Ospreys blast past the Gunners
Ryan Jones and his Ospreys team answered a number of their critics on Sunday evening with a four-try, 31-10, thumping of the high-flying Edinburgh in their Magners League matchup at the Liberty Stadium.
The Gunners got the ball rolling with a Phil Godman penalty after just five minutes but the Ospreys were soon in control.
With nine minutes on the clock Dan Biggar put the teams back on level pegging before, just five minutes later, Tommy Bowe grabbed the first try of the afternoon.
As he did in the final test match against the Springboks for the Lions, Bowe started the game at outside centre. Playing alongside James Hook, Bowe took a nice pass from his centre partner and got the ball rolling for the under-fire Welsh region by going over.
Jones, himself constantly under pressure, scored the second try just three minutes later thanks to some good work from mike Phillips and put Scott Johnson's troops firmly in control.
Lions fullback Lee Byrne went over for try number three after 27 minutes after some good work from Nikki Walker and Dan Biggar and put the Ospreys out to a 24-3 lead - all but ending any hopes the Gunners might have had of taking something from the game.
Just before the break then Dutch wing Tim Visser gave the home fans something to cheer, breaking down the blindside and scoring in the final minute of the half.
The second half, thanks to a number of substitutions, never quite managed to live up to the first but did see the Ospreys score the vital, bonus-point, fourth try.
Lock forward Jonathan Thomas scored possibly the greatest try of his career - intercepting a pass from replacement flyhalf David Blair and running over 40m to wrap up the game for his side.
The Scorer
For the Ospreys
Tries: Bowe, Jones, Byre, Thomas
Pen: Biggar
Cons: Biggar 4
For Edingburgh
Tries: Visser
Pen: Godman
Cons: Godman
Yellow Cards: Hogg (Edinburgh - 23 min), Mike Phillips (Ospreys - 47 min)
Teams:
The Ospreys: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Shane Williams, 13 Tommy Bowe, 12 James Hook, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones (captain), 7 Marty Holah, 6 Tom Smith, 5 Jonathan Thomas, 4 Alun-wyn Jones, 3 Cai Griffiths, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Duncan Jones
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 Craig Mitchell, 18 Ian Evans, 19 Jerry Collins, 20 Jamie Nutbrown, 21 Gareth Owen, 22 Andrew Bishop
Edinburgh: 15 Steve Jones, 14 Mark Robertson, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 John Houston, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair (captain), 8 Allister Hogg, 7 Alan MacDonald, 6 Scott Newlands, 5 Scott MacLeod, 4 Craig Hamilton, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Allan Jacobsen
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Steven Turnbull, 19 Roddy Grant, 20 Greig Laidlaw, 21 David Blair, 22 Ben Cairns.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Leighton Hodges (Wales), Huw Griffiths (Wales)
TMO: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)