Munster too hot in the red zone for Ospreys

OSPREYS’ hopes of an end of season play-off spot were dealt a hammer blow as the reigning champions took full advantage of the hosts’ mistakes to pick up a huge five points.

Careless errors from Ospreys handed their opponents a 19-point start from which the Welsh region were never going to recover. Head coach Toby Booth said: “It’s very frustrating to start as we did but we still came back to give ourselves an opportunity to win.

“They had 100 per cent conversion in the red zone and if that happens it is very challenging.”

Ospreys did give it a decent shot as they dominated the set piece with impressive performances from locks, James Ratti and Rhys Davies, but their opponents were always the more clinical.

Mike Haley was a livewire at full-back while wings, Shane Daly and Sean O’Brien, give Ospreys a huge lesson in taking chances.

On his 100th appearance for the region, Haley led out Munster and he was soon in the heart of the action as his side scoring three tries in the first 17 minutes.

Haley burst into the line to create the first for Daly before O’Brien took centre stage with two tries in quick succession.

From inside his ownhalf, O’Brien intercepted passes from first Owen Williams and then Keiran Williams to hold off the cover defence as Munster built up a 19-0 lead.

Despite the scoreline, Ospreys still had the better of territory and possession in the first half and were rewarded when Keiran Williams and Evardi Boshoff combined effectively to create a try for Keelan Giles.

Munster immediately

responded with a sustained period of pressure and Justin Tipuric was sinbinned for persistent team infringements but Ospreys held out.

Tipuric returned in time to see Sam Parry force his way over from a line-out drive but Munster sealed victory when the giant South African, RG Snyman used his power to force his way over for the bonus-point try before Joey Carbery added a penalty.

Alex Cuthbert had the final say by scoring Ospreys’ third try and was probably denied another when he pulled a hamstring to deprive his side of two valuable points.

Munster’s head coach, Graham Rowntree, said: “It’s a huge win for us as they are a sticky team to play against with an excellent set-piece.

“We didn’t have a lot of possession and weren’t perfect but our defence was excellent and we are in a good place at present.”