Ospreys move into fourth place in Guinness PRO12 after dismantling of Zebre
Last Updated: 29/03/15 6:00pm
Ospreys have moved into fourth place in the Guinness PRO12 with a 53-22 win over Zebre on Saturday night.
Tries from Scott Baldwin, Rhys Webb, Hanno Dirksen and two from Dan Baker gave the home side a bonus-point win over the visiting Italian team and move into fourth spot with just four rounds of competition remaining.
Typically, Zebre fought admirably but their team was unable to match the firepower of the talented Welsh outfit.
It didn't take Ospreys long to get on the board. No 8 Dan Baker was put into space to cross over with just two minutes on the clock, and with the Sam Davies conversion Ospreys were 7-0 up with almost no time gone.
Inside centre Josh Matavesi was the next to get his name on the scorecard as he finished well to stretch the home side's lead, while a Gonzalo Garcia penalty for the visitors made it 14-3 after just ten minutes.
Davies added two penalties before hooker Scott Baldwin barged his way over to give breathing room to his side's cause with five minutes remaining in the half.
With the conversion it was 27-3 and appeared as though it would stay that way, but with no time on the clock Zebre had a scrum on the opposition line, from which Brendan Leonard broke quicly to put winger Dion Berryman away for the final score of the half.
Ospreys were made to wait until the 52nd minute before securing the bonus point when Baker added his second try of the match.
There was not much resistance left in Zebre, who conceded another to Wales scrum-half Rhys Webb, before winger Giulio Toniolatti intercepted the ball on his own line and ran the length of the field to give his side their second try of the game.
There were two more tries left in Ospreys as the surprisingly fresh replacement Webb ran the Italian defence ragged and when he put a chip through he was held back in the chase, resulting in a penalty try and a yellow card for the offender, Michele Visentin.
Zebre’s woes were then furthered though a try from left wing Hanno Dirksen before Zebre had the final say of the match. A lineout drive was successfully recycled and the ball made its way to replacement Alberto Chillon who crashed over for the Italian side with two minutes remaining.
The try gave Zebre a reason to play on as they sought a bonus point, but they were unable to breach the Ospreys defence a fourth time as the final whistle blew.
