Ospreys Team Announcement

The Ospreys Team to face Bourgoin in our first round Heineken Cup fixture on Saturday 10th November at the Liberty Stadium (5:30pm kick-off) is as follows...

The Ospreys team to face Bourgoin in the Heineken Cup on Saturday 10th November, at Liberty Stadium, kick off at 5.30pm, will be as follows: -15 Lee Byrne14 Nikki Walker13 Sonny Parker12 Gavin Henson11 Shane Williams10 James Hook
9 Justin Marshall

8 Filo Tiatia (Capt)7 Marty Holah6 Alun Wyn Jones5 Ian Evans4 Ian Gough3 Adam Jones2 Huw Bennett 1 Duncan Jones

Replacements:

16 Richard Hibbard17 Paul James18 Hale T-Pole19 Ben Lewis 20 Mike Phillips 21 Shaun Connor22 Andrew Bishop

Head Coach, Lyn Jones, commented as follows:

"€œWe move into the Heineken Cup excited, confident and looking to start this competition with a bang. Our form in the EDF Energy Cup has shown some of the potential we have in our squad, but we are realistic in assessing our success and we recognise that we now need to improve our performance, as the Heineken Cup asks questions at another level. We will need to take every chance we get, to further improve the accuracy in our play and to remove all errors from our game."€

"€œBourgoin are a side with a traditionally strong pack of forwards, but behind the scrum they have talent and ability, particularly evident at outside half where they have a proven match winner in Benjamin Boyet. We have had difficult selection decisions this week and experience has been a key factor in arriving at Saturday's team. We have had players joining the squad over recent weeks and players returning from the Rugby World Cup and I am delighted with the way the individuals have gelled both into units and into a team. Against Worcester Hale T-Pole came to the fore, and the same can be said of Marty Holah when he came on against the Irish last weekend. These guys, together with individuals like Ian Gough and Mike Phillips have given us an extra dimension as a squad that should enable us to step up to the challenge presented at European level."€

"€œIt will be great for supporters to have a chance to see some Saturday rugby this weekend, particularly with this being one of the few Ospreys fixtures not shown live on TV. The Liberty Stadium support is a vital factor in these European fixtures as the difference between success and failure is so small at this level."€

Injury and squad availability news

The following players are unavailable for selection due to injury:

Gareth Owen (illness), Andy Lloyd (shoulder strain), Barry Williams (back) and Jonathan Thomas (chest infection) will be available to face Gloucester next weekend

David Bishop (knee) will be fit to play over the next month and is looking forward to playing after being out of action for over a year

Ryan Jones (shoulder) remains on schedule with his rehabilitation programme and hopes to play some rugby before the end of 2007

Fixture News

Upcoming fixtures are as follows:

Saturday 10th November "€" Heineken Cup "€" Ospreys v Bourgoin "€" Liberty Stadium "€" 5.30pm

Friday 16th November "€" Heineken Cup "€" Gloucester Rugby v Ospreys "€" Kingsholm "€" 8.00pm

Friday 23rd November "€" Magners League "€" Ospreys v Leinster "€" Liberty Stadium "€" 7.10pm

Sunday 2nd December - EDF Energy Cup "€" Harlequins v Ospreys "€" The Stoop "€" 3.00pm

Please note that all fixtures are subject to change