Myler keeps his nerve as Ospreys find late leveller

By ROGER PANTING

Ospreys …………16pts

Tries: Baldwin 75

Conversions: Myler 75

Penalties: Myler 35, 50, 68

Stormers ……….16pts

Tries: De Wet 54

Conversions: Libbok 54

Penalties: Libbock 12, 29, 71

Stormers fly-half Marnie Libbok missed a last minute drop-goal as the Ospreys held on for well deserved draw against the reigning URC champions.

After three bonus-point wins, the South Africans looked set for victory until Ospreys conjured up a late rally and were rewarded with a try from Scott Baldwin with Stephen Myler holding his nerve to succeed with a difficult conversion.

It was no less than Ospreys deserved as they had battled hard in an arm-wrestle, played in miserable conditions, and a loss for them would have been an injustice. Head coach Toby Booth said: “I'm disappointed for the boys as they probably edged the contest but we were guilty of not taking our chances at key moments. The South Africans are the market leaders and we have to raise our standards to match them.

“We had a dominant set-piece so we were a little bemused by some of the decisions in the scrum area. Credit to Stephen Myler for his faultless kicking. He was my first signing here and some may say that he has been the best.”

Stormers had much the better of the first half to lead 6-3 at the interval with Libbok kicking two penalties to Myler's one. It was Ospreys who had come closest to scoring a try when skilful handling sent George North away down the right flank before good ball retention created an opportunity but with the line beckoning, Keelan Giles couldn't gather a poor pass from Jac Morgan. After the restart a penalty from Myler brought the scores level but the game needed a spark and it came from an excellent move from the South Africans which resulted in the first try of the game.

On halfway, an inside pass from Libbok put Leolin Zas through a huge gap in the defence before the wing sent Paul de Wet racing over. Libbok converted to give his side a 13-6 lead going into the final quarter.

Myler and Libbok exchanged penalties and as the conditions worsened the game looked up for Ospreys. However they continued to win penalties in the scrum and were able to secure a position in the opposition 22 from where Baldwin finished off a driving line-out. Myler nailed the conversion before Libbok missed his chance to seal victory.