Cardiff and Ospreys share spoils in dramatic derby

01/01/2025 12:50 PM

MATCH REPORT: The New Year's Day derby between Cardiff and Ospreys at the Arms Park ended in a 13-13 draw.

There was a red card for Ospreys second row James Fender followed by yellows for home forwards Teddy Williams and Rhys Litterick.

Cardiff took the try count 2-1, with flanker James Botham and replacement hooker Daf Hughes touching down off line-out drives in either half.

But Dan Edwards landed three kicks at goal in addition to a try as he claimed all the points for the visitors.

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The game ended in nail-biting fashion as the hosts held firm on their own line before trying to win the game themselves in a prolonged final passage of attacking from inside their own half.

In the end – after an, at times, feisty affair in front of a capacity 12,125 crowd – both sides had to settle for two points.

It's a return that sees Cardiff increase their URC haul to 28, reinforcing their third-placed position in the league table.

Showing seven changes from the side that beat the Dragons on Boxing Day, they dominated the opening exchanges and put the first points of the board with a try in the seventh minute after a spot of innovation.

At an attacking lineout, both centres joined the set-piece with Ben Thomas lifting on-loan debutant Louie Hennessey to claim the ball at the front.

The resulting maul was halted illegally leading to a kick to the corner and another close-range lineout.

Hennessey once again stood at the front, but this time the ball was thrown beyond him to Teddy Williams in the middle.

The hosts then showed real patience at the maul drive, regathering momentum after a brief pause near the whitewash, with blindside Botham getting the ball down.

As the half moved on, the Ospreys were to have an extended period of pressure with their scrum getting on top, but they were unable to convert a series of opportunities into tries.

Firstly, following a break from Ruben Morgan-Williams, No 8 Morgan Morris attempted to get the ball down for the score only to lose control in a tackle from Gabe Hamer-Webb.

Winger Hamer-Webb left the field shortly after that following a collision with Max Nagy as he chased a kick, which necessitated a backline reshuffle.

He was replaced by Rory Jennings who went into the center with Hennessey – on loan from Bath – moving to the wing.

Following an Edwards penalty miss, the Ospreys were denied again by defiant Cardiff defence as Williams and Hennessey put in a combined tackle to stop Nagy after the full-back took a tap and go near the line.

It seemed as though the visitors had finally claimed a try when scrum-half Morgan-Williams went over following a break from centre Keiran Williams and support from Edwards.

But the score was ruled for a knock-on by the unfortunate Nagy at the final ruck.

The Ospreys did eventually open their account through the boot of Edwards, but then two minutes before the break came a big moment with the sending off of Fender.

Referee Ben Breakspear initially awarded a penalty against the lock for a croc roll on Dan Thomas after the Cardiff flanker had pulled off a relieving breakdown turnover just outside his own 22.

But, after watching the relay, Breakspear decided that all of Fender's weight had gone on to Thomas' exposed leg, so issued a red card.

With his pack down a man, new Ospreys head coach Mark Jones opted to bring on a forward for a back at the start of the second half as James Ratti replaced Nagy.

It was then Cardiff's turn to shake things up with subs.

Having opted for a 6-2 split on the bench, coach Matt Sherratt chose to go early with no fewer than four fresh forwards entering the fray on 48 minutes.

Yet they immediately lost a pack member when Williams was yellow-carded for a line-out infringement following a second warning from Breakspear over mounting penalties.

With the sides evened up, the Ospreys soon struck as fly-half Edwards cut back inside and broke a tackle to cross for a try he converted himself.

That was the cue for Cardiff to turn to their main area of strength – the lineout maul.

A concerted drive of some 20 metres earned a penalty which was kicked to the corner.

From the resulting lineout, hooker Hughes was the man to round off the unstoppable maul momentum.

The hosts were then reduced to 14 men once again when Litterick was sin-binned for a scrum offence which enabled Edwards to kick his team in front.

But, straight from the restart, Cardiff earned a penalty which skipper Ben Thomas slotted to level things up.

There was still ten minutes to go, but those were to prove the final points thanks to some brave defence from the home side.

First Lewis Lloyd was denied by a try-saving tackle in the right hand corner from opposite number Hughes who forced him into touch.

Then Morgan Morse – who scored the winning try in the corresponding fixture at the start of 2024 – threatened to do so once again in the final minute.

But after a TMO check, it was confirmed the replacement back row had been held up over the line.

There was to be one final twist as Cardiff attempted to run from deep in the final play, but in the end it was to be honours even.

The scorers:

For Cardiff:
Tries: Botham, Hughes
Pen: Thomas

For Ospreys:
Try: Edwards
Con: Edwards
Pens: Edwards 2

Teams

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Louie Hennessey, 12 Ben Thomas (captain), 11 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Alun Lawrence, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 James Botham, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Kieron Assiratti, 2 Evan Lloyd, 1 Danny Southworth.
Replacements: 16 Daf Hughes, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Rhys Litterick, 19 Josh McNally, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Taulupe Faletau, 22 Aled Davies, 23 Rory Jennings.

Ospreys: 15 Max Nagy, 14 Iestyn Hopkins, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Jac Morgan (captain), 5 James Fender, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Gareth Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Lewis Lloyd, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Rhys Henry, 19 James Ratti, 20 Morgan Morse, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jack Walsh, 23 Evardi Boshoff.

Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Connor (Wales), Adam Jones (Wales)
TMO: Tom Spurrier (Wales)

Source: CardiffRugby 

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