The Ospreys team to play London Irish on Friday 15th October 2010 at Liberty Stadium, kick off at 8.00pm, will be as follows:-
15 Lee Byrne
14 Tommy Bowe
13 Andrew Bishop
12 James Hook
11 Shane Williams
10 Dan Biggar
9 Mike Phillips
1 Paul James
2 Richard Hibbard
3 Adam Jones
4 Ryan Jones
5 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)
6 Jerry Collins
7 Marty Holah
8 Jonathan Thomas
Replacements
16 Huw Bennett
17 Ryan Bevington
18 Craig Mitchell
19 Ian Gough
20 Justin Tipuric
21 Jamie Nutbrown
22 Gareth Owen
23 Nikki Walker
Mike Phillips makes his 50th appearance for the Ospreys
Shane Williams makes his 50th Heineken Cup appearance
The following players were not considered because of injury:
Barry Davies – Groin
Jonathan Spratt – ACL
Ben Lewis – Neck
Andy Lloyd – Hand
Kristian Phillips and Tom Prydie are on international duty with Wales Sevens at the Commonwealth Games
Forwards Coach, Jonathan Humphreys, commented:
“Obviously, we were disappointed to lose out in Toulon, particularly having managed to work ourselves into a good position with just a few minutes left. That’s the Heineken Cup for you though isn’t, the quality of the opposition, particularly in this pool, means that you can’t give them an inch or you will pay the price.
“We haven’t dwelt on it, with a short turnaround to a Friday night game there isn’t time to. We know that we face another particularly tough challenge in the shape of London Irish, a quality side who have had a great start to the season, top of their domestic league and securing the win against Munster on Saturday night.
“This is a pool that will go down to the wire, make no mistake about it. We were sat in the airport last week following the scores and even though London Irish were pulling away we all felt Munster would get a bonus point, which is how it turned out. It’s very evenly poised at the moment, the two homes teams have won without picking up a bonus, the two away teams have got bonus points. It’s no different than anyone anticipated and it’s exciting to be involved in it.
“It’s important that we play as a team, play to the standards we expect, get our calls and structures right. If we can do that on Friday night then we’ll be heading in the right direction. It’s important that we win, we won’t be chasing tries and bonus points, we want to cover all the bases, play as a team and earn the win first and foremost.
“There’ll be a great crowd, and we’ll have a great atmosphere. We’ve seen the importance in Europe of getting that buzz among the fans as it gives the players such a lift. Our supporters were magnificent out in Toulon, as always, now it’s important that we transfer that atmosphere back to the Liberty Stadium.”
Forthcoming Fixtures
Sun 24 Oct – Glasgow V Ospreys – Firhill – 4.10pm – Magners League
Sat 30 Oct – Ospreys V Newport Gwent Dragons – Liberty Stadium - 6.30pm – Magners League
Sat 6 Nov – Newcastle Falcons V Ospreys – Kingston Park – LV= Cup - 5.15pm
Fri 12 Nov – Ospreys V Leicester Tigers – Brewery Field – LV= Cup – 7.45pm
Fri 19 Nov – Connacht V Ospreys – The Sportsground – Magners League – 7.00pm
Sun 28 Nov – Ospreys V Leinster – Liberty Stadium – Magners League – 5.00pm