OSPREYS 43 ULSTER 0
First half tries by Wales stars Shane Williams, James Hook and rookie scrum-half Rhodri Wells sent the Welsh region soaring above Munster before ex-Ulster star Tommy Bowe, Lee Byrne and Ryan Jones sealed the victory after the break.Â
Sean Holley’s men will face tougher tests in the months to come but made short work of an Ulster side who remain rooted to the bottom of this season’s competition.Â
Wales head coach Warren Gatland was in attendance and will have been pleased with the long-awaited return for star centre Gavin Henson who made a 20-minute cameo off the bench following ankle surgery.Â
The Ospreys were up and running on the scoreboard after eight minutes through Wells’ superb try.Â
Full-back Lee Byrne, Williams, Adam Jones were all involved before the Wales prop’s neat offload found Wells who fought off the last-ditch tackles of Robbie Diackon and Niall O’Connor to touch down in the left corner.Â
Hook made amends for a poor kicking display with the Ospreys second try in the 13th minute.Â
Scottish wing Nikki Walker began the move cutting infield before Hook orchestred a beautiful set of reverse passes with Byrne to touch down under the posts.Â
The Ospreys were in cruise control and Williams edged them nearer to the bonus-point with a routine finish in the right corner and Hook’s conversion set up a 19-0 interval lead before Bowe rounded off a perfect evening personally to equal Matthew Watkins’ Magners League all-time record of 30 tries.Â
Ospreys (19) 43
Tries: Wells, Hook, S Williams, Bowe, Byrne, R Jones. Cons: Hook 5. Pens: Hook.
Ulster (0) 0Â
Ospreys: Lee Byrne; Nikki Walker, Tommy Bowe, James Hook, Shane Williams; Daniel Biggar, Rhodri Wells; Paul James, Richard Hibbard, Adam Jones, Andy Lloyd, Ian Evans, Jonathan Thomas, Marty Holah, Tom Smith.
Replacements: Huw Bennett for Hibbard (63), Duncan Jones for A. Jones (63), Ian Gough for Lloyd (58), Ryan Jones for T. Smith (63), Rhys Webb for Wells (56), Andrew Bishop, Gavin Henson for Biggar (63).
Ulster: Bryn Cunningham; Timoci Nagusa, Rob Dewey, Andrew Trimble, Clinton Schifcofske; Niall O’Connor, Isaac Boss; Justin Fitzpatrick, Nigel Brady, BJ Botha; Carlo del Fava, Ryan Caldwell, Matt McCullough, Kieron Dawson, Robbie Diack.
Replacements: Stuart Philpott for Brady (66), Tom Court for J. Fitzpatrick (51), Ed O’Donoghue for Caldwell (67), Stephen Ferris for McCullough (59), Paul Marshall for Boss (68), Ian Humphreys for O’Connor (70), Paul Steinmetz for Cunningham (30).
Att: 7,225
Referee: Peter Allan (SRU).
