Ospreys team to face Newport Gwent Dragons

The Ospreys team to play Newport Gwent Dragons on Saturday 30th October at the Liberty Stadium, kick off at 6.30pm, will be as follows:

 

15 Gareth Owen

14 Nikki Walker

13 Sonny Parker

12 Ashley Beck

11 Richard Fussell

10 Dai Flanagan

9 Jamie Nutbrown

 

1 Ryan Bevington

2 Mefin Davies

3 Craig Mitchell

4 Andy Lloyd

5 Ian Evans

6 Tom Smith

7 Marty Holah

8 Jerry Collins (Capt)

 

Replacements

16 Richard Hibbard

17 Duncan Jones

18 Cai Griffiths

19 Conor McInerney

20 Justin Tipuric

21 Rhys Webb

22 Tom Isaacs

23 Barry Davies

 

Dai Flanagan makes his Ospreys debut

If he comes off the bench, Conor McInerney will make his Magners League debut

If he comes off the bench, Tom Isaacs will make his Ospreys debut

 

The following players were not considered because of injury:

Jonathan Spratt – ACL

Ben Lewis – Neck

Morgan Allen - Ankle

Fifteen players were unavailable because of international commitments

 

Forwards Coach, Jonathan Humphreys, commented:

“It’s going to be a tough evening for us. You know what to expect when you face the Dragons, and that is that they will look to make life as uncomfortable as possible for you. They won’t be as affected by international calls as us so they will bring a settled team that has been playing together for a period of time, and we are aware of the threats they have across the pitch.

“It’s always a challenge for us at this time of the year, coping with the absentees away with the various national squads, but that’s why we’ve tried to build a squad that has plenty of depth. Aspects of the 23 may have an unfamiliar look to them, but we'd expect the attitude and approach of everyone involved to be spot on.

“It’s an exciting time. There’ll be players coming in who haven’t had much game time and they now have their opportunity to stake a claim for a place in the longer term. We don’t pick on reputation here, we pick on form, and if players put their hands up, it will make life difficult for us as coaches in the weeks and months to come, which is exactly how it should be.

“We need to bounce back from what was a disappointing performance and result in Glasgow last weekend. It’s important that we win our home games, it’s the basis of any successful season, and it’s what we expect from whatever team we send out to represent the Ospreys.”

Forthcoming Fixtures

Sat 6 Nov – Newcastle Falcons V Ospreys – Kingston Park – LV= Cup - 6.30pm

Fri 12 Nov – Ospreys V Leicester Tigers – Brewery Field – LV= Cup – 7.45pm

Fri 19 Nov – Connacht V Ospreys – The Sportsground – Magners League – 7.00pm

Sun 28 Nov – Ospreys V Leinster – Liberty Stadium – Magners League – 5.00pm