Ospreys got off to the better start of the two teams, enjoying the majority of possession in the opening 10 minutes and threating the Perpignan line with a rolling maul. Despite this, the scores remained level.
The next ten belonged to USAP as the French team enjoyed a prolonged spell on the Ospreys try line. Ospreys defence stood tall with some huge tackles, with a highlight hit from Sam Parry being the pick of the bunch.
Despite USAP’s dominant period, the Ospreys were the first team to put the first points on the board through the boot of Dan Edwards. 3-0 to the home team.
TRY FOR OSPREYS! Perpignan tried to work the ball out wide near the edge of the Ospreys’ 22, but the ball went loose and was gathered by Iestyn Hopkins who showed his gratitude by running the length of the pitch to get the first try of the game. 8-0 Ospreys.
HALFTIME: Ospreys 8-0 Perpignan.
Ospreys came out flying in the second half with the boot of Dan Edwards extending the lead to 11-0.
Perpignan answered right back with a penalty to score their first points of the game, 11-3 Ospreys.
USAP’s discipline cost them in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The French team went down to 13 as a result of multiple penalties being committed.
Ospreys didn’t wait long to take of advantage of the two extra men. The rolling maul was brought down by USAP near the line, allowing Dan Edwards to thread a clinical pass to Iestyn Hopkins who went through a gap in the defence for his second of the game. Edwards converted, 18-3 Ospreys.
As Perpignan returned to full strength the game seemed to even out with the French side enjoying a strong share of possession.
TRY FOR OSPREYS! Ospreys were patient on the ball before unleashing the pace of Keelan Giles (AKA Wheelan Giles) who put on the burners to get down the wing before running around the full back to finish under the posts. Dan Edwards converted, 25-3 Ospreys
With 10 minutes to go, the boys went close to scoring the bonus point try but some quality maul defence from the away side meant that the try count remained at three.
Ospreys tested the Perpignan defence in the final ten minutes in search for the fourth, but the away team defended well.
Injuries across the front row starters and replacement saw scrums move to uncontested and the Ospreys forfit a player for the final minute.
The average age of the Ospreys team who closed out the match was 24.5 years, showing the young talent that's getting the job done.
With European qualification secured, the boys go to South Africa in search of a home knockout.
FULL TIME Ospreys 25 - 3 Ospreys
