After a win over Parma and facing a reshuffled Scottish side, the Ospreys could hope to repeat the feat of beating Glasgow at home. But the 2023–2024 URC champions quickly ended Welsh hopes.

On Saturday evening, at the Dunraven Brewery Field in Bridgend, the Ospreys faced Glasgow in the United Rugby Championship. The Welsh side, struggling in 11th place, needed to build on last week’s victory. But against them, the Glasgow Warriors, semi-finalists last season and currently third in the table, gave the Swansea-Neath franchise no chance.

A relatively balanced first half

However, the match had started well for the Welsh side, with a try after just five minutes of play, which was ultimately disallowed. The Warriors responded immediately when Jamie Dobie opened the scoring for Glasgow with a converted try, 7-0. Once again, the response was immediate: the Ospreys punished Scottish indiscipline with a try from Reuben Williams, converted by Dan Edwards. The Scots responded two minutes later with another try from Kyle Steyn, converted by Adam Hastings (7-14).

The Ospreys spent time in the Warriors’ half but failed to break through, settling for a penalty to make it 10-14. From the 23rd minute onwards, Glasgow dictated the pace of the game while playing with a numerical advantage after Dewi Lake was shown a yellow card, and scored two more converted tries to lead 10-21 at half-time.

Second Half Meltdown

The Ospreys needed to correct their indiscipline and inability to finish their moves for the next forty minutes. And the Welsh seemed to respond by taking advantage of a Scottish mistake to score their second try through Luke Morgan, converted again. But the Warriors showed no mercy for the Ospreys’ mistakes: in the 51st minute, Jamie Dobie broke through the Welsh defence to score Scotland’s fourth try, again converted by Hastings, (17-28).
This was the beginning of the end for Mark Jones’s men: the mistakes multiplied and gave Jamie Dobie another try for his second of the match. Hastings secured the conversion.

The Ospreys, however, failed to capitalise on the few opportunities they created, and the last ten minutes of the match were one-sided. A first try was disallowed, but the power of the Glasgow pack eventually saw MacKenzie Duncan cross for the final try of the match. Dan Lancaster added the conversion to make it 17–42. Jamie Dobie (Glasgow) was named Man of the Match.

While Glasgow Warriors consolidate their third place, the Ospreys drop to 13th place in the championship. Next match: Saturday 25 October against Dragons RFC, currently 15th in the URC and looking for their first win of the season. A Welsh derby between the two clubs will take place in Newport, where victory will be imperative for both teams.

Picture  : Official accounts of the Glasgow Warriors on X