Hadden signs off with a flourish as champions fall

Edinburgh 24 Ospreys 18

Matt Lloyd
Sunday 25 September 2005 19:00 EDT
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Hadden will switch offices at Murrayfield this week when he takes over from Matt Williams as the head coach of Scotland.

It was hardly a surprise to anyone that the man who has helped to rejuvenate the nation's largest district this season would take over the top job. A Scottish side has yet to come close to winning the Celtic League, which is now in its fifth year, but Edinburgh are putting forward their strongest case to date.

Meanwhile the Ospreys, still without three of their four British Lions, are discovering that winning the title is very different to defending it. Languishing two places off the foot of the table, they have now lost as many games in the first month as they did throughout the whole of last season's campaign.

But Hadden will care little for the Ospreys' woes when he takes charge of Scotland, and will bank on the form being shown by two key players, Chris Paterson and Simon Taylor, to help his cause.

Paterson was again Edinburgh's most enterprising player, landing four kicks, while Taylor, one of the game's unluckiest men, finally made his return from the injury suffered on the eve of the Lions tour to New Zealand.

It was Taylor who broke the deadlock three minutes into the second half after Allister Hogg capitalised on a hash of a line-out by Ospreys.

Matthew Jones replied for the Welsh side, who had taken the lead through Steffan Terblanche after less than two minutes, only for the Edinburgh centre Rob Dewey to use his power and pace to force a way over on 58 minutes. Jones clinched a bonus point for the Ospreys with the last kick of the game.

Edinburgh: Tries Dickinson, Taylor, Dewey; Conversions Paterson 3; Penalty Paterson. Ospreys: Tries Terblanche; M Jones; Conversion M Jones; Penalties M Jones 2.

Edinburgh: H Southwell; C Paterson, M Di Rollo, R Dewey, S Webster; P Godman (D Hodge, 73), M Blair (R Lawson, 64); A Jacobsen, D Hall (A Kelly, 67), A Dickinson (C Smith, 69), A Kellock (F Pringle, 57), S Murray, M Mustchin (S Cross, 63), A Hogg, S Taylor.

Ospreys: S Terblanche (S Connor, 25); R Mustoe, S Parker, A Bishop, J Vaughton; M Jones, J Spice; D Jones, H Bennett (B Williams, 66), A Millward (P James, 75), B Cockbain, A Newman, L Bateman (W Evans, 73), S Tandy, J Thomas (L Beech, 69).

Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).

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