The Ospreys have had their second impressive win in this years EDF Energy Cup. 51-16 victory over London Irish at the Liberty Stadium, running seven tries past the visitors from across the border.
The Ospreys have had their second impressive win in this years EDF Energy Cup. 51-16 victory over London Irish at the Liberty Stadium, running seven tries past the visitors from across the border.
The effort, which included a hat-trick of tries from Shane Williams, helped the region to the brink of qualification for the semi-finals.
The Ospreys now only need a bonus point in their final Group C match at Harlequins on December 2 to book their place in the last four for the second year running.
Six of the home side's tries went unanswered as they came back from 16-13 down after 29 minutes.
In the first eight minutes James Hook and Eoghan Hickey swapped penalties in an error-strew opening.
And the errors continued to come when Ospreys centre Andrew Bishop had his long pass picked off by Tomas de Vedia, who ran in from halfway for a converted try.
But the home side were back on terms at 10-10 when a long Lee Byrne pass put Gavin Henson into space and he put Jonathan Thomas free down the right for the try.
Two more swapped penalties from Hook and Hickey, who also missed two long-range efforts, made it 13-13 on 26 minutes.
The Ospreys continued to give penalties away in their own half and an indiscretion at a line-out led to Hickey planting a third penalty as the Exiles led for a third time at 16-13.
But a neat offload in the tackle from Man of the Match Filo Tiatia sent Shane Williams away for the Ospreys second converted try to give the home side a 20-16 lead after 32 minutes.
In the second half it was one-way traffic as the Ospreys scored five tries to nil.
Mike Phillips started the sequence of scoring before a great run from Williams, passed down the line to Byrne, handed off to Ben Lewis to go over in the corner to claim the bonus point, a scored converted by Hook, who provided 14 points with the boot.
Team work was key in this match and with great vision, Shane Williams cross-kicked the ball to the far right corner where Lock Alun-Wyn Jones went over. He was then followed over twice by Williams to complete a rousing win for the Welshmen. Final Score 51 -16
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: Williams 3, Wyn Jones, Thomas, Lewis, Phillips
Cons: Hook 4, Connor
Pens: Hook 2
For London Irish:
Try: De Vedia
Con: Hickey
Pens: Hickey 3
Ospreys: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Filo Tiatia (c), 7 Ben Lewis, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 5 Ian Evans 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Duncan Jones
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Paul James, 18 Ian Gough, 19 Marty Holah, 20 Justin Marshall, 21 Shaun Connor, 22 Mark Taylor
London Irish: 15 Tim Curran, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Bryan Rennie, 12 Nils Mordt, 11 Tomas De Vedia, 10 Eoghan Hickey, 9 Warren Fury, 8 Phil Murphy, 7 Richard Thorpe, 6 Aidan McCullen, 5 Gary Johnson, 4 James Hudson, 3 Tonga Lea'aetoa, 2 Danie Coetzee (c), 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: 16 Tom Warren, 17 Stuart Mackie, 18.Richard Skuse, 19 Steffon Armitage, 20 Jon Fisher, 21 Paul Hodgson, 22 Mark Ireland.
Referee: Rob Debney (England)
Touch judges: Paul Dix (England), Bob Mullis (England)
Assessor: Jim Bailey (Wales)
Television match official: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)