But determined to avoid a rerun of last year’s one sided exchange, the Ospreys hit back with a converted try, when sloppy tackling by the Tigers midfield allowed Andrew Bishop to crash over for the game’s first try.

James Hook’s conversion edged the Ospreys edged before half time and from there it was all one way traffic as the Welsh outfit notched up a further 17 second half points without reply.

With a heavy outbreak of rain coinciding with kick off, it was Leicester who made the most of the greasy conditions to dominate the opening exchanges.  Andy Goode kicked the Tigers to an early lead with a penalty after only five minutes before Harry Ellis added a drop goal ten minutes later.

But their lead was short lived.  Despite missing an opportunity to close the gap when fly half James Hook’s penalty fell short, the Ospreys made amends with a try as the game entered the second quarter. A switch pass from James Hook set up centre Andrew Bishop who shrugged off Andy Goode and then Aaron Mauger to dive in over under the posts. 

With Hook’s conversion giving the Welsh team the lead for the first time, they like they might add a second just before the half hour as a cross field kick from Andy Goode was intercepted by Ospreys full back Lee Byrne who raced 50m before being hauled down by his opposite number, Johne Murphy, just 10m out.  

As thunder clouds made way for clear skies, the Ospreys back row started to threaten, as referee Alain Rolland put the Tigers on notice for repeatedly killing the ball.  Although Hook couldn’t slot the resulting kick, his team went into the break with a slim, but deserved, 7-6 lead. 

Despite creating chances, Leicester were let down by their execution, with passes not going to hand and kicks failing to reach touch. In contrast, the Ospreys played with confidence, moving the ball and forcing their opposition onto the back foot.  A stray kick from Goode provided a counter attacking opportunity for Byrne.  Breaking out of his 22, he made 50m before finally being brought down just 20m out. 

Switching play down the right, Hook found lock Alun-wyn Jones who powered through the cover defence to dive over in the right hand corner.  Hook slotted the difficult kick and when he added a penalty six minutes later, the Tigers looked to be tamed.

With Julian White and Tom Croft adding fresh legs, Leicester managed to impose their power game.  But it was temporary and after spending almost ten minutes camped on their opponents’ try Ospreys line, a knock on from the base of a ruck relieved the pressure and allowed Hook to add a further two penalties to cap a flawless second half display.

Leicester Tigers: Johne Murphy; Ollie Smith, Dan Hipkiss, Aaron Mauger, Alesana Tuilagi; Andy Goode, Harry Ellis; Boris Stankovich, George Chuter, Martin Castrogiovanni, Louis Deacon, Ben Kay, Martin Corry (c), Ben Herring, Jordan Crane. 

Replacements: Benjamin Kayser for Chuter 74mins, Julian White for Stankovich 51 min, Richard Blaze, Tom Croft for Herring 58 min, Christophe Laussucq, Sam Vesty, Tom Varndell for Tuilagi 76mins, Stankovich for Castrogiovanni 71mins

Tries:   Pens: Goode Cons:  DG: Ellis

Sin-binned: None

Ospreys: Lee Byrne; Johnny Vaughton, Sonny Parker, Andrew Bishop, Shane Williams; James Hook, Justin Marshall; Paul James, Richard Hibbard, Adam Jones, Alun-wyn Jones, Ian Evans, Ryan Jones (c), Marty Holah, Filo Tiatia. 

Replacements: Huw Bennett for Hibbard 66 min, Duncan Jones for James 71mins, Ian Gough for Evans 69mins, Jonathan Thomas for Tiatia 69mins, Gareth Owen, Jonathan Spratt for Bishop 76mins, Aled Brew for Vaughton 77mins

Tries:  Bishop, Alun-wyn Jones  Pens: Hook 3 Cons: Hook 2  DG:

Sin-binned: None

Referee: A Rolland (Ireland)

Attendance: 65,756