Biarritz sneak home against Ospreys
Biarritz knocked Welsh region Ospreys out of the Heineken Cup on Saturday as they snuck a 29-28 victory in their quarter final meeting at the Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastien.
You saw the brilliant try from Zee Ngwenya here on RD shortly after the match, but you can now view highlights that include a few other great tries, namely to Lee Byrne, Ryan Jones, and Ian Balshaw.
Ospreys actually scored three to two, with their last converted try coming from Nikki Walker five minutes from time, setting up a tense and controversial finish that ended with Irish referee George Clancy awarding only a knock-on rather than what many felt should have been a penalty.
"He (Clancy) said it was a penalty but there was no time. It's not soccer and I don't want to criticise the referee but we all saw that it was a deliberate knock-on. I can only tell you what he said to me," said captain Ryan Jones.
Coach Sean Holley echoed the sentiments: "I will certainly ask him. It's a tough call that has to be made at the end but I have had another look at the incident and it looks like a penalty offence to me."
The Biarritz coach, Jean-Michel Gonzalez, has since admitted that he felt the Ospreys should have been awarded the penalty, which would have set them up for the win.
"Frankly, I thought it was a penalty," Gonzalez said. "It was a particularly interesting interpretation. My interpretation of the referee’s reaction was that it was a penalty."
Shane Williams, who missed the tackle on Ngwenya as the American blitzed down the wing for the first try, said that his side should have wrapped up the game earlier on.
"We’re really gutted that we’ve come this far, worked so hard to get there, but are going home again with nothing," he added.
Note: Better quality highlights will replace these when possible
You saw the brilliant try from Zee Ngwenya here on RD shortly after the match, but you can now view highlights that include a few other great tries, namely to Lee Byrne, Ryan Jones, and Ian Balshaw.
Ospreys actually scored three to two, with their last converted try coming from Nikki Walker five minutes from time, setting up a tense and controversial finish that ended with Irish referee George Clancy awarding only a knock-on rather than what many felt should have been a penalty.
"He (Clancy) said it was a penalty but there was no time. It's not soccer and I don't want to criticise the referee but we all saw that it was a deliberate knock-on. I can only tell you what he said to me," said captain Ryan Jones.
Coach Sean Holley echoed the sentiments: "I will certainly ask him. It's a tough call that has to be made at the end but I have had another look at the incident and it looks like a penalty offence to me."
The Biarritz coach, Jean-Michel Gonzalez, has since admitted that he felt the Ospreys should have been awarded the penalty, which would have set them up for the win.
"Frankly, I thought it was a penalty," Gonzalez said. "It was a particularly interesting interpretation. My interpretation of the referee’s reaction was that it was a penalty."
Shane Williams, who missed the tackle on Ngwenya as the American blitzed down the wing for the first try, said that his side should have wrapped up the game earlier on.
"We’re really gutted that we’ve come this far, worked so hard to get there, but are going home again with nothing," he added.
:: Related Posts ::
Zee Ngwenya's great try for Biarritz against Ospreys
Time: 05:04Zee Ngwenya's great try for Biarritz against Ospreys
Note: Better quality highlights will replace these when possible
Share | Tweet |
20 Comments:
Great match, thanks
By Jao, at April 12, 2010 12:22 am
Awesome stuff. Good bye Hairsprays, Leinster are the only ones with decent chance against the French now. Here's hoping they beat the frogs in the stade de france to avenge this years 6N humiliation
By Corcoran, at April 12, 2010 12:27 am
Unlucky Ospreys - but remember, Munster had to wait for years to make the breakthrough, including losing 2 finals. The key is to use the pain to motivate improvement.
Biarritz (I had some nice holidays there as a child) would also have been unlucky to lose. But that's sport...
By Mike, at April 12, 2010 12:34 am
ospreys were robbed.
tolouse will do the buisness. leinster and biarritz were both lucky to get through to through, and munster aren't the team they used to be. c'mon tolouse!
By Anonymous, at April 12, 2010 12:42 am
Unlucky for the Ospreys. They squandered about 4 try scoring chances in the first half and i guess they came back to haunt them. Andrew Bishop was just selfish when he chose not to pass to Hook or the man outside him. Brilliant rugby match though
By Phil, at April 12, 2010 12:45 am
Fantastic match to watch as a neutral, open attacking rugby.
Brilliant game, brilliant tries, brilliant atmosphere, what more could you want?
By Anonymous, at April 12, 2010 1:28 am
I'm expecting Munster to beat Biarritz. Biarritz are a good side but Munster are Munster and they will imo find a way to win, even if it is away from home. I'd like to be surprised though.
This was such a chance for the Ospreys, sadly they went out again. They should beaten Saracens 2 season ago and again against Biarritz they couldn't take their chances. Great team on paper and occasionally on the field but just not able to win the matches that count. The H Cup is such a hard competition to progress in.
I am looking forward to the Toulouse Leinster clash, what a match in prospect.
As for Ngwenya, I had the pleasure to see him live at Brive in November and he only did one thing all game but it was to almost beat half their team and score in the corner. What an exciting talent he is and what important contributions to Biarritz's win. He's been great this year, the hat-trick against Gloucester in the pool was terrific too, quite the footballer he is too.
By John F, at April 12, 2010 2:14 am
Ngwenya is awesome, not the best winger, but goddamn is he fast.
Give him the ball with a a clear line of sight to the try line and he goes flying.
Great to watch.
By Anonymous, at April 12, 2010 3:02 am
We were robbed blind at the end but we blew too many chances during the game.
Bishop & Hook should be the centres for wales.
By WelshOsprey, at April 12, 2010 4:13 am
I think Biarritz deserved the win, but Ospreys too haha... Great match, thx guys. Biarritz defense wasn't as good as I expected, they have to work on that before Munster...
By Anonymous, at April 12, 2010 9:30 am
Leinster and biarritz were quite lucky to go on 1/2 finals.
Ospreys and Clermont were for me the best attacking teams of this h-cup, they deserved better, but their inexperience of the great events maybe cost them...
Toulouse vs leinster will be the backs clash
Biarritz vs Munster will be a classic forwards war
looking back this quarters, Toulouse seems to have the best weapons to win it
By Flooz, at April 12, 2010 10:24 am
the quarterfinals were brilliant, the final will be a borefest :)
By sebastian, at April 12, 2010 11:20 am
the quarterfinals were brilliant, the final will be a borefest :)
you mean Toulouse/Leinster v Munster
Yeah that sounds really boring alright!!! (sarcasm)
By Kenny, at April 12, 2010 11:24 am
great match, to go away and score three quality tries shows how good ospreys can be, they just cant maintain it for the league.
Great sportsmanship from the Biarritz coach don't see too much of that in other sports like rugby.
By mat, at April 12, 2010 2:18 pm
oh and terrible tackling by shane for the first try, he should have come forward to get him whilst avoiding philips' challenge. but in those occasions there is no match for pace.
By mat, at April 12, 2010 2:20 pm
the intro talks about the penalty at the end but doesnt show it :S nice one rugbydump
By Anonymous, at April 12, 2010 8:48 pm
rayn jones steps Ngwenya. He must be the best 8th man in the world? :P nope
By Alain Weyers, at April 12, 2010 9:19 pm
how was that NOT a penalty at the end?
ospreys should feel robbed
By Anonymous, at April 13, 2010 2:00 am
fantastic game, but to be fair they should have kept the ball and driven into a better position for Biggar at the end.
Great game though, and there are worse ways to go out...
whole Weekend of QF were great and the Challenge QF's were equally as exciting.
By goodNumber10, at April 13, 2010 9:24 am
"Anonymous said...
how was that NOT a penalty at the end?
ospreys should feel robbed
April 13, 2010 2:00 AM"
Robbed.... You mean how leicester were robbed when they should have had a penalty in front of the posts for a 16th man. I don't think too many ospreys fans can feel too hard done by.
By Anonymous, at April 15, 2010 1:25 pm
Post a Comment
<< Home