Last week’s shock defeat at Zebre had brought the Ospreys’ RaboDirect PRO12 play-off aspirations to a premature end but they bounced back in fine fashion as they ran in six tries against their Irish rivals.
Ashley Beck touched down at the back end of the first half and the beginning of the second, with Jeff Hassler, Alun Wyn Jones and Dan Baker also crossing and young prop Nicky Smith celebrating his first try for the region on just his second start.
Connacht left for home with three tries of their own through Darragh Leader, Denis Buckley and Conor Gilsenan but they never looked like causing an upset as they slipped to a fifth straight defeat to finish 10th in the table.
Connacht were first off the mark thanks to a Miah Nikora penalty after the Ospreys took the first scrum to ground but it was the hosts who grabbed the game’s first try through Hassler.
The Canadian wing had shown his inexperience by blowing a two-on-one after deciding to switch with Justin Tipuric rather than stay wide early on but he went from zero to hero just moments later. Superb work from Sam Lewis at the breakdown secured turnover ball and Hassler took advantage when the ball came loose on halfway. Fresh from being named in the PRO12 Dream Team in his debut season in the league, Hassler picked a perfect line and pinned back his ears, before bouncing off Eoin Griffin for a stunning score. Biggar converted from wide left and the Ospreys were 7-3 up with 11 minutes on the clock.
The lead only lasted five minutes, though, as Nikora’s crosskick was caught by Danie Poolman, who popped inside to Leader, who in turn slipped out of Hassler’s cover tackle to cross in the right-hand corner.
Hassler was heavily involved yet again for the game’s third try and the Ospreys’ second with 26 minutes played as he eased through the attempted tackled of both Ronan Loughney and Andrew Browne to put his team on the front foot inside the Connacht 22. Clever hands from Sam Davies around the back of Matt Healy sent Beck over just in from the right touchline and Biggar again converted from the toughest of angles.
The Ospreys turned the screw in the closing stages of the half as Biggar added a penalty from a scrum offence and Jones powered over from close-range four minutes before the break. Replays seemed to suggest that the Wales and Lions lock had dropped the ball while attempting to touch down but referee Andrew McMenemy thought otherwise and Biggar’s simple conversion stretched the lead to 16 points at 24-8.
Any thoughts that Connacht’s resistance had been broken were initially dismissed when a driving lineout saw Denis Buckley power over by the left post with just 10 seconds of the half remaining. Nikora’s extras closed the gap to 24-15 at the interval but the Ospreys reasserted their dominance four minutes after the restart as Beck dummied his way over for their fourth score. The Wales centre, who will undergo surgery on a troublesome hip injury next week, darted inside Dave McSharry and rounded Kieran Marmion for an impressive individual try.
Ian Evans received a standing ovation when he departed after 48 minutes of his final appearance before heading to Toulon and there was a similar rise in noise levels when Smith scored number five by diving over the top of a close-range ruck on the hour. Biggar’s fifth conversion pushed the gap out to 38-15 and the game was as good as over ahead of the final quarter.
Connacht refused to lay down and die, though, and slick hands from Loughney and Eoin McKeon saw Gilsenan dot down out wide just a minute later.
But it was the Ospreys who had the final word when Baker barged over from the back of a close-range scum with 13 minutes left, with Biggar’s sixth conversion from six making it 45-20 and taking his personal tally to 15 points thanks to a 100 per cent success rate from the tee.
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