Pro12: Ospreys 27-13 Edinburgh
On a rainy Friday night in Swansea, it was the Ospreys who carried on their Champions Cup push with a well-earned 27-13 win over Edinburgh.
With the slippery conditions halting any slick attacking rugby, the game was dominated by both packs, who kept it a tight and feisty affair.
After two penalties apiece from Ospreys’ Sam Davies and Edinburgh’s Greig Tonks, the opening try of the match came in the 26th minute when Sam Beard stole the ball from Dan Lydiate, and the resulting attack finished with prop Allan Dell crossing the line.
However, little would you have known, Dell’s try would be the last points accumulated for the visitors – who’ve now lost three games in a row.
In the 36th minute, Ospreys fly-half Davies dinked the ball over to wing Ben John who did terrifically well to collect the ball ahead of Tonks. John then popped the ball to promising flanker Sam Underhill who touched down for his first try in a black shirt. Davies added the extras as the two sides went in at half-time level at 13-13.
Davies had a very good game at 10, and was accurate from the kicking tee as he put the home side nine points in front with three penalties in the 45th, 61st and 71st minute.
With Edinburgh captain Neil Cochrane sin-binned for the last 10 minutes, Ospreys made the numerical advantage count when substitute prop Scott Otten escaped a poor Michael Allen tackle and bombed over the line to show exactly why Steve Tandy gave him a three-year extension to his contract earlier in the week. Davies missed the conversion, but he won’t lose any sleep about that as Ospreys move into sixth in the Pro12 table, firmly in the Champions Cup race.