Five things we learned as Edinburgh fall to Ospreys defeat

Tries from Wales international front-row trio Dewi Lake, Gareth Thomas and Sam Parry, plus seven points from the boot of Owen Williams, guided the Ospreys to their second URC win of the campaign as Edinburgh’s search for a first away win continues.  

Ospreys, who started the match bottom of the URC table, took an early lead, Wales captain Dewi Lake driving over from a maul inside five minutes, with Owen Williams’ conversion giving the hosts a seven-point lead. 

Errors from the hosts, including a wayward five-metre lineout, handed Edinburgh a chance to hit back, but Sean Everitt’s side were unable to take advantage. However, they did get on the board when Ross Thompson landed a long-range penalty after Ospreys infringed at a maul.  

From the restart, Edinburgh infringed as Matt Scott went off his feet as the centre, making his 100th appearance for the club, attempted to win the ball back. However, there was a reprieve for Edinburgh as Williams sliced his penalty wide.  

And the visitors capitalised when, after another Ospreys infringement handed Edinburgh territory, the forwards drove for the line. The Welsh side were penalised again for not rolling away and Ben Vellacott showed great presence of mind to go quickly and score. Thompson’s conversion put the visitors 10-7 ahead.  

Chasing a high kick into the sun, Duhan van der Merwe collided with referee Griffin Colby and inexplicably the Scotland wing was penalised, but thankfully for the Scotland wing nothing came of a strange decision.  

Neither side was able to stamp their authority on proceedings in the second quarter and so Edinburgh turned around three points to the good at the break.  

The hosts had incurred the wrath of referee Colby and lost Reuben Morgan-Williams to the sin-bin for a no arms tackle on Hamish Watson two minutes into the second half, but almost defied their numerical disadvantage to take the lead, Jac Morgan knocking on in the act of scoring.  

The numbers were level on 48 minutes, Ritchie shown yellow for repeated infringements by the visitors as they defended their line. Finally Ospreys took advantage when prop Gareth Thomas barged over just as Morgan-Williams returned.  

An penalty from Williams extended the hosts lead momentarily, but Thompson’s second penalty with 14 minutes left cut the gap to two points.  

With five minutes to go, Ospreys sealed victory as Sam Parry – much like his front-row colleagues had earlier – picked up and drove over to score from close range. Williams’ conversion took Ospreys outwith range of a losing bonus point.  

Edinburgh nearly snatched a point late on and Charlie Shiel was twice hauled down after breaking through, while Ospreys hunted a fourth try to take maximum points but neither side could add to their scores. 

Here are five things we learned.  

Wait for first away win goes on 

Edinburgh were unable to back up two bonus point wins in front of their own fans over the past fortnight as Ospreys ground out victory with a dominant second half. The visitors could not get after the break.  

Another defeat means Edinburgh’s 15-year wait for a win over the Ospreys on Welsh soil goes on.  

Morgan magnificent 

Against Scotland pair Jamie Ritchie and Hamish Watson, plus national squad member Ben Muncaster, Wales captain Jac Morgan produced a totemic performance to guide his side to victory.  

A constant threat at the breakdown and with ball in hand, he was the deserving recipient of the Player of the Match award.  

Resolute Edinburgh defence could not hold out 

After shipping seven first-half tries in a hammering by the Lions three weeks ago, Edinburgh have responded well in defence in the past couple of weeks. They had to put in a big shift in the second half as Ospreys dominated territory and  

That will be a positive going into the second stage of the season. 

But attack still needs a lot of work 

Edinburgh were nowhere nearly as dangerous as they had looked in the win over Cardiff last weekend, and the attack clearly still needs some work.

Without Darcy Graham, they lacked spark and failed to get Duhan van der Merwe into the game sufficiently. When the big wing did get his hands on the ball, he was heavily marked by the home defence.  

A bizarre penalty 

When Duhan van der Merwe attempted to chase a long kick into the sun in the first half, he collided with referee Griffin Colby. While the Edinburgh winger’s hands did come out as the pair made contact, the award of a penalty against him felt a very harsh decision.  

Ospreys: Jack Walsh (Hopkins 66), Dan Kasende, Owen Watkin, Keiran Williams (Florence 69), Keelan Giles, Owen Williams, Reuben Morgan-Williams (Hardy 76); Gareth Thomas (Phillips 60), Dewi Lake (Parry 60), Ben Warren (Botha 52), Will Greatbanks (Jones 66), Adam Beard, Jac Morgan (captain), Justin Tipuric, Morgan Morris 

Tries: Lake (4), Thomas (52), Parry (74) 

Conversions: Williams (5, 75)

Penalties: Williams (19, 60) 

Yellow card: Morgan-Williams (42) 

Edinburgh: Harry Paterson, Wes Goosen, Matt Currie, Matt Scott (Tuipulotu 59), Duhan van der Merwe, Ross Thompson (Healy 76), Ben Vellacott (c) (Shiel 76); Boan Venter, Ewan Ashman (Cherry 55), D'Arcy Rae (Hill 50), Marshall Sykes, Jamie Hodgson (Young 66), Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson (Crosbie 59), Ben Muncaster 

Try: Vellacott (22) 

Conversion: Thompson (23) 

Penalties: Thompson (17, 66) 

Yellow card: Ritchie (48) 

Referee: Griffin Colby (SARU) 

Player of the Match: Jac Morgan