The Ospreys team to play Cardiff Blues on Saturday 14th April 2012 at Cardiff City Stadium, kick off at 6.30pm, will be as follows:
15 Richard Fussell
14 Hanno Dirksen
13 Tom Isaacs
12 Andrew Bishop
11 Shane Williams
10 Dan Biggar
9 Kahn Fotuali’i
1 Paul James
2 Richard Hibbard
3 Adam Jones
4 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)
5 Ian Evans
6 Ryan Jones
7 Justin Tipuric
8 Joe Bearman
Replacements:
16 Scott Baldwin
17 Ryan Bevington
18 Aaron Jarvis
19 James King
20 Tom Smith
21 Rhys Webb
22 Matthew Morgan
23 Sonny Parker
Dan Biggar makes his 100th Ospreys appearance
Richard Fussell makes his 50th Ospreys appearance
The following players were not considered because of injury:
Ashley Beck – Hip
Tommy Bowe – Haematoma
Kristian Phillips - Abdomen
Jonathan Thomas – Illness
Huw Bennett - Achilles
Duncan Jones – Medial ligament
Will Price - ACL
Cai Griffiths - Arm
Richard Kelly - Wrist
Ben John - Groin
Gareth Owen – ACL
Nikki Walker – ACL
Head Coach, Steve Tandy, commented:
“We’ve had a couple of good weeks and some great results with the wins in Leinster and against Treviso, but we’ve got to make sure we back that up on Saturday, and in the remaining games after that.
“Make no mistake about it, the Blues are a good team with quality across the park and threats in every position. We know it’s going to be a tough evening, with the extra pressures that come with derby games, but we’ve got to be thorough with our preparation and the attention to detail come game time has to be absolutely spot on.
“The target for us first and foremost is to make the play-offs and to do that we need to make sure our performances in these last few weeks are of the highest standard. We’ve shown signs of what we are capable of but there’s still plenty of room for improvement and that’s what I’m looking for.
“We want our fans to be proud of us. It’s their region and we want them behind us all the way. For that to happen, we’ve got to continue showing the endeavour and heart we’ve shown in recent weeks. If we can do that on Saturday, we’ll get our rewards, and then we can look forward to coming back to the Liberty the following Friday to a big crowd, and say farewell to Shane in real style.”
Forthcoming fixtures
Fri 20 Apr – Ospreys v NG Dragons – Liberty Stadium – RaboDirect PRO12 – 7.05pm
Sat 5 May – Aironi v Ospreys – Stadio Luigi Zaffanella – RaboDirect PRO12 – 6.30pm