Ospreys get European campaign off to a flying start as Jac Morgan sets tone

The Ospreys got off to a perfect start in the Challenge Cup as they beat the Lions 32-14 at Parc y Scarlets.

In a fixture which was moved to Llanelli after the Swansea.com Stadium sustained damage during Storm Darragh, a physical display from the Ospreys saw them secure a bonus point win as they ran in four tries against their South African opposition.

Having gone behind in the first half, Jac Morgan, Keelan Giles and Kieran Hardy all got on the scoresheet as Toby Booth’s side pulled away from their opponents in the second half, with Dan Edwards securing the bonus point with a fine finish in the final moments.

Captain Morgan - who was absolutely everywhere for his side in another man of the match performance - had earlier crossed for what looked like a second try, only for it to be chalked off for offside. Giles and Edwards also impressed having both been tipped for Wales honours in recent times.

The opening passages set the tone for the physical encounter as huge hits went flying in early on, with Harri Deaves on the receiving end of one of the biggest. It was the Lions who put on much of the early pressure and they opened the scoring as Franco Morais crossed before the quarter hour mark.

But it would be nearly an hour before they got another score on the board, with Sam Francis skewing two first-half penalties wide for the visitors.

The Ospreys began to pile on the pressure and got their breakthrough after nearly half an hour as JC Pretorius was sent to the sin bin for not releasing, and Morgan did brilliantly to surge over the line from the resulting play to put his side back in front.

A successful conversion and penalty from Owen Williams was all that was added with the man advantage before the break, but the second half