By Etienne Turpin
The Ospreys defeated the Lions for the second time in 2024 when they secured a 36-21 victory in what was an entertaining affair in Swansea. 5 tries from Botha, Parry, Morris, Lloyd and Williams resulted in a big win for the home side as Sam Parry celebrated his 150th cap for the Ospreys.
After a poor start last Friday against Munster, it only took the Ospreys five minutes to open the scoring when Tom Botha powered his way through. They were patient and eventually crashed through the Lions defence. Owen Williams was unsuccessful with the conversion, but the Ospreys had an early 5-0 lead.
The game got a bit scrappy as both teams had counter attacking opportunities. The Lions looked to move it wide and made plenty of ground before Owen Watkins ripped the ball and raced clear. He was tackled just outside the 22 but his attempted offload was intercepted, and the Lions cleared.
The Ospreys then extended their lead from the resulting lineout with Sam Parry who was celebrating his 150th cap for the region crashed over for the second try of the game. Reuben Morgan-Williams made the initial break which required a TMO check but Brace saw nothing wrong and so the Ospreys doubled their lead. Owen Williams was successful with the conversion to give his side a 12-0 lead. However, he was sent to the sin bin after the half hour mark when he slapped the ball out of Nohamba’s hand when the Lions broke clear.
The Lions eventually got over through PJ Botha from a powerful rolling maul. The Ospreys pack was weakened with the absence of their hooker Sam Parry and the team from Johannesburg had too much power to be stopped. Hendrikse was successful with his sideline conversion to reduce the lead to just five points.
But the Ospreys would have the final say of the first when they were awarded a penalty 30 metres out when the Lions were slow to roll away. Owen Williams slotted the penalty between the posts to give his side a bit of breathing space at the break. A loose first half dominated by the home side but the Lions began to look more threatening as half time neared.
The Ospreys almost scored right at the start of the second half when Luke Morgan found space and sprinted away when he found a gap in the Lions defence, but Hendrikse made a fantastic try saving tackle.
The Ospreys scored the first points of the second half through Morgan Morris who powered his way over with an initial dummy. The try happened moments after Naudé was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous clear out on Justin Tipuric. Williams’ conversion was successful and the Ospreys led by 15.
And just before the hour mark, the Ospreys had secured the bonus point try when Ethan Lloyd, on the end of a driving maul which had everyone join in was able to crash over. Owen Williams nailed the conversion, and the Ospreys had a big 22-point lead over the Lions with just over 20 minutes to play.
The Lions gave themselves hope with under 15 minutes to play when Horn was on the end of a Richard Kriel pass to reduce the gap. The successful conversion brought the Ospreys lead back down to 15.
And the Lions managed to cross the try line again when Richard Kriel managed to stay in field to dot the ball down. There was a long TMO check to see if he had a foot in touch but he managed to do so and the try was awarded. Hendrikse was successful with the quick conversion. But with time running out, the Lions tried to run from deep inside their 22 and Morgan Morris won a crucial penalty. Jack Walsh however hit the post, keeping it an eight-point score.
But the Ospreys eventually sealed the win when substitute Keiran Williams was on the end of quick break from Keelan Giles. Jack Walsh’ conversion went over as the Ospreys sealed their 15 point win over the Emirates Lions and jump into a play off spot in the United Rugby Championship.
Ospreys: 36
TRIES: 5 (Botha 5’, Parry 17’, Morris 51’, Lloyd 58’, Williams 80’)
CONVERSIONS: 2 (Williams 19’, 52’ 59’, Walsh 36’)
PENALTIES: 1 (Williams 40’)
DROP GOALS:
YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Parry 33’)
RED CARDS: 0
15. Jack Walsh, 14. Luke Morgan, 13. Evardi Boshoff, 12. Owen Watkin, 11. Keelan Giles, 10. Owen Williams, 9. Reuben Morgan-Williams, 1. Gareth Thomas, 2. Sam Parry, 3. Tom Botha, 4. Rhys Davies, 5. Adam Beard, 6. James Ratti, 7. Justin Tipuric, 8. Morgan Morris.
16. Lewis Lloyd, 17. Garyn Phillips, 18. Ben Warren, 19. Huw Sutton, 20. Harri Deaves, 21. Luke Davies, 22. Max Nagy, 23. Keiran Williams
Lions: 19
TRIES: 2 (Botha 38’, Horn 67’, Kriel 74’)
CONVERSIONS: 2 (Hendrikse 39’, 67;)
PENALTIES:
DROP GOALS:
YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Naudé 49’)
RED CARDS: 0
15. Quan Horn, 14. Richard Kriel, 13. Erich Cronjé, 12. Marius Cronje, 11. Edwill Van der Merwe, 10. Jordan Hendrikse, 9. Sanele Nihamba, 1. JP Smith, 2. PJ Botha, 3. Conraad Van Vuuren, 4. Etienne Oosthuizen, 5. Reinhard Nothnagel, 6. JC Pretorius, 7. Emmanuel Tshituka, 8. Francke Horn.
16. Jaco Visagie, 17. Morgan Naudé, 18. Ruan Dreyer, 19. Darrien-Lane Landsbe, 20. Izan Esterhuizen, 21. Hanru Sirgel, 22. Morné van den Berg, 23. Stean Pienaar
Five Learning Points
- Parry celebrates 150th in style.
Sam Parry’s 150th appearance for the Ospreys was a winning one and the hooker managed to score a try as well. Injury and a sin binning denied him the perfect day but a great milestone for a loyal servant to the Ospreys.
2. Ospreys move back into playoff spot.
A bonus point victory along with defeats elsewhere to Connacht (Benetton) and Edinburgh (Sharks) sees the Ospreys jump up to 7th and return into a playoff spot.
3. Quick start propelled the Ospreys to victory.
Last week, the Ospreys conceded three tries in the opening 20 minutes against Munster which saw them face an uphill battle all game. This week however, the Ospreys were the side scoring in the first quarter and jumped into an early 12-0 lead with tries through front rowers Tom Botha and Sam Parry.
4. Lions unable to back up big win in Galway.
The Lions, who were down to 14 last week, were unable to get into gear today and slumped to a defeat which saw them make numerous handling errors. The Osprey’s defence was strong and pushed back the Lions attack on numerous occasions too.
5. Ospreys return to winning form before European action.
The Ospreys were on the back of two successive defeats against Edinburgh and Munster, but victory today sees them return to winning ways before they host Sale Sharks in Bridgend. Sale are currently on a six match losing streak and so the Ospreys will believe that they have what it takes to come out on top of this fixture.