Dan Biggar, who scored 16 points, and Hanno Dirksen also crossed to steer Ospreys to a bonus-point win and top spot in the Guinness Pro12. Ospreys, who handed Dan Lydiate his debut off the bench, threatened to brush aside former champions Ulster when Dirksen’s try opened a 31-6 lead on 56 minutes.
But tries from Rob Herring and Tommy Bowe – on his first return to the Liberty Stadium since quitting the Ospreys in 2012 – made for a tense final 12 minutes. However, Ospreys’ first-half performance laid the groundwork for an impressive display.
Biggar traded penalties with Ian Humphreys before scoring the game’s opening try. Eli Walker launched a counter-attack that was finished by Biggar on 18 minutes following a sublime off-load from Alun Wyn Jones.
Dirksen led a series of thrusts, the first releasing Ashley Beck for a lengthy run and the second saw Tylor Ardron make yards. Ospreys finally made their dominance count three minutes before half-time for a deserved second try.
Lock Rynier Bernardo sped onto Beck’s flat pass and showed quick feet to beat two defender and hand Webb an easy finish. Ospreys twice got the benefit of the doubt from the video official either side of half time.
Ulster’s Humphreys saw his try ruled out for a knock-on before Walker’s inside pass was judged to have come off a white jersey and Webb claimed his second. Just seven minutes later and Dirksen beat three defenders from the back of an Ospreys scrum – that otherwise struggled – to claim the bonus.
Ulster threw caution to the wind and Herring finished a line-out drive before Bowe finally got his hands on the ball and stormed over 12 minutes from time. But Ospreys closed out the game for a seventh successive league win at the Liberty Stadium and top spot in the table.
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