Ospreys celebrated their victory over struggling Scarlets in the United Rugby Championship (URC) west Wales derby.
Ospreys scored tries through Reuben Morgan-Williams, Sam Parry, and Jack Walsh after a scoreless first half; Owen Williams added ten points to the total. Scarlets perform scrum-half. In addition to a try by Gareth Davies, Ioan Lloyd added two penalties. The side of Dwayne Peel lamented four missed Lloyd goals.
Eleven points were wasted as Scarlets were unable to capitalise on their first-half advantage and finished the match pointless. It was the first competitive victory for the Ospreys in Llanelli since 2015. As a result, they moved up to ninth place in the table and accomplished a double over their closest rivals. Young lock James Fender was named player of the match.
This season, Scarlets have recorded eight defeats and two victories across all competitions, good for fourteenth place. On New Year’s Day, Ospreys will host Cardiff in Bridgend, while Scarlets will travel to face Dragons. Both teams made late withdrawals due to injury, with Ospreys number eight Morgan Morris and Scarlets fly-half Sam Costelow both absent.
Morgan Morse, who replaced Morris, was 18 years old and making his second professional appearance; Wales captain Jac Morgan was also absent due to a knee injury.
Vaea Fifita was sidelined with a calf injury, while the return of captain Josh Macleod and Tonga international Sam Lousi in the back row bolstered the Scarlets.
Sam Wainwright made his first appearance since his father’s passing in November. Former Wales prop Samson Lee, who was forced to retire earlier this month due to an Achilles injury, emerged with his family while carrying the match ball. Additionally, Lee would have been pleased with the initial scrum penalty that his former team earned, despite Lloyd failing to capitalise on two opportunities to score by missing two attempts at goal in the opening quarter.
During the visitors’ opening attack, Ospreys centre George North made two incursions into the Scarlets defence, but his speculative pass attempt was unsuccessful as the move stalled.
Lloyd struck the post with his third penalty attempt, and his half-back partner Gareth Davies was prevented from crossing the Ospreys line by centre Owen Watkin with no scoring in the first half.
Early in the second half, Davies broke the impasse by intercepting a pass from Rhys Davies and rushing away to score. Lloyd was unable to convert.
Morgan-Williams, scrum-half for the Ospreys, overcame an uncommon breach into the Scarlets 22 by diving under. Williams further converted the attempt before slotting over a penalty.
Ben Williams replaced Lousi after 53 minutes of his debut, despite the fact that he had been one of the most influential performers and was making his first appearance in two months.
In the second half, Ospreys centre Watkin received a yellow card from referee Craig Evans for persistent offending, notwithstanding the initial team warning that was issued in the first half.
Lloyd’s fifth attempt at a successful kick brought Scarlets within a score before his dazzling footwork was displayed during a counterattack that was ultimately thwarted by Ospreys replacement hooker Parry.
Scarlets captain Macleod was sin-binned by referee Evans for a no-arms challenge, which levelled the scores, and Parry converted the penalty with a close-range effort.