Team To Face Munster

The Ospreys team to face Munster in the Magners League on Saturday 19th April at Musgrave Park (7.30pm KO) will be as follows...

The Ospreys team to face Munster in the Magners League on Saturday 19th April at Musgrave Park, kick off at 7.30pm, will be as follows:- 15 Lee Byrne 14 Johnny Vaughton 13 Sonny Parker 12 Andrew Bishop 11 Shane Williams 10 James Hook 9 Justin Marshall 8 Filo Tiatia (Capt) 7 Marty Holah 6 Jonathan Thomas 5 Ian Evans 4 Ian Gough 3 Cai Griffiths 2 Huw Bennett 1 Duncan Jones Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington 17 Andrew Millward 18 Lyndon Bateman 19 Ben Lewis 20 Gareth Owen 21 Jonathan Spratt 22 Aled Brew.  Injury and squad availability news Four players are not available for selection this week: Gavin Henson has responded well to treatment on the ligament damage to his left ankle suffered during the second half against Saracens but has been given further time to fully recover from the injury. It is anticipated that he will be involved against Newport Gwent Dragons next week Mike Phillips recently underwent surgery to repair damage to his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments and will be out of action until next season Nikki Walker is suffering from a stress fracture of the fibia in the right leg. He is expected to be out of action for a further three/four weeks Barry Williams is undergoing a four-month rehabilitation programme following keyhole surgery on his hip in January and will not play again this season  Head Coach Lyn Jones commented as follows... "With five games remaining of the season, we are not looking down the table, we are concentrating on the teams currently above us. We are seven points behind the Scarlets and 12 points behind the Blues, but we have two games in hand on both of them, and we are still targeting finishing above both of those sides to finish the highest of the Welsh regions. It will be a tough ask, and the games will come thick and fast over the final weeks of the season, but we will be taking inspiration from our form at the end of last season, when we came back to the Magners League after the EDF Energy Cup Final and put together a good run of results in tough circumstances to rise up the table and take the title. Even though we have to concede that the title is out of reach for us this year, I'll be looking to the players to keep their focus for the next 4/5 weeks as we utilise the whole squad as best as possible as we look to achieve our aim. If we are able to finish as the highest placed Welsh side then I think it would be quite an achievement given the disruption our campaign has had due to international call-ups and long term injuries from last season, with us only able to select from a full squad on four occasions in our 13 Magners League fixtures to date -Munster may have one eye on their Heineken Cup semi-final next weekend, but it is fair to say that there is never an easy game against Munster as everyone who pulls on the red shirt understands their responsibility. It looks like being a tight affair, something of a battle between the two sides who consistently have the best defences so we know that we will have to be on top of our game." Forthcoming fixtures are as follows:(All Magners League) Saturday 19th April - Munster V Ospreys - Musgrave Park - 7.30pm Friday 25th April - Ospreys V Newport Gwent Dragons - Liberty Stadium - 7.35pm Friday 2nd May - Ospreys V Edinburgh - Liberty Stadium - 7.10pm Friday 9th May - Connacht V Ospreys - The Sports Ground - 6.30pm TBC - Newport Gwent Dragons V Ospreys - Rodney Parade (All fixtures are subject to change)