minutes on the clock before the first scrum of the game and the Scarlets forwards demonstrated their dominance by securing a penalty. The cheer that followed was in part for the decision but also for the return of Scott Williams.

The home team took full advantage of their posession and field position as they again worked through the phases deep in the Ospreys 22. As the Ospreys strayed into an off-side position, Priestland was again offered the chance to re-take the lead, this time in a much easier position and he made no mistake as he watched the ball sail through the posts to give the Scarlets a 6 point to 3 advantage.

Despite making a shambles of the scrum, the home team somehow managed to re-gain posession and through Priestland and Scott Williams were back once again in the Ospreys 22. Superb hands and angles of running again from Priestland soon had the crowd on their feet as Liam Williams crossed for the first try of the match. Unfortunately the Outside Half was unable to add the extras but the Scarlets lead had increased to 11 points to 3.

The majority of the 12,00 plus crowd were on their feet minutes later as Scrum Half Aled Davies dived over the line, however, remarkably without needing the TMO, referee Lacey from Ireland deemed that the ball had been knocked on, resulting in an Ospreys scrum.

Again, the forwards demonstrated their dominance in the scrum as they secured another penalty right in front of the posts. Again Priestland stepped up to the mark and further increased his team’s lead to 14 points to 3.

Even when the Ospreys were in posession and in a good field position, the errors crept into their play and the half finished with the Scarlets remaining in the lead 14 points to 3.

The Scarlets were on fire at the start of the second half. A storming run almost the length of the field from Captain Williams saw him pass to Liam Williams before Flanker John Barclay found the gap to cross for the second try of the evening for the men in Scarlet. Unfortunately Priestland was just wide with his conversion attempt but the Scarlets extended their lead to 19 points to 3!

Unfortunately the TMO was again called on to make a decision almost immediately as Rhys Priestland ‘s grounding of the ball wasn’t clear. For once the decision went the red way and the right way and the Scarlets were able to restart.

The Ospreys did attempt a come-back with play deep in the Scarlets’ 22 but unfortunately play was halted due to an injury to Prop Samson Lee who was replaced by Rhodri Jones.

Again the Ospreys attempted to inch into the 22, however handling errors saw the home team back in posession despite the Opsreys being very much in crontrol of this period of the game.

Scott Williams was the next to cross the white-wash, blissfully unaware that the referee’s whistle had already been blown, though surely advantage could have been played! Another Ospreys scrum was destroyed before yet another handbag session and yet another penalty attempt for Rhys Priestland who turned his back on his kick, confident that his success had further increased the score to 22 points to 3.

An immense kick from Aled Davies put the Scarlets back in the Ospreys 22 as thoughts suddenly began to turn, amazingly, to bonus points!!

As the Scarlets’ injury woes continued, Rhodri Jones left the pitch with what looked like a dislocated shoulder resulting in Samson Lee returning to the pitch.

Despite the continued wave of pressure from the Ospreys, the Scarlets’ defence held firm. The visitors did demonstrate their desire to score a try though as they kicked for the cornede rather than take the 3 points from the penalty and they were awarded for their adventure as former Scarlet Dan Evans crossed for the first and hopefully last Ospreys try of the evening. Biggar just managed to squeeze the ball through the posts for the conversion to slightly narrow the gap to 22 points to 10.

The Ospreys remained in posession but play was very static and the defence from the Scarlets made crossing the gain line difficult as the Scarlet faithful began hoping that the home team weren’t just defending their lead and presuming the game had been won.

As man of the match Rhys Priestland left the pitch to be replaced by Steve Shingler, the Scarlets finally got play back into the Ospreys half following a lengthy period defending.

With just a couple of minutes left on the clock, the men in Scarlet were finally back in the Ospreys 22 and inching ever closer for their third try of the evening, however they were beaten by the clock but not before finally securing a 22 point to 10 victory!