Heineken Cup:
Biarritz Olympic hold out
to edge past Ospreys in dramatic quarter-final
11 April 2010
|
All smiles: England World Cup winner Iain
Balshaw scored a crucial try for Biarritz
Photo: Michael Paler |
Biarritz Olympic
withstood a controversial late call to beat the Ospreys 29-28 and set up a
'home' Heineken Cup semi-final against Irish giants Munster.
The Basques were
outscored by three tries to two, but just did enough thanks to the combined
efforts of Takudzwa Ngwenya, Iain Balshaw, Dimitri Yachvili and Damien
Traille.
But the packed out
Estadio Anoeta, in San Sebastian, held its collective breath at the game's
finale as confusion reined following a a crucial reffing decision which
turned down Ospreys' claims for a late penalty against Yachvili.
Heineken Cup Pools & Fixtures
The Ospreys started
brightly and showed attacking intent from the off as they
ran from their own 22, but the Welsh side paid dearly for
wrong decisions and handling errors as they felt the pain in
Spain. This was their third successive exit at the
quarter-final stage, and in truth they only had themselves
to blame.
Biarritz scored first -
thanks to a Traille drop-goal in the opening minute - but it
was the Ospreys who looked more threatening, with Andrew
Bishop and Lee Byrne both squandering try-scoring
opportunities. Their profligacy came back to haunt them soon
after when American speedster Ngwenya then roared in from
70m for the game's first try after showing a clean pair of
heals to Shane Williams who had kindly offered him the
outside.
Yachvili's conversion
made it 10-0, but the Ospreys fired back when Williams teed
up Ryan Jones for a converted try soon after. A Yachvili
penalty and a second Traille drop-goal then pushed the home
team 16-7 up before the Welsh side rallied again. This time
it was Byrne who went over, after good work from Marty
Holah, and although Dan Biggar missed the extras, the
Ospreys moved to within a point of their hosts at the
interval after the latter snuck over a late drop-goal.
An early penalty after the restart then saw
the visitors take the lead for the first time in the match,
only for Biggar to then cancel out his good work by taking
out Ngwenya without the ball to enable Yachvili to reply.
More forward pressure from the Basques then set up their
second try with Balshaw running in after Ngwenya - who had a
fantastic game - chipped ahead over the flat defence.
Yachvili was once more
on the money with his conversion, leaving Biarritz 26-18
ahead, but the Welsh side refused to buckle and bounced back
again in a match of seemingly permanent oscillation.
Another Biggar penalty
cut the gape to 26-21 and Tommy Bowe threatened a third
Ospreys try before Traille completed his hat-trick of
drop-goals to eave it 29-21. But the visitors truck back
with a try from replacement Nikki Walker just five minutes
from time and with Biggar's conversion cutting the deficit
to a single point the match was still anyone's to win, or
lose.
Biarritz tried to slow
the ball and Yachvili made a crucial interception -
interpreted by some as a deliberate knock-on from an offside
position - before Biggar's weak late drop-goal attempt
sailed wide to break Welsh hearts.
Biarritz coach Jack
Isaak said afterwards that he felt his time had deserved the
victory, while Ospreys captain Jones proclaimed himself
"proud of my team" after their narrow loss. "They played
with a lot of heart and courage, but sometimes you need a
little bit more than that," he admitted.
|
