Ospreys' Play-Off Hopes Dented by Connacht Loss
Ospreys have now lost each of their past two United Rugby Championship (URC) matches.
Tries: Hurley-Langton 2, Devine
Cons: Naughton 3
Tries: Kasende, L Morgan
Cons: Edwards 2
Ospreys' ambitions of qualifying for the URC play-offs took a significant hit as they were defeated 21-14 by Connacht in Galway.
Mark Jones' side might have been ahead during the match and will feel they could have secured more from a closely contested game that was ultimately decided by a late try from Connacht scrum-half Matthew Devine.
Two tries from Shamus Hurley-Langton and six points from Sean Naughton's kicking contributed to the home side's narrow victory, which remained in the balance throughout.
For the visitors, Daniel Kasende and Luke Morgan scored tries, with Dan Edwards adding four points from the boot.
This defeat leaves Ospreys as significant outsiders to reach the play-offs, despite their valiant effort in Galway.
Late Try Settles Game
Jones' team will be bitterly disappointed to have lost a match in which they were consistently competitive and posed a threat, with the deciding try coming late from Connacht after a contest largely dominated by Ospreys.
Connacht opened the scoring in a game where swirling wind conditions played a role, as back-rower Hurley-Langton powered over following sustained pressure.
However, Ospreys grew into the match, with Kasende’s strong run leading to their first try. An apparent try by Jac Morgan just before half-time was overturned by the Television Match Official (TMO) due to a forward pass.
After the break, Hurley-Langton scored his second try before Luke Morgan crossed out wide, capitalizing on an advantage after Connacht’s Darragh Murray was sent to the sin-bin.
With the game finely poised, it was Ospreys’ Jac Morgan who was then sin-binned. Taking advantage of their numerical superiority, Connacht’s Naughton made an excellent break that set up Devine’s late try, securing a hard-fought victory for the hosts.
How They Lined Up
Connacht: Naughton; Jennings, Forde, Aki, Treacy; Ioane, B Murphy; Buckley, Heffernan, Bealham, N Murray, D Murray, J Murphy, Hurley-Langton, Boyle (captain)
Replacements: Victory, Bohan, Illo, O'Connor, O'Brien, Devine, Carty, McCormack.
Ospreys: Walsh; Kasende, Boshoff, K Williams, L Morgan; D Edwards, L Davies; S Thomas, L Lloyd, Henry, R Davies, Sutton, Ratti, J Morgan (captain), Morse.
Replacements: Parry, Phillips, Warren, Smith, Fender, M Morris, H Williams, Nagy.
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
Assistants: Andrew Cole (Ireland), Tomás O'Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (SARU)
