An evening of relentless embarrassment for Edinburgh, a humiliation as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests.

The capital side can take some credit for their eager approach, but their execution throughout was woeful. Time and again they carried the ball forward into contact, and time and again they had it ripped off them by sharper and more streetwise opponents.

The result was no reflection of the battle for territory or possession, but it was still a fair measure of the difference between the two sides when it came to converting opportunities into points. The Ospreys scored six tries to Edinburgh's one, and had the Swansea-based outfit been just a little more clinical, they would have coasted far past the 50-point mark.

As it was, having brought their five Lions players back into action, they seemed more concerned with spreading the workload along their replacements bench than rubbing Edinburgh noses in the dirt.

Not that the result will be any easier to swallow for Edinburgh coach Alan Solomons. When he arrived at Murrayfield in early August, the South African gave himself two months to get to grips with the side's problems, but his frustrations must be mounting as that period nears its end. Edinburgh, unquestionably, have good players on their books, and they play with admirable levels of appetite and ambition, but they have a limitless capacity for unforced errors and comic blunders.

At the Liberty Stadium, Dave Denton could have been taken as a symbol of the wider malaise. The Scotland forward hammered away at the Ospreys' defence, stripping off yards almost every time he advanced with the ball in hand, but he was robbed of possession with galling ease. To make matters worse, Denton made a couple of glaring and unforced errors, mistakes that robbed Edinburgh of the momentum that was always likely to be critical in this game.

Edinburgh may not be the basket case they were last season, but they will have to tighten up considerably, and in almost every area, if they are to trouble the PRO 12's better sides this season.

Their tendency to self-destruct was evident right from the go here. A weak kick-off gifted early possession to the Ospreys, who duly trundled upfield, won a line-out in the right corner, and then sent Canadian winger Jeff Hassler over for a try with barely three minutes on the clock.

Dan Biggar converted, then clipped over a couple of easy penalties to put the Ospreys 13-0 in front with just 17 minutes played. On that mark, the Ospreys sat back for most of the third quarter, but then Edinburgh's fitful efforts to get back into the game were never likely to cause panic in the Welsh ranks. Two minute before half time, they hammered home their superiority again, with Eli Walker wafting over for a try after clever build-up work by Biggar and Richard Fussell.

Harry Leonard had struck on first-half penalty for Edinburgh, so there was still scope for hope in the 18-3 deficit the Scots faced at the interval. That, though, was all but dynamited within two minutes of the re-start when Richard Hibbard collected a clever try down the blindside of a maul as the Edinburgh defence grouped to defend the drive.

Ten minutes later, Hibbard had another score to his name, bringing up the bonus point for the Ospreys. To their credit, Edinburgh had also claimed a try by that point, with Tim Visser scorching through in the 45th minute for the 50th touchdown of his record-setting career. For a few minutes, it seemed a fightback might be on the cards, its likelihood heightened when Justin Tipuric was sin-binned for a tackle on Sean Kennedy, but Hibbard's second try demolished that notion before it took root.

Walker scored his second try just after Hibbard completed his brace, while replacement fly-half Matthew Morgan drew down the curtain on Edinburgh's miserable evening with the sixth touchdown three minutes from the end.

Ospreys: R Fussell; J Hassler (A Natoga, 60), A Bishop, A Beck, E Walker (T Grabham, 70); D Biggar (M Morgan, 65), T Tebaldi; D Jones, R Hibbard (S Baldwin, 55), A Jones (J Rees, 65), A W Jones (captain), I Evans (T Ardron, 65), T Smith (J Tipuric, 37), S Lewis, M Allen.

Edinburgh: G Tonks; N Walker, D Fife (M Tait, 40), N De Luca, T Visser (J Cuthbert, 70); H Leonard, S Kennedy (S HidalgoClyne, 50); A Dickinson (W Blaauw, 50), A Lutui (J Hilterbrand, 63), G Cross (WP Nel, 45), G Gilchrist, I Van der Westhuizen (O Atkins, 73), D Basilaia, R Grant (captain; H Watson, 59)), D Denton.

Referee: M Mitrea (Italy)