Ospreys beat Dragons to keep alive slim URC play-off hopes
Dewi Lake scored four tries in a match for Ospreys against Benetton earlier in the 2023-24 season
- Published
United Rugby Championship: Ospreys v Dragons
Ospreys (14) 26
Tries: Lake 2, Morgan-Williams, K Williams Cons: Edwards 3
Dragons (6) 13
Tries: Reed Cons: Reed Pens: Reed 2
Two tries from Wales hooker Dewi Lake helped Ospreys keep alive their slim hopes of a United Rugby Championship (URC) play-off place with a bonus-point win in Saturday's Welsh derby against Dragons.
Dragons opened the scoring with two Will Reed penalties but ill-discipline resulted in yellow cards for Aaron Wainwright and Dane Blacker.
Ospreys responded with Lake's two tries on his 50th appearance and further scores for scrum-half Reuben Morgan-Williams and centre Keiran Williams, while fly-half Reed produced a fine individual effort as he scored all Dragons' points.
Ospreys' rivals to finish in the top eight - Edinburgh, Benetton and Connacht - claimed losing bonus points this weekend, Lions secured a bonus-point win against Glasgow with Ulster defeating Leinster.
Ospreys, who remain 11th, will need to win their final league game against Cardiff on 1 June with a bonus point and hope a number of other results go their way if they are to realise their dream of finishing in the top eight.
It seems unlikely but there remains a chance. Toby Booth's side managed to win one piece of silverware after clinching the Welsh Shield, which is awarded to the top Wales side in derby matches.
Dragons stay 15th in the table with only Zebre below them.
Jac Morgan was Wales' 2023 World Cup co-captain alongside Dewi Lake
Ospreys started the weekend eight points adrift of the top eight and having conceded 60 points in consecutive matches against Bulls and Leinster.
Wales flanker Jac Morgan was making his first start in five months but centre Owen Watkin was a late withdrawal because of personal reasons and was replaced by Tom Florence, who was making his second Ospreys start.
Dragons welcomed back Wales lock Ben Carter from suspension after his red card against Connacht, while Ewan Rosser was named at full-back.
It was Reed who opened the scoring with two penalties as Dragons withstood early Ospreys pressure.
The visitors were ill-disciplined, with Wales number eight Wainwright the victim of continued penalties conceded as he was shown a yellow card.
Eventually just before half-time, Ospreys made pressure tell when Lake dived over.
More indiscipline saw Blacker shown a yellow card, with player-of-the-match Morgan Morris setting up a try for Morgan-Williams which Dan Edwards converted to give Ospreys a 14-6 half-time lead.
Ospreys increased their lead in the second half when Lake crossed for his second try, before Reed responded with a fine individual score.
They claimed the all-important bonus-point try when centre Williams burrowed over.
Dragons were denied a try when Rosser's pass to Sio Tomkinson went forward
Ospreys prop Nicky Smith was given a rousing reception as he left the field on his final appearance in Swansea before moving to Leicester next season.
Ospreys head coach Toby Booth: "You can't get more than five points so we are very happy with that from an outcome point of view and it goes into the final weekend.
"We were a little bit sloppy in a couple of areas that we need to improve but we scored some nice tries and the set-piece was dominant."
Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan: "There were two areas of the game that we were completely dominated in but what doesn't help is when that frustration spills into phase-play defence and attacking the ball.
"Sometimes you have to take your medicine and say 'we are not in the game there, because there is a clearly dominant team, let's be cleaner everywhere else'.
"We weren't and that fed them, we went down to 13 men and there was a massive momentum swing."
Ospreys: Jack Walsh; Luke Morgan, Tom Florence, Keiran Williams, Keelan Giles; Dan Edwards, Reuben Morgan-Williams; Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake, Tom Botha, James Ratti, Huw Sutton, Jac Morgan, Justin Tipuric (capt), Morgan Morris.
Replacements: Sam Parry, Gareth Thomas, Rhys Henry, Victor Sekekete, Harri Deaves, Luke Davies, Max Nagy, Jack Walsh.
Dragons: Ewan Rosser; Rio Dyer, Steff Hughes (capt), Aneurin Owen, Chris Hollis; Will Reed, Dane Blacker; Rhodri Jones, Elliot Dee, Chris Coleman, Ben Carter, Matthew Screech, Harri Keddie, Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements: Brodie Coghlan, Rodrigo Martinez, Dmitri Arhip, Sean Lonsdale, Ryan Woodman, Morgan Lloyd, Joe Westwood, Sio Tomkinson.
Sin-bin: Wainwright 31, Blacker 40
Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU)
Assistant referees: Ben Connor and Jason Bessant (WRU)
TMO: Ian Davies (WRU)