Despite a slow start from Ospreys, the boys were able to come up trumps with a try bonus point win over a strong Zebre side.
The Italians started well. Their second trip to the Ospreys 22 was rewarded with a try for Gesi. 7-0 to the visitors.
Zebre didn’t let off there. A penalty at the scrum gave them a lineout on the Ospreys 5 and their maul powered over for the score. 12-0 Zebre.
TRY OF THE SEASON CONTENDER! Max Nagy kept the ball in superbly, whipped it out wide to Tipuric who broke, returned it to Nagy and a flow of breakaway passes ended with Reuben Morgan-Williams diving under the posts. Walsh converted, 12-7 Zebre.
TRY FOR OSPREYS! Another quality try: this time it was a solo effort from Mat Protheroe as he weaved through the Zebre defence before going over for the score. Walsh converted, 14-12 Ospreys.
Zebre answered right back with a score of their own. Another for Simone Gesi as he dinked it over the Ospreys defence and recovered his own kick for the score. Zebre missed the conversion, 19-14 Zebre.
Ospreys scored again through a Jack Walsh penalty to close the gap, 19-17 Zebre.
A mixed first half for the boys, but some flashes of brilliance meant that Ospreys went into half time within 2.
HALF TIME - OSPREYS 17, ZEBRE 19.
TRY FOR OSPREYS! The boys picked up where they left off at the start of second half. Reuben picked up superbly from an Ospreys scrum, Nagy broke a line in the following phase and put on his best Chris Ashton impression to acrobatically dive for the finish. Walsh converted. Ospreys 24, Zebre 19.
TRY FOR OSPREYS! Great work by the pack as some consistent carrying ground down the Zebre defence on their tryline and eventually resulted in Nicky Smith bouldering over for the score on his return from international duty. Try converted, 31-19 Ospreys.
The Ospreys hits seemed to get harder and harder as the game went on. A pick of the tackles came from Dom Morris who managed to wrestle a defender into touch, receiving a roar from the Ospreys supporters for his troubles.
Just as it seemed the Ospreys were gaining control of the game, a quick-thinking penalty from Zebre saw a cross field kick retained for a try for the away side. Zebre converted, 31-26 Ospreys.
With two minutes to go, Owen Williams slotted over a penalty to give the Ospreys a breathable lead. 34-26 Ospreys.
As the clock went red, Zebre went over for the try to get the losing bonus point. Conversion missed, 34-31.
FULL TIME – OSPREYS 34, ZEBRE 31
