Mark Jones’ side won 21-17 against the South African outfit on Saturday but the game has been mired in controversy
The row surrounding the Ospreys’ victory over the Sharks has taken a bizarre turn, with the South African outfit’s owner Marco Masotti suggesting players should undergo a lie detector test.
Mark Jones’ side secured a superb 21-17 victory at Brewery Field on Saturday thanks to tries from Dan Edwards, Jac Morgan and Garyn Phillips. However, the game has been mired in controversy in the aftermath, with Sharks fans aiming accusations at the Welsh side and head coach JP Pietersen meeting with referee bosses after being left furious at the full-time whistle.
The visitors to Bridgend were unhappy with a challenge from Ospreys wing Luke Morgan on centre Ethan Hooker as the Springboks centre was left with a dislocated shoulder that is set to keep him on the sidelines for months. The incident has led Morgan to be subjected to intense social media backlash from South African fans, with head coach Jones calling the reaction “a disgrace”.
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However, Sharks supporters and some pundits have also accused the Welsh region of ‘cheating’, after an injury to Phillips saw the final 15 minutes of the contest played with uncontested scrums, at a time when the visitors were getting the upper hand at the set-piece.
After the match, Pietersen questioned the authenticity of Phillips’ injury, suggesting the Ospreys deliberately “took away the scrum contest” but stopping short of accusing them of cheating.
However, Masotti has now levelled such accusations at the Welsh side, suggesting they have tainted the integrity of the URC and bizarrely likening the events in Bridgend to Diego Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal at the 1986 World Cup.
Incredibly, he has also suggested that those involved should undertake a lie detector test.
Taking to X, the Sharks owner wrote: “I walked into the Bridgend stadium last Saturday and felt the spirit of rugby with so many Welsh legends plastered on the walls — only to leave with the spirit of Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ following the uncontested scrums.
“The integrity of our URC league demands better. Is anyone involved willing to submit to a lie detector test? I am sure our fans will offer a reward to anyone who comes forward with information.”
It comes after Pietersen said his side were “moving on” after meeting with the league’s head of refereeing to question some of the decisions made during the game.
“We had a review meeting with the head of refereeing at the URC. And yeah, the matter was dealt with. We got all our answers to our questions,” he told reporters.
“It’s obviously a confidential chat with us and everything. We can ask questions, and we’ll get answers. At the end of the day, they did investigate it, and they came up with the answer. And yeah, we move on.”
After the match, South African pundit Jonathan Mokuena demanded that the Sharks coaches should see an “injury report” for Phillips and, addressing the controversy earlier this week, Jones said he would “more than happy” to produce evidence of the prop’s injury.
“Again, there’s been a lot of talk,” said the Ospreys boss. “I haven’t read through all the talk. There’s been suggestions that Garyn Phillips wasn’t injured. It’d be quite easy for me to produce his scan. If anybody would like that, we’re more than happy to show it.
“But it’s not my scan, it’s Garyn’s and that’s his private information. He won’t be featuring for us this week. He’s injured as a result of scoring his try. He tried his absolute best to carry on for the team, getting into a couple of scrums after. You could see he wasn’t able to function.
“Gareth Thomas failed his HIA test 1,” Jones added. “He was unable to continue so we were unable to field a front-row. Those are the facts. It’s unfortunate.
“There’s some people there who have got incredible integrity. Players, staff, coaches. We at the Ospreys pride ourselves on our integrity and we’re pretty disappointed that people are suggesting we didn’t adhere to everything we should have on gameday.”
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