Gli Ospreys non perdevano in Heineken Cup tra le mura del Liberty Stadium da qualche anno. A rompere l’inviolabilità casalinga sono riusciti i Saracens al termine di una gara tesissima e con tanti cartellini gialli. Ora gli inglesi sono lanciatissimi verso la qualificazione nel girone 5, lo stesso del Benetton.
Battaglia anche a Edimburgo, con i padroni di casa che alla fine vincono sul Cardiff 19 a 12, agguantando gli scozzesi in testa alla classifica e riaprendo i giochi nel girone 2.
I tabellini:
OSPREYS-SARACENS 13-16
For Ospreys:
Try: Gough
Con: Biggar
Pens: Biggar 2
For Saracens:
Try: Joubert
Con: Farrell
Pens: Farrell 3
Yellow cards: James (Ospreys – 38th min – repeated scrum infringement); Brits (Saracens – 51st min – repeated scrum infringement); Brown (Saracens – 63rd min – obstruction)
Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Justin Tipuric (capt), 6 Ryan Jones, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Joe Bearman, 20 George Stowers, 21 Kahn Fotuali’i, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Hanno Dirksen.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 David Strettle, 13 Owen Farrell, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Mouritz Botha, 4 Steve Borthwick (c), 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements: 16 John Smit, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Carlos Nieto, 19 George Kruis, 20 Andy Saull, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Adam Powell, 23 James Short.
Venue: Liberty Stadium, Swansea
Referee: Jerome Garces
EDIMBURGO-CARDIFF 19-12
For Edinburgh:
Try: Visser
Con: Laidlaw
Pens: Laidlaw 3
Drop: Laidlaw
For Cardiff:
Pens: Parks 3, Halfpenny
Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 James King, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw (capt), 9 Mike Blair, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 David Denton, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Steven Lawrie, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Esteban Lozada, 20 Ross Rennie, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Matt Scott, 23 Tom Brown.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Gavin Evans, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Michael Paterson, 5 Paul Tito, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Tau Filise, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Tyrrell, 17 John Yapp, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Josh Navidi, 20 Maama Molitika, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Ceri Sweeney, 23 Dafydd Hewitt.
Referee: Pascal Gauzere
LE CLASSIFICHE
Girone 1: Munster 12; Scarlets 10; Castres 6; Northampton 3
Girone 2: Cardiff 13; Edimburgo 13, London Irish 7; Racing Métro 3
Girone 3: Leinster 11; Glasgow 8; Bath 6; Montpellier 4
Girone 4: Clermont 10; Ulster 9; Leicester 8; Aironi 0
Girone 5: Saracens 14; Biarritz 12; Ospreys 8; Treviso 6
Girone 6: Tolosa 12; Harlequins 8; Gloucester 5; Connacht 1