Ospreys team to face Ulster

The Ospreys team to play Ulster on Friday 24th February 2012 at Ravenhill, kick off at 7.05pm, will be as follows:

15 Richard Fussell

14 Hanno Dirksen

13 Andrew Bishop

12 Stefan Watermeyer

11 Eli Walker

10 Dan Biggar

9 Kahn Fotuali’i

 

1 Duncan Jones

2 Scott Baldwin

3 Joe Rees

4 Ian Gough

5 James King

6 Tom Smith (Capt)

7 Sam Lewis

8 Joe Bearman

 

Replacements:

16 Mefin Davies

17 Ryan Bevington

18 Will Taylor

19 Jonathan Thomas/Lloyd Peers

20 George Stowers

21 Rhys Webb

22 Matthew Morgan

23 Ashley Beck

 

A decision will be made regarding Jonathan Thomas’ fitness on Friday, as he recovers from the back injury that meant he missed last weekend’s win over Aironi.

 

Stefan Watermeyer makes his PRO12 debut

Scott Baldwin makes his first PRO12 start

Will Taylor will make his PRO12 debut if he comes off the bench

 

The following players were not considered because of injury:

Will Price - ACL

Cai Griffiths - Arm

Aaron Jarvis – Rib

Richard Kelly - Wrist

Ben John - Groin

Gareth Owen – ACL

Nikki Walker – ACL

 

There are 16 players absent on international duty with Wales, Ireland, Wales U20, and Scotland U20.

 

Forwards Coach, Jonathan Humphreys, commented:

“It’s good to go to Ulster off the back of two wins but we know that there’s going to have be a real improvement from last week if we are going to make it three from three.

 

“Ravenhill is always a difficult place to go, even more so when they are in the kind of form they’ve shown during their European campaign this season. It’s likely to be a full house, a passionate atmosphere, and a difficult evening for what is largely a young Ospreys team, with a sprinkling of experience. It’s nights like these where you learn a lot about a team, about the character and spirit of young guys. It’s going to be a great test.

 

“We’ve got ourselves in a good position in the PRO12, mainly down to these guys, who’ve been here during the World Cup and Six Nations. We need to maintain our focus now and make sure we finish the job in the coming weeks and secure that home semi-final."

 

Forthcoming fixtures

Fri 2 Mar – Ospreys v Glasgow – Liberty Stadium – RaboDirect PRO12 – 7.05pm

Fri 23 Mar – Leinster v Ospreys – RDS Showground – RaboDirect PRO12 – 7.05pm

Sat 31 Mar – Ospreys v Benetton Treviso – Liberty Stadium – RaboDirect PRO12 – 6.30pm