Ospreys Team To Face Leicester Tigers

The Ospreys team to face Leicester Tigers in the Heineken Cup on Saturday 24th January 2009 at Liberty Stadium, kick off at 5.35pm, will be as follows:-

The Ospreys team to face Leicester Tigers in the Heineken Cup on Saturday 24th January 2009 at Liberty Stadium, kick off at 5.35pm, will be as follows:-15 Lee Byrne14 Tommy Bowe13 Andrew Bishop12 Gavin Henson11 Shane Williams10 James Hook9 Mike Phillips 1 Paul James2 Richard Hibbard3 Adam Jones4 Ian Gough5 Alun-wyn Jones6 Ryan Jones ©7 Marty Holah8 Filo Tiatia

Replacements:

16 Huw Bennett17 Cai Griffiths18 Lyndon Bateman19 Tom Smith20 Jamie Nutbrown21 Dan Biggar22 Jonny Vaughton

Ospreys bosses are advising supporters that with 17,000 tickets sold so far, there are still a number of tickets available for Saturday's Heineken Cup clash with Leicester Tigers. The Ticket Office at Liberty Stadium will be open until 6pm on Friday, and from 10am on Saturday morning. Fans still to pick up their tickets are advised to arrive at Liberty Stadium well in advance of the 5.35pm kick off time to avoid delays.

Ospreys Coach Sean Holley commented:

'We go into Saturday's game knowing that our destiny is in our own hands. We are in a great position as we prepare for the final pool match: We have a home match that we need to win to get a quarter-final place in the European Cup, it doesn't get any more straightforward than that. In our way are Leicester Tigers, a side that we know plenty about having faced them in a number of big games in recent seasons and this one will no doubt be as physical and intense as previous matches, with so much at stake.

'There are elements of last Saturday's performance that were good. We showed great courage and spirit to turn the game around and make sure that we came home with a point. Since then we've looked at the areas where we felt we let ourselves down and this week has been about focusing on making sure we are more clinical and more accurate when we need to be.

'It's a massive game for everybody at the Ospreys, players, management and fans. You can't fail to be excited about the prospect of a full-house cheering us on. We're all in this together though and we're hoping that the fans will create an atmosphere that will really lift the boys and help to get us over the line.'


The following players were not considered because of injury:

  • Sonny Parker has a fractured rib and is expected to be out until late February
  • Jonathan Thomas has just failed to recover from a groin injury in time to be considered for Saturday's game
  • Nikki Walker is out of action for the rest of the season having undergone surgery to repair a partial tear of his hamstring muscle origin on his left leg suffered during the home game against Treviso.
  • Ben Lewis has undergone repeat ACL reconstruction surgery to his right knee having encountered further problems, and is unlikely to feature again this season
  • Duncan Jones is recovering from surgery to fix a chronic stress fracture in his right foot, and will be in plaster for up to 12 weeks.
  • Ian Evans had undergone ACL reconstruction surgery after damaging his right knee in the Wales V New Zealand fixture and has been ruled out until next season
  • Andy Lloyd is going through rehabilitation after surgery to repair ruptured elbow ligaments and is targetinga comeback in midApril 09

      Forthcoming fixtures are as follows:

    • Sunday 22nd February Ospreys V Connacht Magners League Liberty Stadium 3.00pm
    • Friday 6th March Ospreys V Leinster Magners League Liberty Stadium 7.05pm
      • All fixtures are subject to change