The Ospreys team to face Leinster in the Magners League, at Donnybrook "â¬" Saturday 6th January "â¬" kick off at 7.30pm, will be as follows: -
The Ospreys team to face Leinster in the Magners League, at Donnybrook - Saturday 6th January - kick off at 7.30pm, will be as follows: -15 Stefan Terblanche14 Jonathan Vaughton 13 Tal Selley
12 Andrew Bishop 11 Richard Mustoe 10 Shaun Connor
9 Martin Roberts
8 Andy Lloyd 7 Richard Pugh 6 Lee Beach 5 Michael Powell 4 Brent Cockbain 3 Andrew Millward
2 Ed Shervington 1 Paul James (Capt)
Replacements:
16 Barry Williams 17 Adam Jones 18 Chris Martenko
19 Ben Lewis 20 Jason Spice 21 Nikki Walker
22 AN Other (back)
Comment from Head Coach, Lyn Jones:
"Winning against Leinster in Ireland has proved difficult for all of the Welsh regions. Indeed, we were the last region to have enjoyed any success in Donnybrook and that was almost two years ago. When you strive to play rugby at the highest level you want to be tested against the very best players, and Leinster will be offering that on Saturday.
The Christmas period has had a massive impact on our injury situation, and we now have fourteen players unavailable. It was always our intention to rotate the squad over these few weeks, but the enforced changes have made this weekends selection even more difficult. Having said that we have always performed well at Donnybrook and we have enjoyed our previous visits to the ground.
This weekend presents a great opportunity for players such as Martin Roberts, Ed Shervington and Mike Powell to show us what they can offer at this level, and there may also be an opportunity to give Ben Lewis some game time. These guys are hugely talented players that we are bringing through in conjunction with our associate clubs and I am sure they each have a promising future in the game."
Injury and squad availability news
We have fourteen players not available for selection due to injury:
Ryan Jones (neck), Filo Tiatia (groin), Duncan Jones (torn bicep), Shane Williams (ankle sprain) and Jonathan Thomas (AC joint) hope to be available against Stade Francais next weekend
Sonny Parker (strained medial ligament) will be out for another two weeks and is targeting the Sale Sharks match
Richard Hibbard (shoulder) hopes to return at the end of January
Huw Bennett (ankle ligament) now looks to be out for another four weeks. A scan has revealed an additional rehabilitation period is required
Matthew Jones (knee), Tim Evans (knee) and Craig Mitchell (knee) are all remain on course for late February returns
Ian Evans (Shoulder - out for five to six months) and Lyndon Bateman (knee ligament - out for three months) are scheduled to have operations next week
David Bishop (knee) is now off his crutches and he will now commence a more aggressive rehabilitation programme
January/ February 2007 Fixtures
Leinster v Ospreys (Magners League) - Donnybrook - Saturday 6th January - kick off at 7.30pm
Ospreys v Stade Francais (Heineken Cup) - Liberty Stadium - Sunday 14th January - kick off at 3.00pm
Sale Sharks v Ospreys (Heineken Cup) - Edgeley Park - Saturday 20th January - kick off at 3.30pm
Ospreys v Ulster (Magners League) - Liberty Stadium - Saturday 27th January - kick off at 5.30pm
Ospreys v Connacht (Magners League) - Liberty Stadium - Saturday 17th February - kick off at 5.30pm