Guinness PRO12: Ospreys take top spot after Ulster win

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Highlights of the Pro12 Round 10 clash between Ospreys and Ulster

Ospreys went to the top of the Guinness PRO12 table after a 31-20 bonus-point win over Ulster at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

Tries from Dan Biggar and Hanno Dirksen went with two scores from man-of-the-match Rhys Webb to give Ospreys a vital bonus point at the conclusion of round 10 of the competition.

Ulster scored two tries of their own through replacement hooker Rob Herring and Irish winger Tommy Bowe, but it was not enough to come away with the win as Ulster’s poor run continued in Wales.

Ulster showed great handling in the opening exchanges of the game, but they were bettered by a slick Ospreys outfit who strung together a long passage of play before Dan Biggar was drifted the ball and the Welsh fly-half scored under the poles.

Webb then scored the first of his two tries after being put into space by second rower Rynier Bernardo, who ran a good angle to make room for the scrum-half.

A strange moment concluded the second half shortly thereafter where Ulster thought they had scored a try and it was awarded by referee Neil Paterson, but Paterson was advised by the TMO that he felt there was a knock-on by Ulster in the lead up to it.

Troubled

While Paterson agreed, he said that Ospreys had used their advantage before knocking the ball on themselves and awarded the try. He was then advised to have another look by assistant referee Nigel Owens which led to the try being disallowed at the third time of asking.

Second-half tries from Webb and winger Dirksen put the game beyond the Ulstermen, but the Irish side came back with two tries of their own late in the second half, which kept them interested until the final whistle.

In the 60th minute the Ulster forwards staged a driving maul to give Rob Herring the easiest of finishes as he fell over the line to give his side five points.

With 12 minutes left to play the Ulster forwards set up another driving maul just inside the Ospreys 22. The referee instructed scrum-half Paul Marshall to use the ball, at which point the scrum-half took three steps and put Tommy Bowe into a gap for the former Ospreys player to score under the posts.

Poor finishing once again punctuated a troubled period for Ulster, as they were unable to pile any pressure onto their hosts after the two scores, and the game ended with no further points from either team.