Ospreys 16-16 Stormers: Late score rescues hard-earned draw for Welsh side in horrendous conditions

The Ospreys grafted for a 16-16 draw against defending URC champions Stormers in Swansea on Friday night.

In horrendous conditions, the first half was one for the purists. The weather was always going to have a fairly significant impact on how the game was played and the opening 40 was error strewn as the rain thrashed down at the Swansea.com Stadium.

This was never going to be a night for free-flowing rugby and the plethora of handling errors meant the contest was dominated by the set piece which, to their credit, was largely controlled by the Ospreys.

Locks Adam Beard and Alun Wyn Jones did brilliantly to prevent the Stormers getting any change at the driving maul. And the hosts were perhaps a little unfortunate not to get more than two scrum penalties out of referee Gianluca Gnecchi.

It was the visitors who opened the scoring in the 13th minute, when Nicky Smith was adjudged to have scrummed at a suspect angle when it seemed like the Ospreys were in the ascendency at the scrum. From there, Stormers fly-half Manie Libbok clipped over three points.

The game came to life in the 30th minute when the Welsh side did get a decision from Mr Gnecchi at the set piece and Stephen Myler kicked it into the corner. It looked for all money like they would score when a handful of tight phases put them within inches of the line.

Mystifyingly, the ball was then popped to an isolated Rhys Webb on the blindside. He fumbled the ball and the Stormers counter-attacked. An apparent forward pass was then missed by the officials as Keelan Giles made a scramble tackle, only to be then penalised for not rolling away. Libbok nailed a huge kick from inside his own half to double his side’s lead.

The Ospreys hit back almost immediately thanks to a