Match Report

Ospreys - 35

Newcastle Falcons - 15

Saturday 11th Jan 2025 | KO 17:30 | Swansea.com Stadium

Newcastle Falcons’ search for a first win of the EPCR Challenge Cup season continues after they were outgunned by Ospreys on Saturday in Swansea.

The visitors got off to the ideal start, earning solid field position and making it count on seven minutes when Kieran Wilkinson’s chip over the onrushing defence was caught by Louis Brown for a walk-in.

Wilkinson added the extras, and Newcastle were making Ospreys play inside their own half as the boot of Brown and James Elliott penned them back.

It was therefore against the run of play that the Welshmen drew level on 16 minutes, full-back Jack Walsh diving into the left corner for a converted try after catching a chip ahead.

Parity lasted for less than a minute as the Falcons went up the other end and earned a penalty 25 metres out down the right, which Wilkinson duly slotted between the uprights.

Ospreys kicked a penalty to the left corner on the quarter mark only to lose the resulting line-out, and the Falcons themselves missed an opportunity for further points when Wilkinson’s 21st-minute penalty was pulled just wide of the sticks.

The Welshmen edged ahead just before the half-hour from a more clinical line-out drive – a penalty sent to the right corner, from where hooker Sam Parry steered the maul home.

Dan Edwards added the touchline conversion, and he did so again just four minutes later when winger Daniel Kasende added a third converted try in the right corner from a flowing passage of handling play.

The home side were reduced to 14 men when lock Will Spencer was sin-binned for a high tackle on Ollie Leatherbarrow, and although the Falcons kicked a penalty to the right corner with the final play of the half they could not manage to find their way over the try-line from the resulting phases.

That left Ospreys 21-10 up at the break, Newcastle hanging in there during the opening exchanges of the second half as Elliott hoisted a string of high bombs into the home half.

The Falcons found some field position when Connor Doherty stripped the ball in contact and Elliott threaded a 50-22 to the left corner, but they could not make it count from the resulting red-zone phases.

Max Pepper prevented a try when he dotted down an Ospreys grubber to the in-goal around the hour mark, but the hosts chalked up their bonus point five minutes later when Walsh dived in down the right-hand side after the ball was worked wide from a maul in the left corner.

Edwards added another touchline conversion to maintain his 100% record, and he did so again quickly after when replacement scrum-half Kieran Hardy rounded off a simple two-on-one down the right.

Newcastle at least had the last say when Max Pepper scored in the right corner two minutes from time, the winger finishing a simple move after a scrum in front of the posts was worked to the width.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Louis Brown (Jack Metcalf, 68), 14 Max Pepper, 13 Oli Spencer, 12 Connor Doherty (Rhys Beeckmans, 68), 11 Nathan Greenwood, 10 Kieran Wilkinson, 9 James Elliott (Hugh O’Sullivan, 58); 1 Micky Rewcastle (Connor Hancock, 57), 2 Ollie Fletcher (Bryan Byrne, 58), 3 Callum Hancock (Murray McCallum, 57), 4 John Hawkins, 5 Adam Scott (Finn Baker, 57), 6 Philip van der Walt (captain), 7 Josh Bainbridge (Reuben Parsons, 58), 8 Ollie Leatherbarrow.

Scorers – Tries: Louis Brown, Max Pepper. Conversions: Kieran Wilkinson. Penalties: Kieran Wilkinson.

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams (Evardi Boshoff, 35), 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams (Kieran Hardy, 53); 1 Gareth Thomas, 2 Sam Parry (Lewis Lloyd, 47), 3 Tom Botha (Ben Warren, 47), 4 Will Spencer, 5 Will Griffiths (James Ratti, 53), 6 Jac Morgan (captain, Morgan Morse, 60), 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Morgan Morris.

Scorers – Tries: Jack Walsh 2, Sam Parry, Daniel Kasende, Kieran Hardy. Conversions: Dan Edwards 5.

Referee: Kevin Bralley (France). Attendance: 3,198.