REAL OSPREYS COME TO PARTY
ACCORDING to rumours, a specialist police search and rescue team were brought in to try to locate a large number of men in black jerseys who went missing on the west coast of Ireland last weekend.
Truly, the Ospreys were dismal against Connacht in Galway.
They couldn’t be half as bad against Ulster, could they?
Of course they couldn’t.
What a turnaround this was, though.
Whereas the Ospreys who took the field at The Sportsground were shoved around and out-thought tactically by a team who played the conditions superbly, the team that ran out in Swansea fronted up and fought for every inch of territory and every scrap of possession.
They made 246 successful tackles with a 95 per cent completion rate; they dominated the scrums; they took their chances and they didn’t panic.
It may not have been pretty, but it was pretty effective.
Star of the show was No. 8 Morgan Morris, who achieved a number of key turnovers and put in many tackles along with the likes of Jac Morgan, Bradley Davies, Tomas Francis and Will Griffiths.
Morris scored his team’s only try, with Stephen Myler kicking the rest of their points.
Ulster managed a penalty try which John Cooney added to with a couple of penalties.
The Ospreys deserved their win on sheer character alone.
They have scope to improve their attacking game, but the way they fronted up was impressive.
It was exactly what head coach Toby Booth would have wanted.
No-one hid, no-one went AWOL this time.
Instead, the Welsh side went toe to toe with opponents who had beaten Leinster in Dublin a week earlier.
Ulster had piled on the pressure early doors, dominating play in all areas.
After 20 minutes the Ospreys had enjoyed just 14 per cent of the possession and 21 per cent of the territory. A degree in mathematics wasn’t needed to appreciate they were up against it.
Yet they somehow managed to turn around 13-10 in front.
If they struggled for ball, they knew how to tackle as they defended as if their lives rested on it.
That said, Ulster broke through on 15 minutes, courtesy of a penalty try after Luke Morgan was adjudged to have deliberately knocked on.
For his troubles, the wing received a yellow card for the second week running.
The visitors’ ability to generate quick ball caused the Ospreys problems and so did Bradley Roberts’ strong carrying before he left the field injured.
By then, the hosts had levelled matters at 10-10 after Rhys Webb dished up a short pass and Morris powered across the line with half of Belfast trying to stop him.
A second Myler penalty nudged the Ospreys in front going into the break, with their pack starting to warm to the challenge.
Cooney put Ulster level with a penalty, and Ulster stayed on the offensive, but the Ospreys’ defence was steel-plated, with the likes of Morgan, Francis, Davies and Morris refusing to yield.
Myler completed his penalty hattrick on 60 minutes and there was another one soon after, with Morris and Morgan coming up with important turnovers.
Ulster continued to battle away, but the Ospreys had seized the initiative in the scrums and were doing a number there on the visitors, with Francis and Gareth Thomas impressive and Nicky Smith then coming on to maintain the pressure.
In the final minutes the hosts were hanging on, with Myler forced to make a last-ditch tackle as the visitors threatened to steal the game.
The Ospreys led by six points, but the game was still there to be won by Ulster and they went for it, with fullback Michael Lowry heading the hosts’ way as if fired from a rocket launcher.
But the Welsh team held on grimly. A hard-earned win, then, but one that was richly deserved.