Lions 45-15 Ospreys: Toby Booth's side thrashed as Welsh regions' woes in South Africa continue

The Ospreys were thumped 45-15 by the Lions in Johannesburg on Friday night.

Both teams probed in the early exchanges but it was the Lions who struck first in the United Rugby Championship clash. Toby Booth’s side were initially let off the hook when Jordan Hendrikse missed a simple penalty but they were soon stood under their own posts.

A minute later, impressive Lions skipper Burger Odendaal breezed through some lacklustre Ospreys defence before offloading inside to Morne van den Berg. He threw a sharp pass to winger Sibahle Maxwane, who rounded Josh Thomas in the 11th minute to score the game’s opening try. Hendrikse made no mistake from the tee this time.

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The Welsh side, appearing to struggle with the altitude, were unable to subject their hosts to sustained pressure. On the occasions where they were able to generate momentum, they stuck with their narrow attacking approach, using runners off scrum-half Rhys Webb instead of looking for space in wider channels.

They did hit back through a Josh Thomas penalty around the half hour mark but were not able to build on it. Instead, the Lions drove home their dominance.

The Ospreys seemed to be defending relatively comfortably before their hosts went wide and centre Odendaal identified a mismatch before carving outside hooker Sam Parry. He popped inside to van den Berg, who cantered in for his first. Hendrikse’s conversion made it 14-3 at half time.

The Lions really delivered a hammer blow straight after the break. Maxwane did real damage with a break down the near side, taking play deep into the Ospreys’ 22.

The South Africans then went to their big runners and hammered away at the line. Despite