GUNNERS PAY THE PENALTY
RUGBY LATEST EDINBURGH PRO12 MISERY Hodge fury at whistler blunder as side suffer more heartache
GUTTED Duncan Hodge believes ref George Clancy was to blame for Edinburgh’s latest Pro12 calamity.
The caretaker coach is convinced the Irish official should have handed his side a penalty try for a blatant maul collapse two metres from the line.
And he reckons his Gunners, who went down for the fifth straight game, were always up against it after Josh Matavesi’s first-half try.
Hodge declared: “It was an incredibly tough decision for us.
“Our line out guys were driving over at a rate of knots, but we didn’t get that break. At the end of the day Ospreys had one chance and took it.
“Their score gave them the impetus at a crucial time, and a seven-point cushion is a big deal in difficult conditions like these.”
There was also more misery for Al Dickinson as he saw his bigstage comeback hopes shattered by injury at muddy Myreside.
The veteran prop had aimed to prove to Scotland bosses that he is ready to be part of their Six Nations glory plans after a two-month lay off.
But instead, Dicko was in distress as he was stretchered off with a suspected recurrence of a foot injury.
Ospreys were content to let the home troops have plenty of the ball but without threatening to make an early breakthrough.
A chip by Edinburgh’s Glenn Bryce troubled the back markers, setting up an attacking scrum before Gunners forced a penalty when the front-rows caved in and Duncan Weir found the target from 30 metres.
But the good work was undone just a minute later as a high challenge allowed Sam Davies to equalise.
His strike sparked the Swansea side into attacking mode and utility back Matavesi surged though the middle for an easy try – handing Davies an equally simple conversion.
There was a further setback for the capital men just before the interval when lock Ben Toolis was taken off for a concussion check in the wake of two crunching challenges.
Edinburgh looked more urgent following the restart but still they were tarnishing their efforts with sloppy errors.
Whistler Clancy incurred the fury of the crowd when he refused to award the Gunners a penalty try for the blatant collapse of a rolling maul close to the line.
But while Hodge’s brigade continued to dominate territory and possession their lapses were too frequent at key points.
Weir got the scoreboard moving with a tricky penalty 16 minutes from time – only to see Davies restore the seven-point Ospreys advantage.
Weir again slashed the gap but it wasn’t enough for Gunners. WARRIORS star Lee Jones hopes to end a memorable week with the triple celebration a home victory would bring him at Scotstoun tonight.
The Scotland Sevens winger will mark the milestone of his 50th appearance for Glasgow when he lines up to face the Dragons.
And the crucial Pro12 encounter comes just 24 hours after Jones clinched a new two-year deal with the Scots side.
He said: “I’m delighted they wanted to keep me but I’ll be even more delighted if we break our run of league defeats.
“Our play-off prospects haven’t really been discussed in the camp – it will take care of itself if we perform over the next few weeks.
“We badly want to pick up a victory before the mini-break in the schedule, so that when all the Scotland guys come back we can build on it and mount a huge push.
“To be in the quarterfinals of the European Champions Cup is massive.
“You want to be playing at the highest level, so for me it has been really pleasing to get a good run of games in that campaign.”
Warriors coach Gregor Townsend is delighted Jones has committed his future to the club.
Toony said: “Lee has played consistently well and is in the best physical shape of his career.
“He had some cracking performances in Europe this season and is one of our hardest working players on and off the field.
“He’s an important member of our squad.
“In terms of qualification for the Pro12 play-offs, we realise that if we slip up again it will be very difficult to get through.
“I’m not a mathematician but I know we have to win most, if not all of our games now, so this weekend is huge.
“We’re determined to get back to winning ways against the Dragons and there is no better place to do that than in front of our home crowd.”
● Glasgow hooker James Malcolm will miss for the rest of the season after ankle surgery.