Wales star's red card proves costly as Ospreys' play-off hopes dented

The Ospreys' URC hopes were dented following a 31-19 defeat away to Benetton in Italy.

The home side were the better team, but spirited defence and two tries from Keiran Williams gave the Ospreys hope of getting something in Treviso.

However, two cards for Wales international Ross Moriarty - the latter also resulting in a try for Jack Walsh being chalked off - ultimately harmed their chances of a result.

With six matches to go in the regular season, both sides started the final stretch of the campaign knowing victory was important for their play-off hopes.

Unbeaten in their last five league matches, Mark Jones' side would have travelled to Italy full of hope they could boost their hopes of finishing in the top eight.

The return of Jac Morgan from a dislocated shoulder - with the Wales captain having been sidelined for four months - didn't harm their chances either.

However, things didn't start particularly well in Treviso.

Under pressure from the off, it took just five minutes for the home side to open the scoring.

Ryan Conbeer, brought into the starting XV after Wales wing Keelan Giles pulled out, gave up a lineout after fielding a kick behind - with the home side mauling over from it as Siua Maile touching down.

To the Ospreys, they hit back fairly soon after.

From an attacking lineout of their own, centre Williams ran the perfect line to crash over from close range.

That was as good as it got for the Welsh side in the first-half, with subsequent attacking opportunities hard to come by.

That wasn't the case for Benetton, who had two tries chalked off in fairly quick succession.

Ignacio Mendy was denied a score out wide by the finest of margins, with Iestyn Hopkins doing just enough to get the Argentine wing's foot into