The Ospreys got off to a flying start with young hooker Ifan Phillips scoring the opener off the back of a strong maul. A fierce kicking battle consumed much of the rest of the first half, punctuated by a pair of thrilling scores by the Ospreys courtesy of centre Keiran Williams and scrumhalf Matthew Aubrey just before half-time.
Hooker Phillips got his second for the Ospreys after the interval, but the visitors enjoyed a purple patch and young centre Max Llywellyn showed a clean pair of heels to score his side’s first, and set up debutant scrumhalf Ellis Bevan for his team’s second try.
However, the Ospreys put their foot on the gas late in the half and tries from flanker Sam Cross and hooker Sam Parry secured a comfortable six-try win for the hosts.
Early in the game, Cardiff Blues couldn’t resist the temptation of the ball in the ruck and were pinged for illegally using their hands. The decision to go to the corner paid dividends and young Ospreys hooker Phillips found his way to the line from the back of a trundling maul. Thomas was unable to convert the score but the Ospreys enjoyed a five point lead after eight minutes of play.
It would take the better part of half an hour for the Ospreys’ second try to materialise. Ospreys scrumhalf Aubrey’s box kick was charged down, but it fell into the hands of Ospreys winger Mat Protheroe. The fair-haired speedster bolted, and got the offload away to Ospreys centre Williams, who galloped in for the try down the left hand touch line. Thomas’ left boot was accurate this time and the try was converted, taking the Ospreys up to 12-0 ahead of half time.
Ospreys’ dominance at the scrum continued into the second half and Cardiff Blues prop Keiron Assiratti was the one to suffer the referee’s wrath, being shown a yellow card and the visitors would endure ten minutes a man down.
The hosts wasted no time in dealing a blow, as hooker Phillips claimed his second of the day in a carbon copy of his first try, charging over following a monstrous maul. Ospreys’ lead extended to 24-0.
It wasn’t entirely one sided, as Cardiff Blues scored a wonderful individual try through centre Llywellyn, who showed a great turn of pace to race under the posts after exploiting a gap in the midfield.
However, it didn’t take long for the hosts to counterstrike, and some good work from scrumhalf Aubrey at the base of the scrum sent replacement flanker Cross over for Ospreys’ fifth try of the match.
Quick thinking from Cardiff Blues’ Fish gave his centre, Llywellyn, another run at the defence and the big man bust clean through before throwing the inside ball back to scrumhalf Bevan, who gratefully took the score on his debut for his side.
It was but a consolation score for the visitors, however, and the Ospreys stamped their authority on the game on the 80th minute. Jason Harries was already in the sin bin for a professional foul while defending his line, but there was little the Blues could do to prevent replacement hooker Parry from powering over in the corner for a sixth and final try.
Toby Booth:
“It wasn’t perfect, we know the break down threat was going to be tough. We didn’t get everything right there, so there’s improvement in us. But when we did, I thought we looked a potent side, especially in the back three. We put our best foot forward and tried to be positive and we got some reward from that.”
Mat Protheroe:
“It was good. I probably need a new set of lungs after that, it was a pretty quick game. But all credit to the boys they put into practice what we’ve been working on all week and we got the result in the end, so happy days.”
Justin Tipuric:
“We had a bit of time on the training pitch and we had some things to work on. We got a few things right out there today but we know we’ve still got a lot to work on. We’d like to be more clinical. When there’s no crowd you’ve got to create that buzz yourselves; be in each other’s ears to help each other.”