Ospreys book an EDF Energy Cup final appointment with Leicester at Twickenham on April 15th after a strong win against Cardiff Blues.
Ospreys book an EDF Energy Cup final appointment with Leicester at Twickenham on April 15th after a strong win against Cardiff Blues.
With the final at stake the Ospreys proved hungry to win, playing top quality rugby, creating opportunity with excellent team work, giving the thousands of an exciting game of rugby to watch.
Centre Sonny Parker and full-back Lee Byrne scored well-executed tries for the Ospreys either side of half-time with James Hook kicking four penalties, a drop-goal and a conversion.
Cardiff managed a try, scored and converted by full-back Ben Blair, who also slotted an early penalty, but it wasn"â¬â¢t enough to catch up with the Ospreys, flying high.
Despite the Blues kicking off the score board with an early penalty, Sonny Parker showed great skill as he sliced through a hesitant defence for a fine try that Hook confidently converted
It was undoubtedly going to be a tough encounter, but the Ospreys showed great discipline and composure with superior technical efficiency; a different story for the Blues with three of their forwards sin-binned during the first-half.
The Ospreys were in complete control finishing the first half 10-3 ahead.
Consistently breaking midfield tackles, Man-of "â¬"the-Match Justin Marshall ran aggressively into Cardiff territory, and quickly recycled possession saw him free Lee Byrne, who dived over wide out to claim a great try.
Hook effortlessly landed a touchline penalty to underline Ospreys' degree of dominance, yet Cardiff continued to infringe, and Blair gave the Cardiff supporters the only thing to shout about when he scored with 10 minutes remaining, yet it was only a blip from the Ospreys' perspective, as Hook resumed normal service with a short-range drop-goal increasing thhe Ospreys well deserved win to 10 "â¬" 27 and end of play.
The Ospreys now look forward to Twickenham where they will take on the Leicester Tigers in what will certainly be a game to remember.Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Tom James, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 Tom Shanklin, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Xavier Rush (c), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Scott Morgan, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Gary Powell, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Taufa'ao Filise.
Replacements: 16 Scott Roberts, 17 Gareth Williams, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Mark Lewis, 20 Wayne Evans, 21 Nick Macleod, 22 Marc Stcherbina.
Ospreys: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Shane Williams, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 James Hook, 9 Justin Marshall, 8 Filogia Tiatia, 7 Jonathan Thomas, 6 Ryan Jones, 5 Alun Wyn-Jones, 4 Brent Cockbain, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Duncan Jones (c).
Replacements: 16 Barry Williams, 17 Paul James, 18 Andrew Lloyd, 19 Richard Pugh, 20 Shaun Connor, 21 Jason Spice, 22 Stefan Terblanche.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges: Chris White (England), Paul Dix (England)
Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)