Leinster 22

Ospreys 19

Rob Cole reports from Swansea.com Stadium

IF WALES CAN play with the same passion, commitment and courage as the Ospreys displayed against the URC league leaders next week then maybe Simon Easterby’s Irish side may face a battle for the Triple Crown.

The home side threw the kitchen sink, the toaster and the kettle at Leo Cullen’s side and were still in with a shout with 10 seconds to go when Justin Tipuric won a turn-over penalty.

They had one final shot at glory, but unfortunately for the home fans Iestyn Hopkins failed in his bid to plonk the ball on the five metre line and Ross Byrne was more than happy to kick out to end the game.

It meant that for only the third time in 11 games this season in the URC Leo Cullen’s side failed to pick up a bonus-point. In the end they were happy to be leaving with the win that extended their lead at the top of the table and their unbeaten run in the league this season.

The Ospreys threw the kitchen sink at Leinster in the opening exchanges, and in the case of Harri Deaves a little bit more, and No 8 Morgan Morris picked up two vital turn-overs in the first five minutes to frustrate Leinster’s early attacking ambitions.

A neck roll by Leinster back row man James Culhane then gave the home side a shot at opening the score in the eighth minute. Owen Williams ignored the posts, choosing to kick to the corner instead, but the Ospreys line-out was stolen and the stalemate continued.

It was Leinster skipper Luke McGrath who finally got the scoreboard moving in the 13th minute. It was the scrum half’s cross field kick to the edge of the home 22 that created the position from which the attack was launched and Jamie Osbourne’s skip out of Keiran Williams midfield tackle that kept the move going.

Jimmy O’Brien raced into the 22, found Max Deegan in support and the back row man’s one-handed offload to McGrath created the space for his skipper to score. Frawley missed with his conversion, but made it 8-0 soon after with a penalty from in front of the posts.

Jack Boyle and Rabah Slimani then ganged up on the Ospreys scrum and put the squeeze on the home scrum. On looking Irish coach Simon Easterby must have been impressed by what he saw from Boyle

But the Ospreys, unbeaten in five games since Mark Jones took over from Toby Booth as head coach in December, wouldn’t go away. They turned up with a driving line out try from Deaves before the break that Williams converted to cut it to a single point game.

Charlie Tector was quick to reply and Frawley’s conversion made it 15-8 to the visitors at the break. The Ospreys stepped up their effort at the start of the second half and hooker Ethan Lewis converted a second driving line-out score to cut the gap to three points.

RG Snyman laid a try on a plate to Slimani in the 65th minute, which Ross Byrne imporved, but back came the home side with a close range score from young prop Cam Jones.

The Walsh conversion cut the gap to three points, but that was as good as it got. It as a hell of a game, though.

Ospreys scorers: Deaves, Lewis, James 1 try each; Williams, Walsh 1 con each.

Leinster scorers: McGrath, Tector, Slimani 1 try each; Frawley, Byrne 1 con each; Frawley 1 pen

Ospreys: J Walsh (T Florence 77); D Kasende, E Boshoff, K Williams, K Giles (T Florence 66-77); O Williams (I Hopkins 45), R Morgan-Williams (K Hardy 30); G Phillips (C Jones 55), E Lewis (W Austin 74), T Botha (B Warren 55), J Ratti (W Spencer 53), J Fender, H Deaves, J Tipuric (captain), M Morris (M Morse 62)

Leinster: J Osborne; T O’Brien, H Cooney, C Tector (R Byrne 53), J O’Brien; C Frawley, L McGrath (captain, F Gunne 53); J Boyle (P McCarthy 53), G McCarthy (A Soroka 62), R Slimani (R McGuire 67), D Mangan, B Deeny (RG Snyman 47), M Deegan (A Soroka 62), S Penny, J Culhane

Reps: A Osborne

Referee: Filipo Russo (Italy)