Ospreys crash land to Saracens

Apr 7 2008 by Andy Howell, Western Mail

THE announcer kept repeating it at the end, “A Heineken Cup semi-final for Saracens, how good does that sound?”Awful if you are a Welsh rugby fan, and more than 5,000 of them went to Vicarage Road yesterday believing this was the year of the Osprey.

With 11 of Wales’ Grand Slam clinching side on show and a 30-3 thumping of yesterday’s opponents at the Millennium Stadium in the EDF Energy Cup semi-final just a fortnight ago, there was plenty of belief that the Welsh side had too much for Saracens.

But the Ospreys couldn’t have any complaints about going out of Europe against fired-up opponents determined to prove a point.There were just too many mistakes and unforced errors while they also played into the hands of Saracens.

The Guinness Premiership mid-table club had done their homework.And the role of Sarries’ coach Alan Gaffney should not be under-estimated.

He devised a plan which saw them put pressure on the Ospreys scrum and stop the power-drives of No 8 and Wales skipper Ryan Jones.They also nullified the threat of winger Shane Williams by putting extra men on him, closed down scrum-half Justin Marshall to prevent him running and lured fly-half James Hook into a cunning trap.

Virtually every time Hook probed or looked to give a trademark off-load out of the tackle, they were in wait for him while centre Parker hardly caught a pass.

As I wrote two days ago, Saracens had a colossal presence in their side who didn’t appear against the Ospreys at the Millennium Stadium, a certain Richard Hill. Although he has a permanent limp following a knee reconstruction and will retire at the end of the season, the England World Cup winner and British Lions great was hugely influential in the outcome of this quarter-final.

It wasn’t a surprise that the flanker was named man of the match because Hill sorted out vaunted New Zealander Marty Holah at the breakdown and always seemed to be in the vicinity of the ball. Whenever Hook or an Ospreys team-mate was collared, he was straight on to it, winning a bundle of vital turnovers.

Astute Australian Gaffney, who guided Munster to the Heineken final six years ago, put it succinctly afterwards, saying, “Richard Hill is one of the great players of the modern era. What he contributes on the pitch is immense.”Although the Ospreys players looked up for their foray into the knock-out stage of the European gem, they certainly contributed towards their downfall and lacked the nous to chisel out a win.Munster should have shown them the way to progress with their magnificent, controlled display at Gloucester 18 hours earlier.

The Ospreys didn’t appear to have a Plan B and, as a consequence, made the task of Saracens a tad easier. As a result, searching questions have to be asked about the ability of coach Lyn Jones.Complacency didn’t seem to be an issue, but it appeared the Ospreys thought just doing what they do each week would be enough to eventually break down the English outfit.

But it wasn’t because Saracens hardly missed a tackle. The after-match song, Oasis’ Wonderwall, summed up their defence. What makes this sad exit the more frustrating is that the Ospreys would have had the bonus of a “home” semi-final and a possible final at the Millennium Stadium to aid their request to become the first Welsh winners of the tournament.

But, in front of a capacity record crowd of 18,214 for a rugby match in Watford, they ran out of ideas way before the end.Saracens, also in the last eight for a first time, were deserved winners, overcoming the first-half loss of centre Andy Farrell and full-back Brent Russell through injury and the denial of two tries by the video ref.

But rugby league great Farrell’s replacement Adam Powell added extra steel to their midfield defence while fellow substitute Francisco Leonelli scored the decisive breakaway try just 56 seconds after the interval to take the game away from the Ospreys.

A 58th-minute penalty from calm playmaker Glen Jackson meant the Welsh region had to score two converted tries.However, with people like Hill, lock Kris Chesney, prop Cobus Visagie, No 8 Ben Skirving, flanker Paul Gustard and winger turned full-back Richard Haughton outstanding, the Ospreys were crashing out of Europe.

Replacement prop Paul James burrowed his way over for a try five minutes from full-time, Hook converting, to give them a sniff of snatching it, but then Jackson snuffed out any faint hopes with a sweet drop-goal.It was all over for the Ospreys, who had been well and truly rumbled.

Now they have to deliver the EDF Energy Cup against Leicester at Twickenham next weekend, a job easier said than done, to satisfy the hunger of their fans for major success and, perhaps, pacify the board at the Liberty Stadium that Jones is the right man to take them to the promised land.

Ospreys had made a decent start with Jonny Vaughton coming off his wing to carve through after taking a short pass from scrum-half Justin Marshall following a line-out take by Alun Wyn Jones.Hill nailed Vaughton, but Ospreys recycled the ball with hooker Huw Bennett twice putting his head down and making the hard yards.

It culminated in Holah charging into the Saracens 22 to win a penalty as fired-up Chesney dived in to kill the ball.Hook tapped over his kick at goal to put them three points up, but their opponents showed they were up for the fight as they waded into Wyn Jones.

They levelled matters in the 10th minute through the accurate boot of Jackson, after the Ospreys strayed off-side in midfield, and took the lead when Holah offended.Against the run of play, Ospreys should still have scored the opening try after Gavin Henson intercepted.The Wales and Lions centre did brilliantly to get a pass off to Hook, who ghosted away.

But Parker dropped the ball with the line begging.Basic skills deserted them, not just then but throughout, and you can’t get away with that at this level. Why it happened was a mystery, because the Ospreys line-up is arguably even stronger than the Wales side which won the Grand Slam.

The key moment proved to be Leonelli’s try. Ospreys pair Lee Byrne and Holah got hands on Glen Jackson’s clearance, which meant that every home player was onside.

Powell scooped the ball up and fed Leonelli on his outside, who rounded Ryan Jones and dived over wide-out, Jackson expertly converting.It put the lid on one of those days when hardly anything went right for the Ospreys. Their dream had ended and they might never get a better chance of being crowned Heineken Cup kings.And that’s the disturbing reality of yesterday’s spurned opportunity.