Young Ospreys fail to make Premiership 7's Finals

An impressive start to the competition couldn't be maintained as the inexperienced side bowed to pressure

It was a dream start to the Ospreys Premiership 7's debut as a great set up from Chris Williams and Joel Matavesi sent Steffan Andrews flying up the wing. He touched the ball down before one minute was on the clock and scored the first try for the regions in the competition.

A quick conversion by captain Ross Jones and the Ospreys were on the attack again. Just 60 seconds later it was Jones himself who made it across the line for the Ospreys second try. Jones then adding another 2 points converting his own try.

Just as it started to look like the Ospreys were in control of the game the Blues came back strongly. They quickly got on the score board, before adding another try to bring the scores level at half time.

Things were no better for the young Ospreys in the second half, repeatedly penalised for holding on they soon conceded another two tries. A last minute sprint from Steffan Andrews before Rob Dudley Jones completed the move just before full time, and a conversion from Ross Jones, giving them their only points in the second half. Final score:

Cardiff Blues 33 - 21 Ospreys

When the side stepped onto the field later to face the Dragons, it was another strong start. But they couldn't get the ball down, and inexperience allowed the Dragons to steal the ball, and make it count. Morgan Allen, the most experienced Osprey on the field, did get a try back shortly after, but with no conversion it couldn't bring the two teams level.

The second half was all about the team from Newport. With only one good attack and nothing in defence the Ospreys boys conceded try after try. Full time:

Dragons 31- 5 Ospreys

Facing an experienced Scarlets squad, the side knew they were going to be in for a tough time. And it was just that, three tries came from the team in red within the first three minutes. There was something for the Ospreys fans to cheer about though when youngster Joe Gage, who's just signed a development contract with the region, crossed the line.

With a half time deficit of 40 points, no one could have blamed the Ospreys for coming out for the second half with their heads down. However it was their strongest point of the evening with tries coming from Evan Yardley, Joel Matavesi and Ross Jones.

The last ditch effort was too little to late though as with more tries from the Scarlets, the game finished:

Scarlets 61 - 28 Ospreys

Dan Griffiths, Coach for the evening, commented on a disappointing night for his young side:

"The boys are disappointed but they do have to understand that an experience like tonight is part of their development. There are a number of things in their games that they know now they need to go away and work on.

We spoke about a number of elements before the tournament started. We knew that, coming up against players much more experienced, that we'd have to be effective in the tackle contest, look after the ball and make our defensive tackles and quite simply we didn't do it.

There's no hiding place on the 7's pitch when you're not on top of your game so we're extremely disappointed but it's not all about where these young lads are today, it's about the future of where these boys want to get to as Ospreys. So hopefully they will learn their lessons and come back better players."