Ospreys 26 Connacht 9:OSPREYS COMPLETED a comfortable bonus-point victory over Connacht in the RaboDirect PRO12 at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

It was the region’s fourth straight league win with tries coming from wing Eli Walker, flanker Justin Tipuric, number eight Jonathan Thomas and scrum-half Kahn Fotuali’i. Dan Biggar kicked three conversions.

All Connacht could manage were three Dan Parks penalties.

Ospreys, who were without Lions duo Adam Jones and Ryan Jones, included Biggar after his call-up to the Wales autumn Tests squad this week and the outhalf was in the thick of the action as the hosts enjoyed plenty of possession, with Walker looking particularly dangerous.

But despite plenty of ball the Ospreys failed to turn pressure into points in the opening minutes. It eventually told, however, as the region spread the ball with fullback Richard Fussell putting over Walker for the opening try. Biggar converted to make it 7-0 after 15 minutes.

Walker was in the thick of it again as he put Ospreys back in a good territorial position with a kick and chase to the left corner.

Connacht had the chance to break their duck when their first meaningful attack ended with Parks putting over a penalty after 30 minutes. Three minutes later Parks was on target again after another Ospreys transgression to cut the home lead to 7-6.

But the Welsh side responded with a second try two minutes from the break. Biggar found Fussell with a long pass and the fullback turned provider again to put Tipuric over in the right corner. Biggar failed with the conversion but Ospreys went in 12-6 to the good at the break.

Ospreys opened up a 13-point lead two minutes into the second half when Thomas picked off Parks’ pass and ran in unopposed from 30 metres out, and Biggar converted.

Connacht did cut the deficit to 10 points as Parks converted his third penalty in the 52nd minute.

It took Ospreys until eight minutes from time to grab the bonus-point try when Fotuali’i went over from a tapped penalty after a collapsed five-metre scrum by Connacht. Biggar put over his third conversion as the Ospreys extended the winning margin to 17 points.

OSPREYS: Fussell; H Dirksen, Bishop, Beck, Walker; Biggar, Fotuali’i; Bevington, Hibbard, Jarvis; A Jones, Evans; Bearman, Tipuric, Thomas. Replacements: D Jones for Bevington (50 mins), King for Evans (70 mins), Rees for Jarvis (74 mins), Isaacs for Bishop (74 mins), Morgan for Fussell (79 mins), Webb for Fotuali’i (79 mins).

Connacht: Leader; O’Halloran, Henshaw, Fifita, Vainikolo; Parks, Marmion; Wilkinson, Harris-Wright, White; Swift, Naoupu; Muldoon, Faloon, McKeon. Replacements: Poolman for Fifita (31 mins), Gannon for Naoupu (39 mins), O’Connor for Faloon (50 mins), Moore for Marmion (50 mins), Ah You for Wilkinson (58 mins), Flavin for Harris-Wright (63 mins), Loughney for White (68 mins).

Referee: George Clancey (RFU).

LONDON IRISH FALL: Casson try key for Quins

A fortuitous last-minute try from Tom Casson gave defending Aviva Premiership champions Harlequins a remarkable 31-28 victory over London Irish at the Madejski Stadium.

Casson thought he had blown the opportunity in the last play of the game but the television match official ruled that what appeared to be a knock-on had in fact come off Casson's knee, making his subsequent grounding a legal one.

The defeat was harsh on the Exiles who matched Quins throughout and looked destined to claim a vital win behind Irish outhalf Ian Humphreys' outstanding kicking display.

Tries from Danny Care and Tom Williams put Quins clear at 26-19 with just over 20 minutes remaining but back came the Exiles behind Humphreys' boot before Casson's late effort.