OSPREYS MISS OUT IN BATTLE OF BRITAIN
Last year it was the Scarlets who were beaten at Stradey Park and this time it was the Ospreys who ran into the Wasps’ brick wall like defence and floundered. Yet the score and result was virtually irrelevant on a night when professional rugby at regional level in Wales finally took off at the Ospreys’ new home in Swansea.
An incredible 18,412 fans turned out for the occasion – almost double the number who went to the same stadium to see John Toshack’s Welsh soccer side face Slovenia in their warm-up match for next weekend’s World Cup showdown with England – and they joined in an unforgettable experience.
The Ospreys pulled out all the stops in their pre-match entertainment, which featured two appearances by Charlotte Church, and the singing from the stage was matched later in the game by that of the fans from the stands.
It took only two and a half minutes for the home fans to have something to shout about when former Springbok star Stefan Terblanche crossed in the right hand corner to bag the first try at the new stadium.
Wales U21 back row man Alun Wyn Jones grabbed another from close range before half-time, but Wasps kept their noses in front 18-10 at the interval thanks to tries from Ben Gotting and Stuart Abbott. Mark Van Gisbergen converted one of them and also kicked two penalties.
There were no points in the second half, although Ospreys coach Lyn Jones threw all his young players into the fray and almost got a positive result. There were no more points in the second half, but there was plenty of action to keep the crowd enthralled.
Wasps walked away with the special ‘WRU 125 Challenge’ trophy, which was presented by Group Chief Executive David Moffett, but the Opsreys emerged as winners as well. With almost half as many fans in their new stadium for one friendly game as they attracted through the whole of last season, they can now look forward to stepping into a new era – one in which they can compete with the best club sides in the world not only on the field, but also off it.
It was quite possibly the dawning of a new era in professionalism in Welsh regional rugby.
