Ospreys team to face Leinster

The Ospreys team to play Leinster on Friday 16th April 2010 at the RDS, kick off at 7.05pm, will be as follows:-



15 Lee Byrne
14 Nikki Walker
13 Sonny Parker
12 Andrew Bishop
11 Shane Williams
10 Dan Biggar
9 Jamie Nutbrown


1 Paul James
2 Ed Shervington
3 Adam Jones
4 Ian Gough
5 Alun Wyn Jones
6 Jerry Collins (Capt)
7 Marty Holah
8 Filo Tiatia

Replacements
16 Scott Baldwin
17 Craig Mitchell
18 Ian Evans
19 Ryan Jones
20 Mike Phillips
21 James Hook
22 Gareth Owen

The following players were not considered because of injury:


Ross Davies - fractured ankle/ligament damage
Duncan Jones - broken bone in foot
Tom Isaacs - shoulder
Lyndon Bateman - knee
Barry Davies - groin
Richard Hibbard - knee

Ospreys Coach Jonathan Humphreys commented:

"We showed plenty of character to do what we did on Tuesday night. A three day turnaround after losing by a point in San Sebastian on Saturday, with flights back from Spain and then out to Belfast was always going to provide a challenge. The boys are a bit battered and bruised, but I think the response was outstanding and you could see the unity in the group, the way they dug in when it was backs against the wall.

"There's a need to freshen up the 22 again, we feel that we have utilised the squad well over the last couple of weeks and we worked the bench well on Tuesday night, and we are going to have to do the same thing again on Friday.

"It's a top of the table clash, our win against Ulster has put us where we want to be in the table. I'd expect that it's going to be a tight, close game. Leinster will be buoyed by their narrow win over Clermont Auvergne last weekend and they will be harbouring ambitions on two fronts. Our focus now is solely on the Magners League, so we'll be looking to get something out of the game to help us towards a top four finish.

"We played well the other night, and we'll be looking for a similar level of performance again. With some fresh legs in the 22, and on the back of the win at Ulster, I'm sure there'll be a spring in our steps as we look to continue improving."


Forthcoming Fixtures

Fri 16th Apr - Leinster V Ospreys - Magners League - RDS - 7.05pm

Sat 24th Apr - Munster V Ospreys - Magners League - Thomond Park - 6.30pm

7/8/9 May - Ospreys V Newport Gwent Dragons - Liberty Stadium - TBC