London Irish 16 (16)
Tries: De Vedia.
Cons: Hickey.
Pens: Hickey (3).

A rampant second-half display saw the Ospreys sweep aside London Irish at the Liberty Stadium.

A hat-trick tries from Shane Williams and one each from Jonathan Thomas, Ben Lewis and Alun Wyn Jones were enough to claim a comfortable win.

The Irish were very much in the game at half-time thanks to fine kicks by Eoghan Hickey and a try from Thomas De Vedia which gave their hosts a scare.

But the Ospreys came out on the attack on the resumption and were too strong.

In a lively opening, James Hook got the first score after just two minutes with a kick in front of the posts when flanker Aidan McCullen was penalised.

But Irish came back immediately and pushed to within a metre of the Ospreys line before eventually winning a penalty themselves which Hickey scored.

And they found themselves ahead on 11 minutes when wing De Vedia intercepted and raced 40 metres to go under the posts, which Hickey converted.

But within a minute, Ospreys were back in it.

De Vedia missed another attempt at an interception which left Gavin Henson to feed lock Jonathan Thomas on the right to dive over in the corner.

Hook then levelled the score with a conversion to make it 10-10.

606: DEBATE As predicted, the Ospreys came out in the second half to win Welshdragon164

The high-tempo start showed little signs of letting up and Hickey had his chance to get Irish back into the lead soon after only to put his two penalties wide of the posts, but he made no mistake at the third attempt.

The visitors were then penalised when McCullen was caught offside and Hook fired over from 40m, but were in front again from another Hickey kick.

No sooner had the Irish taken a 16-13 lead, they found themselves behind as the Ospreys' attack started to show its strength.

On 31 minutes, wing Shane Williams gave a short pass to Filo Tiatia who surged into a tackle, but managed to offload back to Williams who burst through a gap to go under the posts.

Hook's conversion made sure the Ospreys went into half time with a 20-16 lead.

The hosts showed their intent straight after the break and Andrew Bishop pushed his way through on the left-hand side only for his pass to be knocked on in the corner by Tiatia. They did, however, get their third try of the game on 46 minutes.

Tiatia rose at the line-out to pass down to Mike Phillips who ran straight through and claimed an easy score.

Hook converted and the Ospreys really started to pile on the pressure on the Irish who struggled to contain their hosts.

And on the hour, Tiatia linked up well again with Williams but the winger was stopped at the line by Hickey.

That defence was not enough for the Irish though as Marshall picked up the loose ball and the Ospreys had a huge overlap, with Ben Lewis finishing off the move for a bonus point.

Another fine conversion came from Hook who moments later chipped the ball into the corner which lock Alun Wyn Jones touched down with ease.

Despite missing the conversion, Ospreys were leading 39-16 and showed no signs of stepping down a gear.

Williams went over again with 12 minutes to go to make it 44-16 and the Irish were probably relieved at Hook's second missed conversion.

And Williams completed the rout with his hat-trick and the Ospreys seventh try soon after, side-stepping through to score with Shaun Connor taking it past the 50-point mark.

"We expect a completely different challenge from Bourgoin next week. They are an unknown quantity.

"We scored 40 points last week, 50 this week, but next Saturday there could be one score in it."

"It was good for the home spectators but not if you are an opposition coach.

"But when you lose the first game (in the EDF Cup) and you have a squad the size of ours we have to look forward to the Heineken Cup and the Premiership."

Ospreys: Byrne, Walker, A. Bishop, Henson, S. Williams, Hook, Phillips, D. Jones, Bennett, A. Jones, Wyn-Jones, Evans, Thomas, Lewis, Tiatia.
Replacements: Taylor for A. Bishop (55), Connor for Hook (73), Marshall for Phillips (55), James for D. Jones (64), Hibbard for Bennett (64), Holah for Lewis (61), Gough for Tiatia (64).

London Irish: Curran, Ojo, Rennie, Mordt, De Vedia, Hickey, Fury, Dermody, Coetzee, Lea'aetoa, Hudson, Johnson, McCullen, Thorpe, P. Murphy.
Replacements: Replacements: Hodgson for Mordt (73), Ireland for De Vedia (40), Skuse for Dermody (55), Mackie for Coetzee (61), Warren for Lea'aetoa (61), S. Armitage for P. Murphy (55).
Not Used: Fisher.

Att: 8,356