Great try for Ospreys: Eli Walker
The Ospreys threw Heineken Cup Pool 2 wide open on Saturday with a well-deserved 17-6 win over Toulouse at Liberty Stadium.
The result, combined with Leicester's win in Treviso, means that Toulouse and Tigers are separated by a single point at the top of the pool with the Ospreys still in with a shout of qualifying for the quarter-finals.
An uncharacteristically high error-count from Toulouse allowed Ospreys to lead from start to finish with a wonderful try from Eli Walker proving to be the decisive moment just after the hour mark.
Ospreys were good value for their 9-6 lead at half time having enjoyed the lion's share of both territory and possession.
In fact, the three-point gap was not a fair reflection of the hosts' efforts in the opening stanza but some outstanding defence from Toulouse, spearheaded by Louis Picamoles, and a neat drop goal from Jean-Marc Doussain just before the break meant that the former champions were still very much in the game when the teams swapped ends.
Ospreys drew first blood when Dan Biggar slotted an early penalty. A drop goal from the home fly-half doubled the lead at the end of the first quarter.
Ospreys were struggling against arguably the best scrum in Europe but Biggar has making life difficult for Maxime Medard, peppering the rusty-looking France full-back with high balls.
Despite Patricio Albacete seeing yellow for stupidly shoeing Ian Gough on the deck, Toulouse were able to pull three points back when Doussain found the target from the kicking tee.
Another period of sustained pressure from the Ospreys yielded only three points from a penalty, meaning that Doussain's drop had Toulouse within striking distance at the interval.
But the addition of Adam Jones changed the situation at scrum time and Biggar's third penalty opened the gap back to six points on the hour mark.
Then came the try from Walker, who shrugged off a poor attempted tackle from Yoann Huget, to give the Ospreys some breathing room.
The closing stages were filled with drama as Gael Fickou produced a sublime piece of scrambling defence to deny Ashley Beck in-goal.
The TMO decided that Justin Tipuric had prevented Christopher Tolofua from grounding in ball and Toulouse butchered a clear chance with seconds remaining, sending them back to France without a losing bonus point.
The Scorers
For Ospreys:
Try: Walker
Pens: Biggar 3
Drop: Biggar
Yellow card: A. Jones
For Toulouse:
Pens: Doussain
Drop: Doussain
Yellow cards: Albacete, Bouilhou
Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Ross Jones, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i (c), 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones, 5 James King, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Campbell Johnstone, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Lloyd Peers, 20 George Stowers, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Tom Isaacs.
Toulouse: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Yann David, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Jean-Marc Doussain, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Cencus Johnston, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Vasil Kakovin.
Replacements: 16 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 17 Yohan Montes, 18 Roman Millo-Chluski, 19 Yannick Nyanga, 20 Gregory Lamboley, 21 Sébastian Bézy, 22 Yannick Jauzion, 23 Christopher Tolofua.
Venue: Liberty Stadium
Kick-off: 13:35
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Comments
makemehappy says...
@TVaddict - sorry I forgot to say - I think the whole NZ team was clearly ill that day. Let's be fair!
Posted 07:53 11th January 2013
makemehappy says...
@TVaddict - you are having a laugh - not in his league in the scrum. Watch and learn and ask any prop around who they'd rather scrummage against. We see Adam destroy opponents time after time. We sometime see Cole struggling, so come on, watch some rugby!
Posted 07:52 11th January 2013
Uchach says...
Apart from a really inspired & incisive Walker, a rather lacklustre Ospreys team, but serious and determined at least.
A poor Toulouse team, lacking spirit as well as imagination.
Some kind of dismiss from some Toulouse players. Overconfidence ? Or relying too much on Dusautoir return, perhaps...
Many poor decisions from Burgess & Doussain, often failing at giving good directions to their team's game. Maybe they lack the charisma needed for their roles.
Posted 10:56 17th December 2012
TVaddict says...
@makemehappy
Nah, Coles is still ahead of Adam. Equally good in the scrum but offers a lot more around the park. If your going to use this one result to justify Adams selection then we can just use the New Zealand game. New Zealand > Toulouse.
Posted 14:37 16th December 2012
Toulousain says...
such sloppy play and poor attitude all round. it reminds me of the early part of the season, especially that game against perpignan in barcelona. not getting the losing bonus point yesterday was beyond silly when it was well within our grasp. now we need 5 points at home to treviso (which is gettable with mcallister back) and a point at welford road without letting the tigers score 4 tries (also possible).
but to see tigers win in treviso with the last play of the game, and to remember how we didn't score a fourth try when we were there in november and had 25 minutes to do it, just makes the head spin.
oh well, c'est la vie comme on dit.
ALLEZ!!
Posted 13:26 16th December 2012
makemehappy says...
Well done to the Ospreys, but god do they lack fire power behind the scrum in most positions. That was a 25 point win, easily, yet they just didn't have the pace. At least after seeing that, even the most biased English plonker would have to admit that Adam needs to start against the Aussies - ouch!!
Posted 22:44 15th December 2012
melkdave says...
A fantastic 2nd half performance from Ospreys,to deny Toulouse even a losing bonus poit,Just goes to show having deep pockets ,and a big squad of class players doesnt guarentee you victory.Walker deserved MOTM,and D.Bigger also played well,and gave Ospreys direction and leadership,tos up atm between him and Hook for the FH berth for Wales ,but imo Bigger is just eding it .
Posted 15:40 15th December 2012