Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Johnny McNicholl scores two late tries as Scarlets edge Ospreys in Llanelli

By PA
PA

Johnny McNicholl scored two tries in the final quarter to earn a 22-19 victory for the Scarlets over the Ospreys in a hard-fought Welsh derby played behind closed doors in Llanelli.

ADVERTISEMENT

Because of Covid-related postponements, it was the Scarlets’ first appearance on the field since October 22 and their resolve was rewarded with a match-winning try from McNicholl three minutes from time.

Gareth Davies and Steff Evans also scored tries for the Scarlets, with Dan Jones adding a conversion.

Video Spacer

Youth Unstoppables – Mastercard

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
      Video Spacer

      Youth Unstoppables – Mastercard

      Rhys Webb touched down twice for the Ospreys either side of a Luke Morgan try, while Josh Thomas kicked two conversions.

      Despite losing a couple of early line-outs, the Scarlets made the quicker start and deservedly took an early lead.

      The hosts built up a period of sustained pressure and Davies was on hand to dash over unopposed for a ninth-minute try.

      However, the Scarlets suffered an injury blow when flanker Josh Macleod was forced to leave the field. It must have been demoralising for Macleod as it was his first game back since rupturing his Achilles back in February.

      ADVERTISEMENT

      The home side suffered a further setback as the Ospreys drew level when Webb forced his way over from close range with a Thomas conversion making it 7-7 at the end of an evenly-contested first quarter.

      Minutes later the visitors should have taken the lead when excellent inter-passing put Dan Evans into space, but the full-back elected to go it alone and was held up over the line by Tom Price.

      It mattered little as the Ospreys soon scored their second. A poor cross-field kick from Jones saw Thomas collect and boot the ball downfield for Morgan to show his pace by beating McNicholl and Jones to the touchdown for a 12-7 interval lead.

      Three minutes after the restart, Jones missed a straightforward penalty and was soon replaced by Rhys Patchell.

      ADVERTISEMENT

      Patchell was immediately involved in the move which created an overlap try for Steff Evans, but his conversion attempt rebounded back off a post.

      Scarlets captain Scott Williams gave away a penalty for kicking out at a ball in a ruck. The Ospreys capitalised as they took a quick tap penalty to put the defence on the back foot before Webb saw a gap to score his second.

      The Ospreys appeared to be in control, but the hosts broke out of defence to give McNicholl the opportunity to run in from halfway. Patchell again missed the conversion and a subsequent penalty.

      The missed kicked might have proved costly, but the Scarlets got the reward their second-half domination deserved when McNicholl raced away for his second try to seal victory.

      ADVERTISEMENT

      South Africa v Argentina | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

      France v New Zealand | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

      England v Wales | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

      Tattoos & Rugby: Why are tattoos so popular with sportspeople? | Amber Schonert | Rugby Rising Locker Room Season 2

      Lions Share | Episode 3

      Zimbabwe vs Kenya | Rugby Africa Cup Semi Final | Full Match Replay

      USA vs Spain | Men's International | Full Match Replay

      Portugal vs Ireland | Men's International | Full Match Replay

      Trending on RugbyPass

      Comments

      0 Comments
      Be the first to comment...

      Join free and tell us what you really think!

      Sign up for free
      ADVERTISEMENT

      Latest Features

      Comments on RugbyPass

      H
      Hellhound 25 minutes ago
      Springboks' No.1 status in world rankings coming under increased threat

      I disagree. A fair system would include points for EVERY MATCH you play, top guns or dregs. The WC should not influence the points table. No tournament should. It should be simple. This much for a home or away win. The problem with that is that Top Tier nations can point stay by arranging a lot of games against those nations to bring up their points tally, which wouldn't work. At least not on the points table. It would however give Tier 2 nations more game time against the Top Tier nations, which in itself is a good thing. However, that being said, it would dilute the quality of teams as they don't face tough enough opposition to handle the real tough teams, so come WC time, they would suffer for those consequences. There is no points system that currently can be used that would be fair to all, so the best is to try and be as fair as possible. We may not like the current system, but it's the best we have. Some suggested the Soccer system, but it won't work in rugby. No one has come up with a better points system and if they did, WR isn't sharing that. They would rather keep an eye on Dr Rassie with pen in hand ready to declare everything he does as illegal and against the spirit of the game. The SA men are too big, we can't stop them. Maybe we should ban the big men from SA as illegal but keep the big men of other countries? Oh wait, now the SA backs are too fast and slippery. That isn't good for WR so let's declare fast SA backs as illegal too. Yeah, that's how it works in WR isn't it? WR and all other countries hate the Boks. Never give them the respect they deserve, then are shocked completely finding out that no South African care what the world of rugby or its fans or other nations think about us. We don't care about the points system. It's as rotten as World Rugby and it's socialistic communistic rule of laws. The Boks will keep leading the brand of rugby. Keep innovating. Keep pushing boundaries. Keep the game interesting. We respect the AB's because they respect us. They may not like us, but the respect has always been crystal clear. Over 100 years of the biggest rivalry in rugby’s history can't be thrown away just like that. No points system can do that. Between WC's, we care about the AB's, the rest is just preparation for the next WC.

      95 Go to comments
      J
      Jfp123 28 minutes ago
      New Zealanders may not understand, but in France Test rugby is the 'B movie'

      It would be interesting to see how the financial deal and viewing figures for these last 3 matches compare with those for previous tours by leading NH nations. I imagine that broadcasting rights are negotiated a fair way in advance, so did the broadcasters realise France would send a B team when they signed on the dotted line? And to what extent were viewing figures affected? I’d have thought die hard fans would tune in anyway, and more casual fans wouldn’t know much about French players, except perhaps Dupont, and wouldn’t care who played on the French side - wouldn’t it be which ABs played that would matter to them? Although the big ‘disrespect’ furore might have had an effect, but whether to increase or decrease viewing figures I couldn’t say.

      It’s not only the French national team that sends out B teams, many of their clubs do too, both in away matches in the Top14 and in Champions Cup. But these B teams often play in front of sell out crowds, and the value of the broadcasting rights for the Top 14 have gone up and up.

      Of course, home advantage is real, and matches against the Saffas and ABs where they play best is I guess at the current time the hardest test of all. However, it doesn’t look like we’ll actually see France A in NZ or SA for the foreseeable future - the Top14 really is a fabulous competition, almost year round brilliant rugby, with big stars from around the world, madly enthusiastic fans, and a big money earner, I can’t see the French making major alterations (I’m not French, but I’m a big fan too and the only alteration I’d make is a limit on individual playing time for player welfare).

      Considering their home record against NZ and away against Ireland, I think that’s enough to acknowledge that the top French players have a very high degree of skill, but if SH fans don’t see things that way, that’s up to them. My point was, if NZ fans don’t think much of them, why are they so bothered they’re not there. Anyway come 2027, France A will travel to the SH, if not NZ or SA, and we’ll see what happens!

      100 Go to comments
      S
      Soliloquin 49 minutes ago
      All Blacks squeeze past France to sweep July series in Hamilton

      Big question!

      I think they would get outsmarted by the A team, outpacked forward and depending on the form of the A team, the score would be more or less 15-20 points a higher or lower victory.

      The only issue is that France has a lot of 13s, and they were all in NZ.

      This weekend’s team was gassed out, so it’s also very much linked to fitness level.

      Just like the ABs were tired at the end of November, while the French were rusty after just one game against Japan.

      I fear they will get smashed in Paris without Dupont (confirmed to be still out) by the Springboks as it will be their first game of the international season (a nonsense to me - the biggest game will be the first)


      The squad for this France A would be:

      Gros-Mauvaka-Tatafu

      Flament-Meafou

      Cros-Ollivon-Alldritt

      Dupont-Ntamack

      Moefana-?(all 13s were in NZ) Costes ?

      Bielle-Biarrey-Penaud

      Ramos


      (But if you can take players from the NZ, then Guillard and Barassi or Fickou could be in)


      Against the C team:

      Erdocio-Bourgarit-Slimani

      Auradou-Halagahu

      Fischer-Guillard-Brennan

      Le Garrec-Hastoy

      Fickou-Depoortere

      Attissogbe-Villière

      Barré


      And a B team would be:

      Baille-Marchand-Atonio

      Cazeaux-Vergé

      Jegou-Jelonch-Gazzotti

      Lucu-Jalibert

      Danty-Frisch

      Lebel-Dréan

      Buros


      ———

      France A-France C at full fitness: 38-12

      France A-France B: 28-17

      France B-France C: 32-20


      It seems a bit like Toulouse is kind of France A at full power last year, UBB is France B at full power last year and Racing92 is France C at full power this year.

      112 Go to comments
      LONG READ
      LONG READ Hugo Keenan: 'Last man standing, safe pair of hands or world-class operator?' Hugo Keenan: 'Last man standing, safe pair of hands or world-class operator?'