Ospreys coach Toby Booth described his side’s encounter with Montpellier as a “fantastic spectacle” after a 35-29 win gave the Welsh region a huge chance of reaching the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup of Champions.
A try from Morgan Morris with two minutes left sealed the win and gave the Ospreys an extra bonus point to move them to 10 points in Pool B.
Barring a string of impressive results, that figure should prove sufficient for qualification, although for added reassurance they may still need something from Friday’s final at Leicester.
Alex Cuthbert (two), Justin Tiburek and Maurice Ospreys scored a try as Kai Evans kicked the proof he had three penalties and three conversions.
Montpellier beat its hosts by 5 tries against 4 Paul Williams (two), Bastien Chalauroux, Thomas Darmont and Kobus Renach.
Booth, whose side beat the French champions 21-10 away from home last month, said: “We’re in the business of entertainment and this game certainly delivered on that as it goes from one extreme to the next.
“After the game there, we knew they would find a point to prove, but we found a way to win.
“Kai (Evans) took his chance because it has been a difficult journey for him with injuries, but now he is really thriving and realizing the talent he has.”
Ospreys goal kick champion Evans said: “After beating them there we knew they were going to come out of the blocks but in the end we managed to win.
“Neither team could get a big lead and the game went down, so I’m glad we came out on the right side of the score.
“My last beauty queen made her theatrical, but she gave good entertainment to the neutrals.”
Montpellier’s director of rugby Philippe St Andre felt his teams were not helping each other at Swansea.
“We had chances to win, but we weren’t very good in terms of kicks,” he said.
“The Ospreys deserved to beat us at home and they showed a lot of commitment tonight but we gave up a few tries quietly.
“It was a good match for the neutrals, but we lost a lot of points in the kicking match, and very often you don’t score five away tries and you still lose.”
Despite their defeat, Montpellier are still in contention and are likely to make a bonus point win against London Irish at home next weekend.
Captain Willems said: “It’s a good challenge because we need five points, but if we get it and go up we can go further.
“Our attack was good tonight, although we made some defensive mistakes, but the two points we scored confirm that we are still in the middle.”
