Last-gasp penalty seals play-off spot for Ospreys
Sam Davies’ last-minute penalty gave Ospreys a Heineken Champions Cup play-off place at the expense of Cardiff Blues.
Gareth Anscombe’s 18-point haul was not enough for the Blues to overcome their Welsh rivals, with Ospreys claiming a 26-23 win.
Anscombe, who leaves Blues for Ospreys next season, missed a straightforward kick shortly before Davies’ decisive score, to finish with a try, three penalties and two conversions. Josh Turnbull scored Cardiff’s other try.
Cory Allen and Nicky Smith scored tries for Ospreys with Davies converting both and adding four penalties.
Ospreys took a fourthminute lead when Davies kicked an easy penalty before they were hit with a superb try.
From a line-out on halfway, a strong run from Owen Lane put the defence on the back foot before the wing fed Anscombe, who remarkably evaded four defenders on a mazy 30-metre run to the line.
Anscombe converted before adding a penalty after Ospreys’ centre Allen was penalised for attempting to kill the ball.
Davies kicked his second penalty but Blues continued to have the more potent attackers with Lane and Willis Halaholo regularly testing their opponents’ defence.
Ospreys breathed a sigh of relief when Lane was forced to leave the field after
26 minutes and the Blues soon suffered a further setback when Allen powered over from a scrum close to the home line.
Ospreys were becoming the dominant force with full-back Dan Evans twice splitting Blues’ apart with powerful bursts. But it was the hosts who picked up the next score with a second penalty from Anscombe.
That score should have been nullified when Blues’ prop Rhys Gill was penalised for a high tackle on Tom Botha but Davies was off target.
The outside half soon made amends with his third success to give Ospreys a 16-13 interval lead.
After the restart a superb kick from Evans secured a platform in the home 22 from where Smith drove over.
Blues brought on Tomos Williams at scrum-half before Allen was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on, with the home region immediately capitalising when Turnbull seized on a loose ball to score.
Allen’s absence looked to have proved costly when a super run from Jarrod Evans sent Tomos Williams haring over but TMO replays showed that Blues’ skipper Nick Williams had taken a defender out off the ball.
Allen returned with just seven points conceded but Blues drew level after 67 minutes with an Anscombe penalty before Evans was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on. Surprisingly Anscombe failed with a routine kick.
The miss proved disastrous for, with a minute left on the clock, up stepped Davies to fire over a 30-metre match winner.