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Morgan Morris hat-trick gives Ospreys victory over Dragons
By PA
Morgan Morris scored a hat-trick of tries as Ospreys collected a bonus-point 50-31 victory over Dragons to maintain the pressure on Scarlets as both vie to be this season’s leading Welsh club and qualify for the European Champions Cup.
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Ospreys’ five points saw them draw level with Scarlets, with both now on 44 and each having a home game in their final fixture in a fortnight’s time.
The result did not look likely when spirited Dragons led 24-8 midway through the first half but the hosts’ pack took control to be convincing winners in an entertaining game.
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Reuben Morgan-Williams scored two of Ospreys’ seven tries with Nicky Smith and Sam Parry also on the try-scoring sheet. Gareth Anscombe added six conversions and a penalty.
Jared Rosser, Adam Warren, Lewis Jones and Mesake Doge scored Dragons’ tries with Will Reed kicking three conversions and a penalty. Sam Davies added a conversion.
An Anscombe penalty gave Ospreys a second-minute lead before the visitors responded with the first try.
From a line-out in the home 22, swift passing from Dragons’ three-quarters resulted in Rosser dashing over.
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Minutes later, Ospreys were stunned when their opponents scored a second. A well-judged kick ahead from Reed was collected by Rosser, whose inside pass gave Warren an easy run-in.
Ospreys needed a quick response and it came when prop Smith forced his way over from close range but Dragons continued their impressive first quarter and were rewarded with a penalty from Reed and a converted try from Doge.
The hosts suffered a further blow when skipper Rhys Webb was forced off with an injury to be replaced by Morgan-Williams.
However, they soon overcame this setback to score two tries in quick succession. First Morris finished off a line-out drive before a break from Michael Collins put Morgan-Williams in under the posts.
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? @ospreys Morgan Morris and Rhys Webb react to a big win against Dragons
?? "We want to be the best team in Wales, and that's what we set out to be." pic.twitter.com/nFcs4UQCRp
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) May 8, 2022
Anscombe converted both before Dragons lost flanker Taine Basham to a yellow card for an attempted trip.
The home side immediately capitalised with a second try from Morris to give them a bonus point and a 29-24 interval lead.
Basham returned with no further damage to the scoreboard but Morris completed his hat-trick, with the number eight having run less than 10 metres in order to do so.
Morris was then substituted with Morgan-Williams and Parry scoring tries to emphasise Ospreys’ second-half superiority before a late try from Jones stopped Dragons from finishing the second half scoreless.
