Ospreys rain on Stormers winning streak

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Ospreys scored a try in the closing stages to hold the DHL Stormers to a draw in a Vodacom United Rugby Championship match played in torrential rain in Swansea on Friday night.

The 16-16 stalemate brought an end to the Stormers’ 14-game winning streak and was a fair result given the balance of play.

It was a game for the rugby purists as the rain pelted down and conditions only got worse as the match went on, making attacking rugby very difficult for both teams.

The first half was a shootout between flyhalves Stephen Myler and Manie Libbok, the Stormers goal-kicker nailing his two attempts, including one from behind the halfway line, to give the tourists a deserved 6-3 lead at the break.

Ospreys fired back in the second half through some excellent tactical kicking and kept the Stormers pinned in their own territory for large periods of the half.

The Stormers thought they had managed to engineer a match-winner when Libbok put returning wing Leolin Zas into a gap, before the speedster passed to send Paul de Wet over for the opening try.

However, shortly after Libbok kicked his third penalty to put the Stormers 16-9 up, Ospreys had one last push at the line through a driving maul, which resulted in hooker Scott Baldwin going over for the try and Myler slotting the decisive conversion.

There was still time for the Stormers to have one last attacking play. The tourists were building phases deep in Ospreys territory in the final minute when Libbok opted for a snap drop-goal attempt that sailed wide and the hosts held on to force the draw.

Photo: Twitter/@THESTORMERS

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Dylan Jack