DHL Stormers denied in Bridgend
Despite pushing for the win in the final stages, the DHL Stormers went down 37-24 in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship opener in Bridgend on Saturday.
The visitors came close to scoring a try that would have seen them take a late lead, but instead it was the Ospreys who were awarded a penalty try to claim the spoils at the Dunraven Brewery Field.
The DHL Stormers made some early inroads as they took the game to their hosts and did not have to wait long for their first try of the season.
Ruhan Nel claimed a well-weighted cross-kick to burst into the 22 and from there they showed good patience to work an overlap and put Leolin Zas over in the corner.
The teams traded penalties from there, with Jurie Matthee adding two from the tee to go with his touchline conversion before the Ospreys came up with a try of their own as skipper Jac Morgan forced his way over.
The home side were level when Dan Edwards kicked his second penalty, but the DHL Stormers had the final say in the first half, with Matthee’s third penalty giving them a 16-13 advantage at the break.
They extended that lead early in the second half through a drop-goal from Damian Willemse, but the Ospreys responded with a try from scrumhalf Reuben Morgan-Williams and a drop-goal of their own from Edwards to take the lead for the first time.
Edwards added a try of his own before the DHL Stormers hit back through JD Schickerling, scoring a deserved try from close range.
The DHL Stormers were pushing for the winner in the final stages and came within inches of scoring, but it would be the Ospreys who had the final say as a late penalty try sealed the win for them.
The scorers:
For DHL Stormers:
Tries: Zas, Schickerling
Con: Matthee
Pens: Matthee 2
DG: Willemse
For Ospreys:
Tries: Morgan, Morgan-Williams, Edwards, penalty try
Cons: Edwards 3
Pen: Edwards 2
DG: Edwards
DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis (captain), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 David Ewers, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Stefan Ungerer, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Angelo Davids.
Ospreys: 15. Jack Walsh, 14. Luke Morgan, 13. Owen Watkin, 12. Keiran Williams, 11. Ryan Conbeer, 10. Dan Edwards, 9. Reuben Morgan-Williams, 1. Gareth Thomas, 2. Dewi Lake, 3. Tom Botha, 4. James Ratti, 5. Adam Beard, 6. Jac Morgan ©, 7. Justin Tipuric, 8. Morgan Morris.
Replacements: 16. Ethan Lewis, 17. Garyn Phillips, 18. Ben Warren, 19. Huw Sutton, 20. Harri Deaves, 21. Luke Davies, 22. Phil Cokanasiga, 23. Max Nagy.
