RaboDirect Pro 12: Treviso 27-32 Ospreys

Ospreys fly-half Dan Biggar is tackled by Alberto Chillon of Treviso

Ospreys produced a second-half comeback to beat Treviso and maintain their 100% start to the Pro12 season.

Treviso were on course for their first win of the season when they held an 18-16 half-time lead through Luca Morisi and Benjamin Vermaak's tries.

But Ospreys flanker Tom Smith broke through in the second half, adding to Tom Isaacs' first-half try.

Willem de Waal kicked three penalties as Treviso threatened, but Kristian Phillips' penalty ensured Ospreys won.

Fly-half Dan Biggar did the rest, kicking 19 points to help the Ospreys over the line at the Stadio Monigo.

Ospreys head coach Sean Holley was delighted to emerge on top.

"It was a hard-earned win, we really had to fight for everything this afternoon," Holley said.

"We didn't play great, but we dug in well and showed a lot of resolve at the end to make sure of the win.

"Treviso will claim a lot of scalps here this season, just as they did last year, they are a very difficult team to play against.

"The first try from Tom Isaacs was really timely, coming just before half-time.

"We probably didn't deserve to be as in touch as we were on the first-half performance, we were a little bit ragged and the heat got to us a little bit.

"We started the second half brightly, applied a bit of early pressure, retaining the ball well and recycling, which allowed Tom Smith to get over for our second try.

"Treviso made life very difficult for us. When we were able to get to grips with them, particularly in the second half, keep the ball and go through phases, then we looked more threatening.

"We saw some excellent goal-kicking from Dan Biggar, he punished them from all areas of the field, but then when we lost him for the closing stages we showed a lot of resolve and determination to stick in there for the win.

"There was a lot of pressure on that last kick, and with Dan yellow carded Kristian Phillips had to step up for it. He struck it well and showed good character."

Teams:

Treviso: Ludovico Nitoglia; Benjamin De Jager, Ezio Galon, Luca Morisi, Brendan Williams; Kristopher Burton, Alberto Chillon; Michele Rizzo, Diego Vidal, Pedro Di Santo, Antonio Pavanello (capt), Benjamin Vermaak, Gonzalo Padrò, Francesco Minto, Marco Filippucci.

Replacements: Enrico Ceccato, Matteo Muccignat, Augusto Allori, Valerio Bernabò, Manoa Vosawai, Willem De Waal, Simon Picone, Michele Sepe.

Ospreys: Richard Fussell; Tom Isaacs, Sonny Parker, Andrew Bishop, Hanno Dirksen; Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb; Duncan Jones, Mefin Davies, Cai Griffiths, Ian Gough, Ian Evans, Tom Smith, Justin Tipuric (capt), Jonathan Thomas.

Replacements: Scott Baldwin, Aaron Jarvis, Joe Rees, James Goode, James King, Morgan Allen, Matthew Morgan, Kristian Phillips.

Referee: Neil Hennessy (WRU)

Assistant Referees: Stefano Traversi, Stefano Marrama (FIR)

Citing Commissioner: Maurizio Vancini (FIR)