Ospreys tear Treviso apart
Ospreys scored 10 tries - four of which were supplied by winger Tommy Bowe - as the Welsh side routed Treviso 68-8.
Last Updated: 06/12/08 5:27pm
Ospreys scored 10 tries - four of which were supplied by winger Tommy Bowe - as the Welsh side routed Treviso 68-8 at the Liberty Stadium.
Marius Goosen gave the visitors a surprise early lead but that was as good as it got for the Italians, Bowe crossing three times within a 25-minute first-half period which also saw the other winger Nikki Walker score twice.
Lee Byrne, Shane Williams and Ed Shervington all scored tries after the interval before Bowe claimed his fifth try six minutes from time.
The game was already beyond Treviso at 40-8 at the break, but to their credit the visitors made more of a game of it afterwards, only for the weight of pressure to tell in the final 20 minutes.
Goosen rounded off an impressive attack to cross in the corner but three minutes later Bowe levelled matters when collecting James Hook's kick to touch down.
Treviso were simply blown away by their hosts with three tries in a seven-minute spell, flanker Jonathan Thomas getting the ball rolling before Filo Tiatia's surging run ended with Byrne feeding Walker for the score.
Relentless
With Bowe's try on 26 minutes the Welsh had secured their bonus point but they were relentless in their quest for further points, Bowe completing his hat-trick eight minutes before the interval.
Walker waltzed though the defence for his second score and Hook completed his fifth conversion from six attempts to leave Treviso in disarray.
Andrea Marcato kicked a penalty in first-half injury time but undoubtedly feared the worst when Williams came on for the injured Walker after the break.
And Ospreys continued their assault soon after the interval, Hook weaving through a gap before offloading to Tiatia, who put Byrne over.
The Italians lost replacement hooker Andre Ceccato to the sin-bin but Ospreys also lost skipper Paul James, although it hardly impacted on their dominance.
Waters should have scored for the visitors but was held up by Williams, who then scored at the other end following great approach work from Andrew Bishop.
Shervington was the next to score as the Welsh side did almost as they pleased, and Bowe rounded off the scoring with his fourth try on the day to take Ospreys top of Pool Three - at least for now.