The Ospreys Under 18's side convincingly beat RGC in their first Regional Age Grade game of 2014/15
The Regional Age Grade competition got underway yesterdayfor the Ospreys Under 18's as they hosted RGC's age grade side at their new home St Helens. Following on from a successful preseason with wins against the Northampton Saints and Worcester Warriors Under 18's teams, hopes were high that the Eyasses would get their season off to the perfect start.
The young Ospreys didn't disappoint with comprehensive 36 - 7 victory over their rivals from North Wales. Six tries from the Eyasses meant the team also secured a bonus point in their first match of the season.
The bonus point was in fact secured before the end of the first half, with some great teamwork and physical play seeing Matthew Aubrey and Stuart Nicholas each cross the try line. Owen Watkin then crossed over twice to get the bonus point. Despite the poor weather conditions, James Davies managed to add three out of the four conversions and the half ended:
Ospreys Under 18's 26 - 0 RGC Under 18's
Kieran Williams got the Eyasses their fifth try early in the second half but injury problems and substitutions meant the young side didn't have quite the same impact in the later stages of the game. A disrupted period of play meant that RGC were able to run in their only points of the game with a converted try.
The Eyasses however regrouped and got the final say when substitute Gareth Thomas made it across the try line in the last move of the match. There was no conversion and the first game of the season ended:
Ospreys Under 18's 36 - 7 RGC Under 18's
Steffan James, new Head Coach of the Eyasses, was pleased with his team's performance but admitted there were things to look at:
"I'm really proud of the way the boys played and their overall attitude. Just before we were set to run out, we found out the game was to be delayed by half an hour due to the weather but the boys handled the disruption really well.
"The first half was great, they played really well and went through the set pieces, and that shows in getting the bonus point within the first 35 minutes. We had some long stoppages for injuries in the second half and a lot of substitutions which unfortunately did disrupt our play quite a bit.
"We lost our structure so that is something to look at in training this week before Wednesday but the boys carried on right to the end and to finish off the game with another try from the last move was very pleasing."
The Eyasses are back in action this Wednesday, hoping to continue their winning start as they travel to Llanelli to face the Scarlets' age grade side.