Dragons grab only win as curtain comes down on cup

AJAMES Hook try wasn’t enough to prevent the Ospreys going down to a 32-19 defeat to Bath at the Liberty Stadium as the curtain was brought down on regional involvement in this season’s competition.

Hook’s try on 62 minutes had given the home side the lead in a scrappy encounter, but two penalty tries – both from close-range scrums – sealed a semi-final berth for the West Country side.

It had been the Ospreys pack who had been on top in the early exchanges and the reward was tries from young wing Dewi Cross, who latched onto clever cross-field kick from Luke Price, and Wales cap Sam Cross, who drove over from a strong line-out rumble.

But Bath responded strongly, with Dragons-bound fly-half Josh Lewis landing two penalties and converting a short-range try from lock Levi Douglas.

Leading 13-12 at the break, the visitors extended their advantage when centre Matt Banahan sliced through, then came Hook’s intervention.

However, Bath’s scrum then started to turn the screw, clinching the win in the final 10 minutes with two penalty tries.

Wales centre Tyler Morgan made a try-scoring return from injury as the Dragons claimed a 33-27 victory over Worcester Warriors at Rodney Parade – the only Welsh victory over English opposition this season.

The Dragons fell behind to one of the quickest tries of the season, with the Warriors taking just 27 seconds to work hooker Kurt Haupt over.

Centre Jarryd Sage levelled matters then Ashton Hewitt showed his pace to race over from halfway.

The nip and tuck nature of the game continued as a try for Dean Hammond was answered by a third home try by Zane Kirchner.

And despite another Warriors try by Tom Howe, the Men of Gwent finished the stronger thanks to a trademark dart from Pretorious and Morgan’s comeback score.

A depleted Scarlets suffered their fourth defeat from four matches, going down 45-18 to a powerful Sale line-up in Llanelli.

The home side, missing a staggering 43 players, were ahead early thanks to an opportunist score from wing Jac Price and, although the Sharks threatened to go clear through tries from wing Josh Charnley, hooker Rob Webber and flanker Ben Curry, the Scarlets trailed just 19-18 at the break thanks to a try from scrum-half Lee Rees and two penalties and a conversion from the boot of half-back partner Jack Maynard.

But Sale, despite the bizarre two yellow-card dismissal of replacement scrum-half Faf de Klerk, pulled away after the break.

Cardiff Blues suffered a 42-21 loss to London Irish at the Arms Park.

There was only one score in it as the Blues trailed 14-21 at half-time courtesy of tries from Alex Summerhill and Wales squad member Seb Davies. But the Exiles added a further three tries in the second half, with the Blues replying late on through replacement prop Corey Domachowski.

Meanwhile, George North made a try-scoring return for Northampton in the 36-10 victory over Harlequins as the Wales wing played the full match in a bid to prove his fitness for the rest of the Six Nations.

North crossed in the sixth minute in his first Saints start since suffering a knee injury in October 2017.