The Dragons’ disastrous RaboDirect PRO12 away form against Welsh opposition continued as an Ospreys pack brimming with international experience claimed a deserved 40-17 victory and kept up the pressure at the top of the table. The star of the show was undoubtedly Ospreys and Lions flanker Justin Tipuric, who scored a try in each half and in doing so, put down a sizeable marker for Wales’ international inclusion later this autumn. The Dragonst have only ever won three away games at fellow Welsh regions in 33 attempts in all competitions and have won only one of their previous eight visits to the Liberty Stadium – and this depressing statistic rarely looked like changing. The visitors got off to the best possible start as Dragons wing Tom Prydie scored in the corner after just four minutes, taking advantage of a slip by Ospreys No.9 Tom Habberfield, with Kris Burton adding the extras. The Ospreys dragged themselves back into the game, with the Lions pairing of Richard Hibbard and Alun-Wyn Jones particularly strong with ball in hand and RaboDirect PRO12 top point’s scorer Dan Biggar pulling the strings from full-back. Dragons full-back Dan Evans handed Ospreys a way back into the game on seven minutes as he needlessly kicked long rather than touching the ball down in his in-goal area, leading to an offside decision and a shot at goal by Biggar. The Ospreys No.15 kicked the penalty to make the score 3-7 and suddenly the home side had their tails up as they pressured the Dragons. Ten minutes later the Ospreys took the lead as Matthew Morgan broke through two tackles and ran half the length of the field, he was caught by Lion Toby Faletau but still managed to offload the ball to Tipuric who touched down. Biggar added the conversion and then ten minutes later extended his side’s lead even further as he struck over his second penalty of the evening. With the Dragons struggling to get a foothold in the game or to claim any meaningful field position, Burton struck over a long range drop goal just after the half hour to keep the scoreboard ticking at 13-10. Continued Ospreys pressure late in the first-half, Tipuric was becoming more and more influential in the loose, and Biggar struck over another penalty to leave the home side 16-10 ahead at the interval. Morgan extended the Ospreys lead five minutes after the break as he took full advantage of continued territory pressure to kick a drop goal. But just two minutes later, on his 50th appearance for the club – Tipuric burst through off the back of a lineout, chipped over the Dragons defence and then raced through to retrieve the ball and score under the posts. It got worse for the Dragons minutes later as after a period of sustained period, replacement Ieuan Jones was sin-binned after failing to get back on-side. The game was delayed for five minutes though as in the same move Wales and Lions No.8 Faletau suffered a head and neck injury and had to be stretchered off. Ospreys extended their lead to 33-10 with nearly 30 minutes still to play as referee Nigel Owens – refereeing his 100th RaboDirect PRO12 fixture – awarded a penalty try and Biggar again added the extras. With nine minutes to play Scott Baldwin scored the Ospreys’ fourth try and with it ensured the bonus point, with Biggar adding the extras. Replacement Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro scored a late consolation try for the Dragons, with Burton adding the extras to leave the final score 40-17. Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to ourYouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the RaboDirect PRO12
