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Wilson beams with pride following Ospreys win

15th April 2017


Danny Wilson has paid tribute to Cardiff Blues after they physically dominated the Ospreys to claim a bonus-point Guinness PRO12 victory on Judgement Day.

The Blues were in control throughout the encounter and put on an exhibition of attacking rugby as they racked up five tries.

Ellis Jenkins scooped the man-of-the-match award after the Blues back-row bossed the breakdown at the Principality Stadium.

They led 21-3 at the interval following tries from Kristian Dacey, Lloyd Williams and Nick Williams and rounded off the victory with further scores from Taufa’ao Filise and Gareth Anscombe.

And Wilson has pinpointed the Blues’ physicality both with and without the ball as the main factor behind their triumph.

He said: “We were certainly the mote physical of the two sides. Derbies are won on physicality, we turned up with the right attitude and also knew that the Ospreys start very well, it was important we did that to them.

“You have to be physical at the contact area, your carrying game and obviously in defence and the boys really produced some physicality that the Ospreys struggled to match.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve seen the Ospreys do that to the Blues and it was nice to turn that around.

“We have boys who are very good on the ball, we want a quick tackle, get over the ball and turn it over. We did that a number of times today, Ellis Jenkins were outstanding and Nick Williams and Josh Navidi were very close behind him.

“The forward pack really provided a platform and we all know when we have our best players on the pitch we can go against anybody.” 

The victory was the Blues’ first over the Ospreys since 2010 and came on the back of a string of impressive performances, which proved not quite enough.

But Wilson was delighted to give the Blues contingent in a crowd in excess of 60,000 something to cheer.

He added: “We scored five tries in 47 minutes, which was a great achievement against the best defence in the league.

“Performance-wise we have played well in the last few weeks bar a 15-minute period against Gloucester. 

“Our supporters have really got behind the boys in those performances and we have a very passionate and educated supporter group. It’s great to reward them today with a win against the Ospreys and on an occasion like Judgement Day, which has a cup final feeling.”