Ospreys Halt The Gunners!

Ospreys shattered any dreams Edinburgh may have had of taking the Magners League title to Scotland for the first time.The Ospreys showed great skill and hunger diminishing the Scots 30 -12 away at Murrayfield on Friday night.

Ospreys shattered any dreams Edinburgh may have had of taking the Magners League title to Scotland for the first time. The Ospreys showed great skill and hunger diminishing the Scots 30 -12 away at Murrayfield on Friday night.

 Despite expressed confidence from home coach Lynn Howells that his squad could carve out the success they needed to keep in touch at the top of the table. But they could find no answer to the pace, power and know-how of the Ospreys

The home side were in the hunt at the midway mark - but after that it was a one-way affair as the we secured the bonus point.


Duncan Hodge was handed an opportunity to edge the Gunners in front in the seventh minute when they earned a penalty close to the halfway line.

Ben Cairns 50-metre run took the Gunners forward and the move was carried on by Argentinian Lucio Lopez-Fleming and they were awarded a penalty.

From the penalty line-out, Mustchin broke over the line, reaching full stretch to place the ball down. Hodge made the conversion.

Then came a stirring reply from the Ospreys. First - also from a line-out close to the corner - the ball was flashed across the field for Jonny Vaughton to finish in style.

The score acted as a real spur to the visitors and it was no surprise when flanker Steve Tandy picked up a no fuss second try when he was left unmarked on the left.

Edinburgh's problems intensified six minutes after the restart when former Springboks star Stefan Terblanche stretched their lead with a penalty.

Terblanche returned to the spotlight almost instantly to effectively seal the fate of the Gunners.

Phil Godman insipid challenge allowed Sonny Parker to make a clean break before giving the scoring pass.

Jason Spice slotted the conversion to leave Edinburgh trailing by 13 points with time slipping away.

And even worse was to come when Marshall turned on the pace and power to make sure of the valuable bonus point.

Cairns clawed back a touchdown for the hosts - but the Ospreys had the last word when substitute hooker Huw Bennett ploughed over closing the game with a 12 "€" 30 victory.

The scorers:

For Edinburgh:
Tries: Mustchin, Cairns
Con: Hodge

For Ospreys:
Tries: Vaughton, Tandy, Terblanche, Marshall, Bennett
Con: Spice
Pen: Terblanche

Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Touch judges: Iain Heard (Scotland), Ronnie Dumma (Scotland)
Assessor: Douglas Kerr (Scotland)