Ospreys overpower the Scarlets to claim west Wales bragging rights

The Ospreys overpowered the Scarlets to claim their first competitive victory in Llanelli for eight years.

Dwayne Peel's side had the better of the first-half but were extremely wasteful with Ioan Lloyd missing three shots at goal, while they also butchered at least two gilt-edge try scoring opportunities. But the Ospreys pack seized the initiative after the break, with the outstanding James Fender leading the way, and proceeded to squeeze their bitter rivals, forcing them to crack under pressure.

The Scarlets started strongly but they got no reward for their early pressure as Lloyd missed two shots at goal. Wales loosehead Gareth Thomas conceded his third scrum penalty which gave the Scarlets the opportunity to go to the corner. Ryan Elias found Sam Lousi at the back of the lineout, and the Scarlets' maul proceeded to push the Ospreys backwards at a rate of knots.

The Ospreys illegally sacked the Scarlets' lineout just short of the line but referee Craig Evans refused to award a penalty try. Elias took the penalty quickly, and the Scarlets worked an overlap but wing Ryan Conbeer couldn't find Tom Rogers who was unmarked out wide. The Ospreys' defence survived another Scarlets offload, and were able to clear their lines meaning the scorers remained at 0-0 at the interval.

Toby Booth's side began the second-half purposefully but a loose pass from Rhys Davies got picked off by Gareth Davies who ran in unopposed from 50 metres out to break the deadlock. But the Ospreys pack began to gain the ascendancy, and after a period of sustained pressure on the Scarlets line, scrum-half Reuben Morgan-Williams sneaked over from short-range.

Williams added the extras to nudge the Ospreys ahead. The Ospreys pack were in control and were