Ospreys take apart Scarlets to leave rivals rock bottom of URC

The Ospreys overpowered the Scarlets as they cruised to a comfortable 31-9 derby victory over their arch-rivals in Swansea.

Toby Booth's side were dominant for the most part, with their pack of forwards squeezing the life out of their visitors who failed to match the power of the Ospreys. The Ospreys' Wales contingent, in particular Dewi Lake, Adam Beard, and Nicky Smith, gave the home side the platform for victory, while player of the match Keiran Williams will have surely impressed Warren Gatland.

The Scarlets looked rudderless and completely devoid of ideas but the majority of their issues are in the pack where they were thrown from pillar to post.

Ioan Lloyd drew first blood for the visitors from the kicking tee after Tom Botha got penalised at the proceeding scrum but it didn't take the Ospreys long to flex their muscles.

The Ospreys scrum began to claim the ascendancy, with Wales international Smith giving Harri O'Connor a tough time, forcing the Scarlets to cough up penalties.

After one dominant scrum, the Ospreys turned down a relatively straightforward shot at goal, and proceeded to force the Scarlets backwards at a rate of knots at the driving lineout. The maul stopped just short of the line but centre Williams succeeded in forcing his way over from short-range for a try which Jack Walsh converted.

Their visitors began to grind their way back into the game and did enjoy their fair share of territory and possession, but struggled to get over the gain-line. Wales Six Nations hopeful Lloyd kept the Llanelli-based side in the game by knocking over a difficult penalty from 45 metres on the angle.

But the Ospreys hit straight back with Wales captain Jac Morgan smashing through two would-be Scarlets defenders before