Ospreys team to play Leinster

The Ospreys team for the PRO12 game against Leinster at Liberty Stadium on Friday 27th February 2015, KO 7.35pm, is as follows:


15 Dan Evans

14 Tom Grabham

13 Jonathan Spratt

12 Josh Matavesi

11 Hanno Dirksen

10 Sam Davies

9 Martin Roberts

 

1 Ryan Bevington

2 Scott Otten

3 Dmitri Arhip

4 Tevita Cavubati

5 Tyler Ardron (Capt)

6 Joe Bearman

7 James King

8 Dan Baker

 

REPLACEMENTS

 

16 Matthew Dwyer

17 Marc Thomas

18 Daniel Suter

19 Rhodri Hughes

20 Olly Cracknell

21 Morgan Allen

22 Tom Habberfield

23 Richard Fussell

 

Olly Cracknell will make his PRO12 debut if he comes off the bench

 

The following players were unavailable for selection through injury:

Ashley Beck - Ankle

Rynier Bernardo - Knee

Andrew Bishop – Back

Cai Griffiths - Bicep

Jeff Hassler – Ligaments

Dafydd Howells - Ankle

Ben John - Knee

Ross Jones - Ankle

Sam Parry - Ankle

Lloyd Peers - Ligaments

Nicky Smith – Pectoral muscle

De Kock Steenkamp – Achilles

Eli Walker – Cartilage

 

A further 13 players are absent on international duty with Wales and Wales U20 


Head Coach, Steve Tandy, commented: 

Weve been on the road for the last five weekends so its good to be coming back to the Liberty this Friday night, for the first of three consecutive home games that will have a huge bearing on our play-off hopes. With that in mind, and given the quality of the opposition we are up against, we need a noisy and passionate crowd getting behind us from the very first whistle. Having played a run of difficult away games we have to make the most of home advantage now that we have it.

After the disappointment of the last two games up in Scotland we are all well aware of whats at stake over these next few games. We know that we have to focus on performance and if we do that, if we are able to turn that into winning performances, then we will be in control of our own destiny given the teams that still have to come to the Liberty Stadium.

This season has panned out as we said all along, with peaks and troughs along the way as youd expect with a young and developing squad. Just as nobody was getting carried away when we were on a winning run in the first part of the season, theres nobody getting too despondent at the moment either. Its essential that we dont lose our focus, dont kneejerk and over react. Yes, of course we are disappointed with the last few results, but we know what we have to do as a group.

We know that its going to be a tough few weeks, but its an exciting challenge. The PRO12 has stepped up another level in terms of competitiveness this season, the European qualification and the play-offs mean that every game counts. Were at the business end of the season now as they say and know that we have to work hard to ensure performance levels are consistently where the need to be.

Forthcoming Fixtures

Sat 07 Mar 2.40pm KO Ospreys v Munster PRO12

Sat 28 Mar 7.15pm KO Ospreys v Zebre PRO12

Fri 10 Apr 7.35pm KO Benetton Treviso v Ospreys PRO12

Sat 25 Apr 2.30pm KO Cardiff Blues v Ospreys PRO12