For the second week in a row, Gavin Henson steered the Neath-Swansea Ospreys to victory over NEC Harlequins in the Heineken Cup. The Wales international scored two tries and finished with an individual tally of 26 points in a comfortable 46-19 victory for the Ospreys at the Stoop; a result that leaves Quins still looking for their first win in Europe this season.
Adrian Jarvis converted two penalties to put Quins 6-0 in front with 15 minutes on the clock, but the visitors hit back and scored the opening try of the match two minutes before the end of the first quarter. Winger Shane Williams made ground down the left flank and a perfectly weighted cross-field kick from Henson was taken by Stefan Terblanche, who made no mistake in claiming the five points.
Henson missed the conversion but landed his opening penalty of the afternoon 11 minutes later, which put the Ospreys into the lead for the first time (8-6). Jarvis cancelled this score out in similar fashion eight minutes before the interval, before Henson went over for the visitors second try. Full back Adrian Durston took play deep into the Quins twenty-two, before Henson broke through a gap in midfield to go over unopposed for a score he converted, which made the score 15-9 to the Ospreys.
Quins response was immediate and from a scrum five metres from the Ospreys line, Will Greenwood powered his way over for the home sides only try of the contest. A successful conversion from Jarvis put Quins back into a one-point advantage (16-15), but it lasted just a matter of minutes as the Ospreys scored their third try of the half straight from the restart.
Tani Fuga knocked the ball on from the kick-off and from the resulting scrum number eight Ryan Jones bulldozed his way through the first line of defence, before having the pace to beat the chasing defenders to the left hand corner. Henson converted from the touchline to make the score 22-16 at the halfway stage.
Eight minutes into the second half and Quins were reduced to 14 men, as Luke Sherriff was sent to the sin-bin for a professional foul. Henson converted the penalty from in front of the posts, only for Jarvis to again reply in similar fashion a minute late to make the score 25-19 in the Ospreys favour. No sooner had Sherriff returned to the field, then replacement Karl Rudzki received a yellow card that kept Quins a man down.
Henson missed two penalty attempts, but made amends in dramatic fashion six minutes into the final quarter by scoring a great individual try that effectively settled the outcome. The centre took the ball on halfway and made light work of attempted tackles from Greenwood and Jarvis, before showing great pace to weave his way to the line for a try that gave the Ospreys a bonus point. Henson added the two extra points from the conversion that put the visitors two scores clear (32-19).
To make matters worse for Quins, a dangerous late tackle from Ace Tiatia meant he became the third player to receive a yellow card in the half. In the final ten minutes, Williams and fly half Matthew Jones added to the Ospreys try scoring tally, both of which were converted by Henson.
Final score, 19-46.
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