Following Ospreys’ emphatic 43-0 win over Benetton in the URC, here are our five key takeaways from the Swansea.com Stadium.
The top line
With a host of their key internationals away, both sides came into the game as relatively unknown entities; meaning a fast start would be crucial.
Benetton nearly opened their account after three minutes, but Thomas Gallo’s effort was stricken off. This later came back to haunt them just six minutes later, as Jack Walsh crossed for the hosts after a strong break from Evardi Boshoff.
Italian ill-discipline was becoming a major theme in the early stages too, and that gave fly-half Owen Williams an easy three-pointer to add to his collection.
All the momentum was with the hosts, and a quick-fire double helped them cement their dominance. The first came through Daniel Kasende, who strolled over after a delicious offload from Justin Tipuric. His effort was swiftly followed by Kieran Williams.
The conditions took a turn for the worst after this, with no more scoring until Walsh nabbed his second in the 62nd minute. A dazzling break from replacement hooker Ethan Lewis got the hosts behind the Benetton line, and deft hands from Boshoff found the Australian back charging onto the ball and over the line.
Rounding off a perfect night, Morgan Morse and Kieran Hardy added their names to the scoresheet.
The heavens open
As you might see from the top line, Ospreys began in red-hot form, but slowed down their scoring after 28 minutes, and this can be solely put on the conditions.
The game kicked off in pretty dry conditions, but the heavens opened just after the Ospreys added their third score of the game and that turned the match into a real mudbath. Handling errors were aplenty, puddles began to form on the pitch and front-rows became increasingly friendly (well, acquainted…)
It does happen a lot in the UK, but the weather ruined a genuinely entertaining spectacle.
Ospreys hit their stride under Mark Jones
It’s been a bumpy ride for Ospreys this season, but tonight showed things are properly beginning to turn around under new boss Mark Jones.
There was just something different about the Welsh outfit tonight. They had a venom, a desire and maybe even a pazazz about them that they’ve really lacked to date. Dan Edwards has made the fly-half shirt his own this season, and fully warrants a Test call-up off the back of it, but Owen Williams showed just how good a football player he is as he steered his side around well in attack. Jack Walsh also gave a good account of himself on the whole, even with a few wobbly passes, and his clever support lines allowed him to nab two tries.
The ever-classy Justin Tipuric, who will join the coaching ticket next season, wound back the years with a sensational all-court performance (he even added in a trademark kick for good measure!). Boshoff was simply fantastic throughout the evening too, and found himself right at the heart of everything his side did well. His midfield partner Kieran Williams was also very solid too.
If you look back a few weeks, it looked like the Ospreys’ season was all-but over. Toby Booth’s departure left them in chaos, and they were languishing towards the bottom of the table, but now, this win shows just how quickly things have changed for them and how they are beginning to find their stride under Mark Jones. They simply wouldn’t have won this way, or maybe even won at all, if this game happened in October or November.
Benetton robbed of their Italian roar
This time last week, Benetton had just secured a historic win over La Rochelle, but they looked a shell of that side tonight in virtually every department.
Everything that went wrong, went wrong. They made repeated handling errors around the park, which gave Ospreys precious territory in the build-up to their tries, and the likes of Andy Uren and Tomas Albornoz repeatedly sent the ball straight into touch from the boot too.
Even around this too, just sloppy lapses of concentration – ie when Giulio Marini gave away a ridiculous free-kick at the lineout after stepping into the scrum-half channel – cost them dearly when they were just looking to get some form of foothold into the game.
A major part of Benetton’s success in recent weeks has come from the likes of Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommasso Menoncello and Michele Lamaro, and again whilst errors cost them dearly when they did string the phases together they just lacked any bite. Their attack was simple, methodical and somewhat boring, to the point where even El Mago Nuevo Tomas Albornoz couldn’t sprinkle his usual stardust onto proceedings.
Benetton are a good side when on song, as proven by their Champions Cup form, but tonight showed more than ever just how reliant they are on their Italian internationals.
Welsh teams on the up
The Welsh regions have been slammed by the URC higher-ups in recent times, with CEO Martin Anayi calling competitive Welsh sides the ‘missing ingredient’ for the league. Well, it appears they have found that ingredient.
Cardiff have stunned many with their fine start to the season, as have the Scarlets who find themselves sixth, and now the Ospreys are within touching distance following that bonus-point win. To put this even more into context, there are now more Welsh teams in the top nine spots than all the other countries put together.
This feels like a welcome piece of good news for the game in Wales, and almost a direct response to the comments made by Anayi back in December. Missing ingredient? What missing ingredient.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/ospreys-v-benetton-five-takeaways-as-ever-classy-justin-tipuric-brings-pazazz-to-welsh-region-who-hit-stride-under-new-boss
