Ospreys team to play Edinburgh

The Ospreys team to play Edinburgh at BT Murrayfield Stadium on Friday 2nd October 2015, KO 6.00pm, is as follows:

15 Dan Evans

14 Hanno Dirksen

13 Jonathan Spratt

12 Ben John

11 Dafydd Howells

10 Sam Davies

9 Brendon Leonard

 

1 Nicky Smith

2 Sam Parry

3 Dmitri Arhip

4 Lloyd Ashley (Capt)

5 Rory Thornton

6 Joe Bearman

7 Sam Underhill

8 Dan Baker

 

REPLACEMENTS

 

16 Scott Otten

17 Ryan Bevington

18 Cai Griffiths

19 Rynier Bernardo

20 Olly Cracknell

21 Ifereimi Boladau

22 Tom Habberfield

23 Aled Jenkins

 

Ifereimi Boladau will make his PRO12 debut if he comes off the bench

 

Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said:

 

“We’ve had a few weeks off since the Munster game now so it’s good to get back into action, with something to target at the end of a hard training week. Going up to Edinburgh is always a challenge, as we’ve seen for ourselves during international windows before, and it won’t be any different on Friday with the heavy investment that Edinburgh and the SRU have made in an experienced, overseas core to the squad that gives them the strength in depth to cope with a World Cup period.

 

“We improved game on game in the opening two rounds of the PRO12 but we are well aware that we still need to raise it several levels again to get to where we need it to be. It may be a young group at the moment but there are still the same internal expectations on these boys to perform to the Ospreys standard as there is on the likes of Alun Wyn, James King or Dan Lydiate. It’s a great opportunity for someone who is hungry to show what they can do at this level and, as coaches, we are learning a lot about this squad, and the next generation of Ospreys, how they cope with the unique pressure, are they clinical, is there attention to detail in what they do, do they know their roles? Those are the factors that will drive a positive performance on Friday.

 

“Clearly, we want to be further up the PRO12 table but it’s important that everyone remains level headed about where we are at the moment and don’t get carried away because we’ve lost a couple. That’s not what we are about at the Ospreys. We’re an honest group, we know what we want to achieve here and how to achieve it. The focus is very much on working together to get us through this period, using the experience and getting the consistency that we need over the next few weeks with this young squad, starting with Edinburgh on Friday night.”

 

The following players were unavailable for selection due to Rugby World Cup selection:

 

Scott Baldwin, Dan Biggar, Paul James, Aaron Jarvis, Alun Wyn Jones, James King, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric (Wales)

 

Tyler Ardron and Jeff Hassler (Canada)

 

Josh Matavesi (Fiji)

 

The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury:

 

Adam Beard Shoulder

Ashley Beck - ACL

Andrew Bishop Back

Gareth Delve - Back

Tom Grabham MCL

De Kock Steenkamp - Hip

Dan Suter Neck

Marc Thomas - Neck

Eli Walker - Hamstring

Rhys Webb - Foot

 

Forthcoming Fixtures

 

Sat 17 Oct 2.30pm -  Benetton Treviso v Ospreys Stadio Comunale di Monigo PRO12

Sat 24 Oct 1.30pm KO - Ospreys v Connacht - Liberty Stadium - PRO12

Sun 1 Nov - 2.30pm KO Glasgow v Ospreys Scotstoun PRO12

Sat 7 Nov 2.30pm KO -  Ospreys v Zebre Liberty Stadium PRO12