Ospreys (24) 38 Tries: Fussell, Penalty try 2, Byrne, Bowe. Cons: Biggar 4. Owen. Pen: Biggar. Aironi (6) 6 Pens: Bocchino 2.
Ospreys wing Richard Fussell scores an early try against Aironi
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Ospreys eased to a bonus-point win over Aironi at the Liberty Stadium. Wing Richard Fussell scored Ospreys' first try. However, the game was stopped for 10 minutes because of a neck injury to home flanker Ben Lewis. Lewis was carried off in a brace. He was able to move his limbs and talk but was taken to hospital for examination. Ospreys wrapped up the game with two penalty tries won by a dominant scrum, while Lee Byrne and Tommy Bowe rounded off some flowing running. Aironi were limited to two penalties from fly-half Riccardo Bocchino and the Italians rarely threatened the Ospreys' line. Ospreys looked on their way to a comfortable victory as early as the seventh minute, when Fussell crossed after the home side had won good ball at a line-out from captain Alun Wyn Jones and Bowe made inroads. But after that dropped balls and forward passes stopped Ospreys completely dominating the scoreboard. Fly-half Dan Biggar did put over a penalty goal on 18 minutes but that was immediately cancelled out by his opposite number Bocchino. It took the sin-binning of visiting flanker Josh Sole, who tackled Jerry Collins off the ball, to open the way for Ospreys' second try. That came with a penalty try after the Italian side were penalised three times at a five-metre scrum. Bocchino closed the gap briefly with a penalty goal from near halfway but Ospreys finished the half with a converted try for Byrne, who was put over by fellow British and Irish Lion Shane Williams. Ospreys huffed and puffed after the restart but again it took a sin-binning - former Italy captain Marco Bortolami blatantly going offside to thieve the ball at a ruck - to spark the scoreboard with a penalty try on 65 minutes. With the bonus point secured and the pressure off, Ospreys claimed a fifth try four minutes later when Bowe crossed after a break up the middle by number eight Jonathan Thomas.
Ospreys: Lee Byrne; Richard Fussell, Tommy Bowe, Andrew Bishop, Shane Williams; Dan Biggar, Jamie Nutbrown; Paul James, Richard Hibbard, Adam Jones, Ian Gough, Alun Wyn Jones (capt), Jerry Collins, Ben Lewis, Jonathan Thomas. Replacements: Huw Bennett for Hibbard (52), Ryan Bevington for James (61), Craig Mitchell for A. Jones (67), Ryan Jones for Collins (52), Justin Tipuric for Lewis (23), Mike Phillips for Nutbrown (49), Gareth Owen for Biggar (67), Eli Walker for Fussell (70). Aironi: Danwel Demas; Giulio Toniolatti, Gilberto Pavan, Gabriel Pizarro, Giulio Rubini; Riccardo Bocchino, Michael Wilson; Salvatore Perugini, Luigi Ferraro, Luca Redolfini, Marco Bortolami, Quintin Geldenhuys (capt), Andrea Benatti, Josh Sole, Gareth Krause. Replacements: Leonardo Ulises Gamboa for Redolfini (40), Fabio Ongaro for Ferraro (40), Alberto De Marchi for Perugini (56), Joshua Furno, Nicola Cattina for Benatti (61), Pablo Canavosio for Wilson (40), Julien Laharrague for Rubini (40), Alberto Benettin for Pavan (64). Att: 7,289 Referee: Andy Macpherson (SRU).
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