Ospreys 20 - 20 Glasgow: Warriors held at Liberty Stadium

Both Glasgow and the Ospreys may be among the traditional big dogs of the Guinness Pro12, but this draw did neither many favours as they risk being left in the chasing pack.

Glasgow Warriors' Sam Johnson is tackled by Ospreys' Dimitri Arhip . Picture: Ian Cook/CameraSport

It is still tight, 13 points separating the top nine teams, but it leaves these two sides in seventh and eighth, six and seven points away from the top-six respectively.

A win would have kept that side firmly in touch, so there was dissatisfaction all round in Swansea after a game which Glasgow could have taken control of, but ended up clinging on to the draw.

Certainly, Glasgow coach Gregor Townsend was relieved at the finish to see his team avoid what could have been a heartbreaking finale as home stand-off Sam Davies missed a drop-goal attempt from in front of the posts and standing on the 22.

“When you are leading a game in the second half by seven points, then obviously you are disappointed that you do not either build on that lead or see it home to get the win,” said Townsend.

“Having said that, the Ospreys were the better team in the last ten minutes. We missed a few tackles and gave them opportunities so to get a draw after that momentum swing in the last ten minutes is OK but we are disappointed because there was a lot of good play and we built a solid lead.

“We knew it was going to be a tough period after Christmas with the three Champions Cup games and a lot of away games as well, but I have been really pleased with how the players have trained.

“We have seen the effort, the play is beginning to be put into place, we got penalties in their 22 today but we were disappointed we did not turn that pressure into tries.

“It would have been a very important win for either club, an away win would have been double points chasing that top four. At one stage I felt we were going to go on and get a win but they showed ambition at the end.

“Last year there were four teams separated by a point, this year we are in eighth, the Ospreys in seventh, so there are a lot of teams very close.

“We have two games in hand so we would like to think the league table can change if we can pick up wins, but we know we will be up against tough teams.

“It is important to look at the league table nearer the end of the season. Players have been waiting for this opportunity during the Six Nations period and they know they will get them because we have so many players involved with Scotland. It is up to them to grab them.

“The players are disappointed they gave up the lead, so we know there is a bit of work to do before the next game.”

Glasgow were able to field an unusually strong team for the start of the Six Nations period and that gave them the confidence for a strong opening, rewarded with two early penalties for Duncan Weir. The Ospreys got one penalty back through Sam Davies but it was still a rare foray into Glasgow territory which brought the first try, left-wing Eli Walker cutting through the midfield from a Josh Matavesi

flip-pass.

Normal service was resumed and Glasgow’s pressure told when right wing Lee Jones ran back out of defence and created the chance which was finished off on the left wing by Rory Hughes.

While Davies and Weir both added points with the boot, the next decisive move came from the Glasgow forwards, with Ryan Wilson going close to the line and replacement loosehead Gordon Reid finishing the move off by scoring from a couple of feet out.

However, Ospreys struck back as the match moved towards the end game, Davies making the half-break for full-back Dan Evans to take the inside pass and score. Davies converted to level the scores with just over ten minutes remaining.

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