SUPER SCARLETS SECURE OSPREYS DERBY WIN

By Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

With the Six Nations done and dusted, Pro12 action was back on the cards this week and not just any Pro 12 encounter.  The Scarlets were playing one of 3 derby games in their remaining 5 fixtures with a trip across Loughor Bridge to face arch rivals, the Ospreys in one of the most eagerly anticipated fixtures in the calendar.

The Scarlets still remain in the top 4 chasing a spot in the play-offs. The Ospreys have struggled most of this season and are down in 9th spot, so a win, apart from the obvious reason, is paramount for both teams as the season begins to reach its climax.

The Scarlets took an early lead with a well struck penalty from young Under 20 Grand Slam Winner Dan Jones that gave the visitors a 3 point to 0 lead.

Despite Samson Lee starting the game from the bench, the Scarlets gained early advantage +with total dominance at the scrum, however, it was the Ospreys that scored the first try of the game with Josh Matavesi on the receiving end of what looked like a forward pass to cross under the posts. Sam Davies added the easy conversion to give the home side a 7 point to 3 lead.

An awful decision from referee Whitehouse resulted in Sam Davies increasing the Ospreys lead to 10 points to 3. Rhys Webb purposely threw the ball forward, making James Davies offside, but despite the correct decision being the awarding of a Scarlets scrum, decided to offer Davies another penalty attempt.

Superb work from Scrum Half Gareth Davies and Scarlets number 8, Morgan Allen, facing his old team, saw him break through the defence before off-loading to DTH who managed to squeeze in in the corner. A superb conversion from the touch-line from Dan Jones saw the scores all square at 10 points all.

Unfortunately, minutes later a penalty at the breakdown saw the Ospreys re-take the lead from the boot of Sam Davies, 13- 10, but that was soon cancelled out with another well-struck penalty from Dan Jones to give a score line of 13 points all as the game reached the dying minutes of the first half.

A huge amount of pressure from the Scarlets at the start of the second half tested the Ospreys defence, however they held firm and the visitors were unable to gain any points despite all their hard work.

A huge interception from Hadleigh Parkes when the Ospreys had a 4 to 1 overlap saw the ball back in Scarlets hands following a period of attack from the Ospreys. Knowing he didn’t have the speed to run the length of the pitch, he kicked ahead for Gareth Davies to chase, but despite having the legs, Davies was tackled and had no choice but to hold on to the ball as he waited for support, whereas maybe had he kicked ahead, then the try would have been a cert.

An easy penalty attempt for replacement Outside Half Aled Thomas that would have seen the visitors take the lead, but the ball sailed wide of the posts and never looked like going over and with over 20 minutes played of the second half the half remained score-less.

As the dominance at the scrum continued, Aled Thomas was offered a chance to redeem his earlier effort. Fortunately, he was successful to put the Scarlets in the lead, 13 points to 16.

Hands in the ruck from the Ospreys gave Thomas the opportunity to further increase the Scarlets lead, just before the Ospreys brought on replacement Dan Biggar. His successful kick gave the men in red a 6-point cushion, 13 points to 19.

Surprisingly, an Ospreys penalty at the scrum offered them the chance to cut the deficit. Despite Biggar being on the pitch, Sam Davies took the successful penalty to bring the Ospreys back to within 3 points rather than needing to score a try, 16 points to 19.

As the game reached its climax, a high tackle on Aled Thomas offered the Scarlets the chance to seal the game with the award of a kickable penalty. Fortunately, Thomas regained his composure to kick the penalty and with the 3 minutes left, had opened up a 16 points to 22 lead.

A silly slap from replacement Kirby Mayhill gave the Ospreys a penalty, but could have resulted in a yellow card. However, a forward pass and subsequent penalty from the scrum saw Aled Thomas not only seal the win with a 16 point to 25 advantage, but also snatch the Ospreys’ losing point making it extremely difficult for them to qualify for the Champions’ Cup next season.

Next Saturday, the Scarlets play another Derby game when they welcome the Cardiff Blues to Parc y Scarlets as they continue in their quest for not just a top 4 finish, but top 2 to secure a home play-off spot.  Kick-off is at 3.15pm.