Ospreys Team To Face Ulster

13th December
Rugby

The Ospreys team to face Ulster in the Heineken Cup on Friday 14th December, at Ravenhill, kick off at 8.00pm, will be as follows: -

15 Lee Byrne14 Nikki Walker13 Mark Taylor12 Sonny Parker11 Shane Williams10 James Hook
9 Justin Marshall

8 Filo Tiatia (Capt)7 Marty Holah6 Jonathan Thomas5 Ian Evans4 Alun Wyn Jones3 Adam Jones2 Huw Bennett 1 Duncan Jones

Replacements:

16 Richard Hibbard17 Paul James18 Ian Gough19 Hale T-Pole20 Mike Phillips21 Shaun Connor22 Andrew Bishop

Head Coach, Lyn Jones, commented as follows:

"€œIt is not often we field the same side on two consecutive weeks, indeed, this will only be the second time in our short history that we have been in a position to do it. It is no coincidence that the other time this happened was also in back to back Heineken Cup fixtures, being against Leicester in the 2005/ 2006 season. This fact alone demonstrates the importance of this weekend's match."€

"€œWe were delighted with last weekend's performance and we travel to Ireland in a confident frame of mind, looking to maintain our good form. However, we recognise there are areas we urgently need to improve on as Ulster crossed for two tries and we are conscious of the fact that they will also be looking for a huge improvement in their performance. Both sides will enjoy playing in front of a passionate and vocal Ravenhill crowd and both will be looking to build on the positives gained at the Liberty Stadium. This is a huge match for Ospreys Rugby and we travel in anticipation of what a victory could offer us in the New Year."€

Injury and squad availability news

Four players are not available for selection this week:

David Bishop (knee) will continue his recovery on Saturday by playing for Bridgend in the Principality Premiership

Ryan Jones (shoulder) hopes to be available for selection by the end of this year

Gavin Henson (hand) will be out for another three to five weeks.

Barry Williams (back) will have a hip operation over the next few weeks and will be out of action until late April 2008

Fixture News

Upcoming fixtures are as follows:

Heineken Cup - Friday 14th December - Ulster v Ospreys "€" Ravenhill - 8.00pm

Magners League - Thursday 27th December - Scarlets v Ospreys "€" Stradey Park - 7.35pm

Magners League - Monday 31st December - Ospreys v Blues - Liberty Stadium - 2.05pm