Brave Connacht showing fails to secure a bonus point in Wales

Ospreys 33Connacht 18

THE momentum stalled ever so slightly for Connacht on Sunday as the Ospreys proved more clinical at the Liberty Stadium and came away with all five points. The result halts a strong run of four wins on the bounce for Eric Elwood’s men who missed out on an opportunity to jump two places in the table.

The away win was always a long shot as the Ospreys have a strong squad that can withstand the international exodus but after a promising start, Connacht will regret not obtaining a valuable bonus point.

Late in the game, a powerful break by a combination of Michael Swift and Fionn Carr set up a penalty in the 22 and a chance for Miah Nikora to bring his side within five points with just six minutes remaing. The kick that could have earned the losing bonus tailed wide and Connacht shipped a late try to add insult to injury.

The Ospreys were caught offside in the opening minutes and Ian Keatley gave the visitors an early advantage only for Dan Biggar to respond with a 19th minute drop goal.

The lead for the visitors was restored soon after. Ian Keatley broke from a line out and in-form winger Brian Tuohy made good yardage before passing for the supporting O'Connor, the province's stand-in captain, to make it over in the right corner for an unconverted try.A couple of try scoring chances for both Dirksen and centre Ashley Beck were then wasted by the home side. Connacht infringed in the scrum, with Biggar kicking the resulting penalty for an 8-6 deficit.

The Ospreys had few stars in their backline, but got some big displays from the likes of scrum Rhys Webb who set the outside backs in motion in a free-flowing attack with seven minutes of the first half remaining, paving the way for full-back Richard Fussell to show his pace and score under the posts having hit the line at speed and receive a pass that Connacht claimed was forward.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.