Ospreys Team To Face Cardiff Blues

The Ospreys team to face the Blues at Cardiff Arms Park, on Friday August 31st, kick off at 7.40pm, will be as follows: -

15 Lee Byrne

14 Stefan Terblanche

13 Mark Taylor

12 Andrew Bishop

11 Aled Brew

10 Shaun Connor 9 Justin Marshall

8 Filo Tiatia

7 Richard Pugh

6 Andy Lloyd

5 Mike Collins

4 Brent Cockbain (Capt)

3 Andrew Millward
2 Richard Hibbard

1 Paul James

16 Barry Williams

17 Cai Griffiths

18 Mike Powell/ Tom Smith

19 Ben Lewis

20 Martin Roberts

21 Jonathan Spratt

22 Jonathan Vaughton

Comment from Head Coach, Lyn Jones:

"€œIt's a difficult game to start the campaign, but motivation won't be a factor for either side this weekend. We will be looking to put in a big performance to get the defence of our Magners League title off with a win. Our players are excited and motivated by the Arms Park challenge, and it should be quite a contest on Friday evening."

Injury and squad availability news:

Nikki Walker is representing Scotland and our eleven Wales 2007 Rugby World Cup squad players are unavailable for this match. Our Wales RWC 2007 squad members are Shane Williams, Sonny Parker, James Hook, Mike Phillips, Jonathan Thomas, Ian Evans, Alun Wyn Jones, Ian Gough, Adam Jones, Huw Bennett and Duncan Jones.

The following players are unavailable for selection due to injury:

Gavin Henson has failed to fully recover from the bout of food poisoning he suffered last weekend

Lyndon Bateman (knee/ shoulder injuries) will be available for selection against the Scarlets

Steve Tandy (shoulder) will be available on 1st October

David Bishop (knee) will return in November

Fixture News

August/ September 2007 fixtures are as follows:

Friday August 31st - Blues v Ospreys "€" Cardiff Arms Park "€" 7.40pm

Tuesday September 11th "€" Ospreys v Scarlets "€" Liberty Stadium "€" 7.35pm

Friday 21st September "€" Ulster v Ospreys "€" Ravenhill "€" 6.30pm

Sunday 30th September "€" Ospreys v Glasgow Warriors "€" Liberty Stadium "€" 3.00pm