Ospreys beat Leicester for Cup

LONDON (Reuters) - The Ospreys gained revenge for last season's final defeat by Leicester when they convincingly beat the English side 23-6 in the EDF Energy Cup final at Twickenham on Saturday.

A week after their surprise defeat by Saracens in the Heineken Cup, the Welsh region produced a powerful all-round display to secure the Anglo-Welsh trophy and leave Leicester with only the Premiership as a hope of silverware.

Leicester, fresh after having last weekend off, started strongly and led 6-0 with a penalty and drop goal by Andy Goode, though the flyhalf also missed with two penalty attempts.

Last year they blew the Ospreys away in the first half before hanging on for a 41-35 success in a Twickenham classic but this time the Ospreys, containing the bulk of the Wales Six Nations grand slam-winning team, hit back strongly.

Centre Andrew Bishop, in for the injured Gavin Henson, blasted through four tackles for the first try of the match, which James Hook converted for a 7-6 halftime lead.

The Ospreys stretched their advantage seven minutes after the restart with a try by lock Alun Wyn Jones after a sharp break by fullback Lee Byrne and Hook converted from the sideline to make it 14-6.

Leicester had plenty of possession in the second half but rarely threatened against some impressive defence and instead the Ospreys, whose forwards stood up strongly to the Leicester pack, kept the scoreboard ticking in their favour with three confidently-struck Hook penalties.

Earlier on Saturday in a Twickenham curtain--raiser, Northampton beat Exeter 24-13 in the National Trophy final to complete the double after they had previously won the first division title and promotion to the Premiership after winning all 28 of their league games played to date.

(Writing by Mitch Phillips; Editing by Sonia Oxley)