The Ospreys team to play the Scarlets in the Magners League on Friday 2nd April 2010 at Liberty Stadium, kick off at 7.05pm, will be as follows:-
15 Lee Byrne
14 Tommy Bowe
13 Andrew Bishop
12 James Hook
11 Nikki Walker
10 Dan Biggar
9 Mike Phillips
1 Paul James
2 Richard Hibbard
3 Adam Jones
4 Ian Gough
5 Jonathan Thomas
6 Jerry Collins
7 Marty Holah
8 Ryan Jones (Capt)
Replacements:
16 Huw Bennett
17 Craig Mitchell
18 Alun Wyn Jones
19 Filo Tiatia
20 Jamie Nutbrown
21 Sonny Parker
22 Shane Williams
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
Tom Smith - hip/knee
Barry Davies - groin
Scott Baldwin - neck
Ospreys Head Coach, Sean Holley, commented:
"We're another week down the line now since the players returned from international duty, we've had more time to work together as a group and for the players to get used to the way we do things again, and I'd expect to see improvements in our performance right across the field on Friday. We were a little bit disjointed last weekend, and that's something we'd anticipated, it's something that experience over the last few seasons tells us will always be a challenge when we get such a large group back after eight or nine weeks elsewhere. Are we concerned about it? Well, the last time we sent a full team out to represent the Ospreys was the Leicester Tigers match, and that was possibly the best Ospreys performance you would have seen, so the challenge now is to make sure that we can get to that standard over the next couple of weeks. We've got the ability in the group, we know what we want to do, and the players know that we won't accept excuses, they are professional players and they must get up to speed.
"The Scarlets derby match is always a special occasion. Passions run high, the supporters enjoy the occasion and there is always a good crowd, so we are looking forward to it. We beat them down there over Christmas, we had an unlikely try hero in Paul James, but that match will count for nothing now. Just like we need the win to help us towards the end of season play-offs, they have their own reasons for needing the win so it's not just local pride that is at stake. It's a big game, a big occasion.
"The Dragons crowd last weekend created a great atmosphere, there really were like a 16th man. It's something we've talked about before, we've been able to do it here at the Liberty Stadium on the big games, the special occasions, and we want to to that again. It's a two way thing, we need to give the crowd something to feed off and they need to give the players something, but it will be great to have a big crowd here, hopefully creating another big Ospreys occasion."
Forthcoming Fixtures
Fri 2nd Apr - Ospreys V Scarlets - Magners League - Liberty Stadium - 7.05pm
Sat 10th Apr - Biarritz V Ospreys - Heineken Cup Quarter Final - Estadio Anoeta - 4.00pm
Tue 13th Apr - Ulster V Ospreys - Magners League - Ravenhill - 7.30pm
Fri 16th Apr - Leinster V Ospreys - Magners League - RDS - 7.05pm