Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Double try-scorer Daniel Kasende is tackled by Caolin Blade.Bryan Keane/INPHO Freeclassic Connacht's fightback falls short in 12-try thriller with Ospreys The western province picked up two losing bonus points in a 43-40 defeat in Swansea. 7.46pm, 22 Mar 2025 Share options Connacht 40 Rob Cole reports from the Swansea.com Stadium CONNACHT ALMOST STAGED the fightback of the season as they had the Ospreys on the ropes in the 86th minute going for the win having at one stage trailed by 24 points. The men in green had no right to be in the conversation after conceding five tries and falling behind 38-14 with only four minutes of the second half gone, yet by the end they were the dominant force having matched their hosts try for try in a 12-try extravaganza. The upshot of it all was the Ospreys moved up from 13th to seventh in the race for a play-off place and Connacht, despite picking up two points, dropped to 12th. It was a remarkable evening’s entertainment. It went right down to the wire in the end with Connacht twice getting the chance to kick deep into the home 22 from penalties for a final shot at glory. Finally, in the 86th minute, a loose ball at a Connacht breakdown allowed Adam Beard, of all people, to pick up the loose ball and kick it off the field to claim victory for the Ospreys. The visitors got off to a flying start with a try after only three minutes in the left corner from Finn Treacy. The young wing started it all by gathering a towering up-and-under superbly in his own half. His clean take enabled Connacht to get onto the front foot and he was eventually given a run to the line after a clean break into the 22′ by Cathal Forde. Josh Ione was able to convert from wide out and he also provided the extras for a try at the posts from flanker Shamus Hurley-Langton that the out-half had provided for him. Advertisement In between, Dan Edwards had got the Ospreys on the board with a penalty, but there was no suggestion of the avalanche of tries that was to come from the home side before the break. What started as a very even contest, with the Connacht backline movement posing plenty of problems for the visiting defence, suddenly turned as the Welsh region began to dictate terms up front. Keelan Giles was in the right place at the right time off his wing to notch the first of his brace of tries following a neat touchline move and he scored again when the home side shunned an easy three points with a penalty in front of the posts on the 22′ and instead took a scrum. They moved the ball left to where Ioane had moved out onto the wing after an injury to Shayne Bolton and Giles was given a walk-in. From the re-start Kieran Hardy raced over at the posts and then from the next kick-off, Daniel Kasende chased a kick over the top and simply strolled in to score as Connacht’s defenders curiously gave up the ghost down their left flank. Edwards kept on kicking the conversions and by the break, the Ospreys had a bonus-point in the bag and were leading 31-14. A thrilling counter-attack try from home fullback Jack Walsh four minutes into the second half, after the ball had gone through six pairs of hands, stretched the lead to 24 points and Connacht’s season was hanging in the balance. A driving line-out try from hooker Dave Heffernan got them back on track and two minutes later, Piers O’Connor crossed. JJ Hanrahan converted both and the gap was suddenly only 10 points with half an hour to play. For most of that time, it was Connacht on the front foot as they chased an unlikely win. Kasende’s long-range sprint after an interception dented the fightback, but then Josh Murphy and Hurley-Langton crossed in the space of two minutes. Hanrahan converted the former, leaving it a three-point game with 10 minutes of normal time to play. Could Connacht do it? They threw the kitchen sink at it and stretched the Ospreys to the limit. But after a high-phase finish, the loose Connacht passes and stern Ospreys defence proved key as the hosts held on for maximum points. Ospreys Scorers: Tries: K Giles (17, 33), K Hardy (35), D Kasende (36, 57), J Walsh (44); Cons: D Edwards 5 (18, 34, 36, 37, 45); Pen: D Edwards (5). Connacht scorers: Tries: S Bolton (3), S Hurley-Langton (14, 69), D Heffernan (48), P O’Connor (50), J Murphy (68); Cons: J Ioane 2 (4, 15), JJ Hanrahan 3 (49, 51, 68) Ospreys: J Walsh; D Kasende, E Boshoff, K Williams (P Cokanasiga 520, K Giles; D Edwards (T Davies 78), K Hardy (R Morgan-Williams 51, I Hopkins 70); G Phillips (S Thomas 43), S Parry (captain), T Botha (B Warren 47), J Ratti (J Fender 47, K Hardy 77), A Beard, M Morse, J Tipuric (T Davies 41, G McGuigan 68), M Morris Connacht: P O’Conor; F Treacy (JJ Hanrahan 30), H Gavin, C Forde, S Bolton, J Ioane, C Blade (M Devine 52); D Buckley (T Lasisi 45), D Heffernan (D Tierney-Martin 58), J Aungier (S Illo 57), D Murray, J Joyce (captain, O Dowling 44), J Murphy, S Hurley-Langton (D O’Connor 76), P Boyle (S Jansen 44) Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa) View 21 comments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “Connacht's fightback falls short in 12-try thriller with Ospreys”. 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