Ospreys sunk by Clermont

Clermont Auvergne inflicted a 27-7 defeat on The Ospreys to ensure that the Welsh region's hopes of Heineken Cup qualification now hang very much in the balance.

An early score from Lions winger Tommy Bowe had raised hopes of a possible Ospreys victory in France, but the hosts came roaring back to ultimately clinch a convincing triumph.

Cheered on by a partisan crowd at the Stade Marcel Michelin, Julien Malzieu and Napolioni Nalaga claimed second-half tries as they pulled away from their opponents to emerge worthy winners.

The result means that The Ospreys must now win against Leicester Tigers at the Liberty Stadium next Saturday to stand any chance of progressing to the quarter-finals.

Choosing to start with fit-again Shane Williams and James Hook on the bench, the visitors were almost ahead inside a minute as Bowe just failed to keep his feet under pressure from Malzieu.

A breathless start to the match then saw Clermont spurn a great chance as Nalaga fumbled after beating Ryan Jones to Anthony Floch's excellent chip and chase.

Bowe ensured he was not so profligate second time around to move his side ahead on seven minutes, the winger finishing well to maintain his 100 percent scoring record in this season's competition after good work from Sonny Parker and Lee Byrne had created space.

Dan Biggar added the extras and Ospreys almost doubled their lead four minutes later after opportunist play from scrum-half Ricky Januarie who stole the ball from Nalaga and raced for the try-line only to be stopped by a last-ditch saving tackle from Seremaia Bai.

Clermont respond

But that was about as good as thing got for the visitors and Clermont got a foothold in the contest on 15 minutes when Australian fly-half Brock James slotted a routine penalty after Byrne failed to release.

The French side then started to dominate both possession and territory and James added a second penalty after the Ospreys infringed in the scrum under their own posts.

A high-tackle from Jerry Collins presented James with a third shot at the posts, but his effort struck the left-hand upright.

However, he made amends moments later to put his side ahead for the first time as Alun Wyn Jones was penalised by English referee Dave Pearson for killing the ball.

The influential James stretched the lead to five by the interval as he landed a deft drop-goal to reflect Clermont's increasing domination.

James' excellent display with the boot was blotted rather after the restart as he missed two penalty attempts, and Biggar one, but it mattered little as the hosts breached the Ospreys try-line to give themselves real breathing space.

It was Malzieu who struck first on the hour-mark after Byrne had spilt James' high kick, the winger galloping home after being released by Aurelien Rougerie.

James struck the upright for the third time with his attempted conversion, but did increase the lead to 17-7 with his fourth successful penalty on 69 minutes as Adam Jones was yellow-carded for kicking the ball away.

A ragged Ospreys then shipped a second try three minutes from time as Nalaga raced home with James upping his haul to 17 points with the conversion.