The ensuing scrum saw Tigers push Ospreys off the ball and Jordan Crane start a promising move which ended with Geordan Murphy passing behind Matt Smith into touch.

Tigers attacked again after James Hook was turned over and Johne Murphy after a slight hesitation was tackled into touch 5 metres out.

Tigers took the lead after another good attack (including a suspiciously forward looking pass from Flood) when Ospreys were penalised for offside. Flood kicked the penalty for a 3-0 lead.

Ospreys made their first real move into the Tigers half but Shane Williams was tackled by Geordan Murphy and the ball went into touch.

After Flood kicked the ball dead Ospreys were awarded a scrum on half way, however they were penalised and Flood stepped up to kick the penalty. 6-0 to Tigers.

From the restart Ospreys were offside in front of the kicker giving a scrum to Tigers. Tigers went left and from the ensuing ruck Ospreys were penalised and Flood put Tigers 9-0 up.

Some aerial ping pong led to Ospreys being caught offside and Flood made it 12-0 after 35 minutes.

Ospreys then put together a couple of minutes of sustained pressure with the ball moving left to right and ending with a drop goal by Shane Williams, the score being confirmed by the TMO. 12-3 to Tigers.

Tigers were soon back on the attack and a good run from Matt Smith saw him feed Tom Croft and the flanker was away for a super try only to be brought back for Smith having a foot on the line.

The half ended with a Tigers attack being thwarted and James Hook putting the ball into touch.

Half time score Tigers 12 Ospreys 3. For me the best half of rugby I’d seen in a long while, if only we could have converted some of the pressure into tries it would have been perfect.

The second half started and almost immediately Harry Ellis had a kick charged down, but Flood was on hand to tidy up and make the clearance.

Flood went down injured within 5 minutes of the second half but continued on. A poor clearance from the Ospreys replacement Dan Biggar, saw Geordan Murphy break to within 10 metres of the tryline but the move broke down and the ball was cleared.

Ben Kay was adjudged to have deliberately knocked on giving Hook the first chance of the second half; however Hook put his attempt narrowly wide. From the 22 drop out Flood hit it long, Byrne caught it and went for a high kick and chase, he was obstructed by Ellis giving Hook an immediate chance to make it 12-6 which he duly took.

Derek Hougaard replaced Flood and was wide with a drop goal attempt with only his second touch of the ball. A raft of replacements was made by both teams as the pace of the game took its toll.

Hougaard and Mauger both put in kicks to peg back the Ospreys, one kick from Hougaard with the outside of his boot taking play from inside his own half to a line out on the 5 metre line.

On 72 minutes Ospreys got a penalty 38 metres out but Hook sliced his kick well wide for the scores to remain the same.

Tommy Bowe then picked the ball up in his own 22 chipped over the oncoming Tigers defence and then hacked the ball on to leave himself in  a foot race with Geordan Murphy to the try line, luckily Murphy’s challenge forced a knock on. The ensuing 5 metre scrum was turned giving Ospreys an attacking scrum. Filo Tiatia broke from the back but Tigers killed the ball 1 metre out. Ospreys elected for another scrum. A combination of Ellis and Ben Woods forced a mistake and Hougaard cleared to the Ospreys 22.

 Ospreys final chance came with a penalty, however Biggar failed to find touch and Geordan Murphy cleared into touch. With the Ospreys line out adjudged not straight the referee blew the final whistle.Tigers 12 Ospreys 6 

For me watching at the ground and then the rerun on TV, I thought despite the lack of tries it was one of the best games I’d seen in ages. However the Sky panel slated it so what do I know!

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