15 Lee Byrne

14 Nikki Walker

13 Andrew Bishop

12 Gareth Owen

11 Shane Williams

10 Dan Biggar

9 Jamie Nutbrown

1 Ryan Bevington

2 Mefin Davies

3 Cai Griffiths

4 Ian Gough

5 Ian Evans

6 Jerry Collins (Capt)

7 Marty Holah

8 Jonathan Thomas

Replacements

16 Huw Bennett

17 Duncan Jones

18 Paul James

19 James Goode

20 Ben Lewis

21 Rhys Webb

22 Tommy Bowe

23 Richard Fussell

The following players were not considered because of injury:

Ryan Jones - Bone bruise

Richard Hibbard - Ribs

Morgan Allen - Back

Tom Smith - Shoulder

Rory Pitman - Knee

Tom Isaacs - Knee

Richard Kelly - Knee

James Hook - Shoulder

Barry Davies - Groin

Scott Baldwin - Foot

Jonathan Spratt - ACL

Craig Mitchell - Back

Director of Coaching, Scott Johnson, commented:

"It's a little bit of history on Friday night, the first time that an Italian team comes to the Liberty Stadium for a Magners League game. It's not a completely new experience for us, we've played Italian sides including Treviso in Europe before, but I think it's going to be a different kind of challenge now.

"The Italian sides have recruited well over the summer, there's been some good Italian players returning home and that's been backed by some intelligent foreign signings. I think it's excellent news for the Magners League and is a real step forward. Bringing the Italian sides into the competition has added another dimension to the competition, a different flavour, and it's exciting.

"The result against the Scarlets sent out a clear message, but one thing's for certain, we were well aware of the threat before that game, and we will be approaching the game in exactly the same way we would any other, don't worry about that one.

"I wasn't surprised by the result, it was good for the tournament and good for Treviso. It's also a great credit to the Magners that we've got a new team in and they've done well first up.

"I think Italian rugby's really on the up. I've watched improvement over the last few years, subtly, and the results probably haven't gone their way. But there's genuine talent across the board, they've got more players to pick from and we expect a very physical encounter.

"As for ourselves, we were disappointed with the end result last week, it was a game we should have won and could have won. We let ourselves down in some ways, I don't need to tell you where, we could have played better and we are a little disappointed.

"That result means we're a little behind where we wanted be, but I'll say what I've said before, the Melbourne Cup isn't won at the Watchtower and we're not there yet.

"We've been able to make some alterations to the 23 but we are where we are with the squad, there's not a lot of difference from last week. We've got a duty of care to our players, our internationals, we want them right at certain times of the year. They need their preparations, this is their time, and we've got to acknowledge where we are as a group.

"It's a really important time for us, for some of our kids. We've got an eye on next year, when we need some mileage on the clock for some of the players that will be used. I don't need a brand new car next season I need some good mileage going into next year, so it's important that the clock starts ticking."

Forthcoming Fixtures

Sat 18 Sept - Munster V Ospreys - Thomond Park - 8.00pm - Magners League

Sat 25 Sept - Ospreys V Aironi - Liberty Stadium - 6.30pm - Magners League

Sat 2 Oct- Scarlets V Ospreys - Parc Y Scarlets - 8.10pm - Magners League

Sat 9 Oct - Toulon V Ospreys - Stade Mayol - 2.30pm - Heineken Cup

Fri 15 Oct - Ospreys V London Irish - Liberty Stadium - 8.00pm - Heineken Cup