Seven-try Ospreys thump Dragons

Dan Biggar: 18 points for Ospreys

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Teams

• Newport Gwent Dragons
• Ospreys

Also see

• Edinburgh edge out-of-form Ulster
• Scarlets maintain semis bid

The Ospreys ran in seven tries to defeat the Dragons 52-19 at the Liberty Stadium on Friday, keeping their PRO12 play-off dreams alive.

It didn't take long for Ospreys to stamp their authority on the game, crossing for two converted tries within the first ten minutes.

Kahn Fotuali'i got the ball rolling for the hosts on four minutes, before Tom Haberfield added a second just three minutes later to stretch the advantage.

Steffan Jones got Dragons off the mark soon after with a sweetly struck penalty goal but it merely delayed the inevitable as Ospreys added a further converted try through Ashley Beck, with Dan Biggar on target with his third successful conversion.

Biggar then added a penalty goal to make it 24-3, and though Jones added a second penalty for Dragons, the hosts were in a comfortable position by half-time.

Any hope the Dragons harboured of mounting a comeback after the break were quickly dispelled just minutes into the second half when Tom Isaacs crossed for Ospreys' fourth try of the evening, again converted by the irrepressible Biggar.

The concession at the start of the second half, though perhaps fatal to the visitors' hopes, sprung Dragons into life, and they got their rewards five minutes later when Daniel Evans crashed over for an unconverted try.

A penalty from Jones minutes later made it 31-14, before Ospreys reaffirmed their supremacy with a converted try just after the hour through Biggar.

To their credit, the visitors wouldn't lie down and Toby Falatau's unconverted try reduced the deficit, though fittingly Ospreys had the last laugh through converted tries from Dmitri Arhip and Justin Tipuric.

The scorers:

For Ospreys:
Tries: Fotuali'i, Habberfield, Beck, Isaacs, Biggar, Arhip, Tipuric
Cons: Biggar 5, Morgan 2
Pen: Biggar

For Dragons:
Tries: DJ Evans, Faletau
Pens: S Jones 3

Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Tom Habberfield, 13 Jonathan Spratt, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Tom Isaacs, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 James King, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 Lloyd Peers, 20 George Stowers, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Ben John.

Dragons: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Pat Leach, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Ross Wardle, 10 Steffan Jones, 9 Wayne Evans; 8 Lewis Evans (c), 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Adam Jones, 4 Andrew Coombs, 3 Nathan Buck, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Owen Evans.
Replacements: 16 Hugh Gustafson, 17 Phil Price, 18 Dan Way, 19 Ian Nimmo, 20 Toby Faletau, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Will Harries, 23 Hallam Amos.

Referee: John Lacey (IRFU)