Irish break their duck as Ospreys limp out of Europe

The Ospreys lacked any creativity, go-forward and passion as they lost to London Irish 24-12 at the Madejski Stadium and with it any chance of qualifying for the final eight of this year’s Heineken Cup.

The Exiles, who had prior to this match failed to win any of their past ten matches in all competitions, threw the ball around and made opportunities for themselves scoring two tries to nil through wingers Topsy Ojo and Sailosi Tagicakibau. They were not without simple mistakes, but the Ospreys failed to capitalise and looked downhearted throughout, as another year passes without the stars of Swansea collecting Europe’s highest prize.

The battle-lines may have been drawn on a football pitch in middle England, but for this afternoon it was overrun by Celtic rivalry – and it was the Welsh who almost got off to a dream start. London Irish failed to gather the kick off, a problem they had throughout the match, allowing the Ospreys to swarm in predatory fashion towards the Irish line.

Bath clinch crucial win with the luck of the Irish still missing in 2011

History repeated itself as Bath snatched a last gasp win against London Irish at the Madejski stadium to record their first Aviva Premiership victory since October. The visitors beat Irish earlier in the season thanks to a late Nick Abendanon try, but this time around secured a 24-25 with an 80th minute Olly Barkley penalty.

Bath and London Irish went into the match with two of the worst recent records in English rugby, and the number of mistakes and penalties conceded by both sides during the 80-minutes made it seem as if their dismal runs had become habit for each set of players.

Bath Director of Rugby Steve Meehan said: “I was really pleased with the team coming back from being ten points down.

"Winning in that fashion means a lot and obviously we will be very happy on the coach, but we are also aware we need to cash in on this big time over the next week as we have a very important four or five months ahead of us.”

The crucial change came when Bath moved to a more forward orientated game at half time, to grind out a victory as a light rain set in across Reading.