By Etienne Turpin
A try from POTM Hamish Watson and accurate kicking from Ben Healy was enough for Edinburgh to beat the Ospreys at the Hive Stadium in Edinburgh. The Ospreys fought back with second half tries from Sam Parry and Morgan Morris but were unable to complete the turnaround.
It was the home side who had the first real chance when Harry Paterson made an initial break. The Ospreys were penalised at a ruck and with the shot at goal being the simple option, Ben Healy opted for the corner, but the line-out went wrong, allowing the Ospreys to clear.
The Ospreys showed against Ulster that their scrum was a dominant one and were rewarded early on again at the scrum time as Tom Botha got the better of Boan Venter. Dan Edwards and the Ospreys went for goal and opened the scoring after just 12 minutes. Recent form for the Welsh side saw a rise in confidence and they weren’t afraid to run from deep when Boshoff made a line break up to halfway only for his offload to Jack Walsh to fall just short.
But it was Edinburgh who scored the first try of the match. A lovely move from a line-out involving Mata who made a great break, before showing his slick hands as he offloaded to Currie, who popped the final to Hamish Watson. Healy added the extras with a nice conversion.
Edinburgh extended their lead moments later when flyhalf Dan Edwards was penalised for not rolling away. Healy was successful from the boot once more as the home side led by seven. Their lead then grew to 10 points when Watson won a penalty. Healy’s accuracy proven to be key to Edinburgh early domination.
As half time neared, Edinburgh were beginning to punish Toby Booth’s men and Healy was making no mistake from the tee as the home side now had a 13-point lead. And Harry Paterson, who made his international debut against France saved the day for his side when Keelan Giles made a slicing break through the midfield, he drew in Boffelli but was unable to find his scrum half Davies and the Edinburgh winger intercepted.
The Ospreys came out strongly in the second half and were again awarded a scrum penalty. With the gap up to 13 points, they went to the corner and their powerful maul powered over, Sam Parry getting the score. Unfortunately for Edwards, his sideline conversion crashed into the post leaving the Ospreys eight points behind.
Following that score, the Ospreys were beginning to look more comfortable will the ball, but Edinburgh repelled their attack and took the sting out of their attack. And as the Ospreys pack began to tire, the Edinburgh scrum was beginning to take advantage and win numerous scrum penalties. They had an opportunity to extend their lead once more but Healy’s penalty went well wide.
That miss seemed to inspire the Ospreys who moved up the field quickly. A clever kick from Giles forced a five-metre scrum for his side and when they were awarded a penalty from the scrum, quick thinking from Tipuric taking a tap and go kept the momentum going and Morgan Morris, who was making his long-awaited return from injury crash over.
With the gap now reduced to just one point, the Ospreys would’ve felt that the momentum had shifted entirely but pressure on the Ospreys scrum meant that Owen Williams was thrown a poor pass which he couldn’t control, and the hosts had a scrum with less than 10 to play. Their second half scrum domination resulted in a penalty and from in front of the posts, Healy gave his side some breathing space.
However, as Toby Booth said after the Ulster game, the Ospreys never know when the game is lost and almost replied instantly when a cute offload found Protheroe who found plenty of space into the Edinburgh 22. They moved it wide quickly but Mata saved a certain try by blocking Boshoff’s offload.
The Ospreys did have one final chance but we unable to win their lineout from five-metres and so Edinburgh held on to win, ending the Ospreys’ unbeaten run in 2024.
Edinburgh: 19
TRIES: 1 (Watson 18’)
CONVERSIONS: 1 (Healy 19’)
PENALTIES: 2 (Healy 23’, 25’, 35’ 74’)
DROP GOALS:
YELLOW CARDS:
RED CARDS: 0
15. Emiliano Boffelli, Harry Paterson, 13. Mark Bennett, 12. Matt Currie, 11. Chris Dean, 10. Ben Healy, 9. Ben Vellacott, 1. Boan Venter, 2. Dave Cherry, 3. WP Nel, 4. Sam Skinner, 5. Glen Young, 6. Tom Todd, 7. Hamish Watson, 8. Viliame Mata.
16. Patrick Harrison, 17. Luan de Bruin, 18. Javan Sebastian, 19. Marshall Sykes, 20. Ben Muncaster, 21. Ali Price, 22. Jamie Lang, 23. Wes Goosen
Ospreys: 15
TRIES: 1 (Parry 48’, Morris 68’)
CONVERSIONS: 1 (Williams 70’)
PENALTIES: 1 (Edwards 12’)
DROP GOALS:
YELLOW CARDS:
RED CARDS: 0
15. Jack Walsh, 14. Alex Cuthbert, 13. Evardi Boshoff, 12. Kieran Williams, 11. Keelan Giles, 10. Dan Edwards, 9. Luke Davies, 1. Nicky Smith, 2. Sam Parry, 3. Tom Botha, 4. James Ratti, 5. Victor Sekekete, 6. Harri Deaves, 7. Justin Tipuric, 8. Jeandre Rudolph.
16. Lewis Lloyd, 17. Rhys Henry, 18. Ben Warren, 19. Rhys Davies, 20. Morgan Morris, 21. Cameron Jones, 22. Owen Williams, 23. Mat Protheroe.
Five Talking Points – Edinburgh 19-15 Ospreys
- Big names step up for Edinburgh.
Hamish Watson put in a huge shift as he helped his side to victory as he finished off a great team try. The giant Fijian Viliame Mata was also instrumental in his sides victory, setting up the try with a powerful run. Ben Healy was successful with five kicks out of six to keep the scoreboard ticking.
2. Ospreys welcome back Morgan Morris.
Regardless of the result, the Ospreys and their fans can be delighted at the return of Morgan Morris who came off the bench. The powerful backrow even got a try as the Ospreys threatened another comeback victory.
3. Ospreys taste defeat for the first time in 2024.
The Welsh side had not been defeated since losing to Montpellier in December. The Ospreys remain eight in the league but must refocus as they prepare to host Munster next time out.
4. Edinburgh building momentum.
A third successive URC win for Edinburgh see them rise to fourth in the league. Crucial moment of the season for them as they travel to South Africa where they will face the Stormers and the Sharks.
5. Fatigue proves costly for the Ospreys.
Against Ulster, and for the first 50 minutes of today’s game, the Ospreys scrum was showing to be a dominant part of their game however the last 30 minutes saw Edinburgh take control of the set piece as they punished the Ospreys on numerous occasions.