Ospreys team to face Ulster

The Ospreys team to play Ulster on Sunday 13th February 2011 at The Liberty Stadium, kick off at 5.10pm, will be as follows:

 

15 Richard Fussell

14 Tom Prydie

13 Sonny Parker

12 Ashley Beck

11 Hanno Dirksen

10 Dan Biggar

9 Rhys Webb

 

1 Duncan Jones

2 Huw Bennett

3 Cai Griffiths

4 Ian Gough

5 Ian Evans

6 Tom Smith

7 Marty Holah

8 Jerry Collins (Capt)

 

Replacements

16 Mefin Davies

17 Ryan Bevington

18 Craig Cross

19 James King

20 Justin Tipuric

21 Jamie Nutbrown

22 Gareth Owen

23 Tom Isaacs

 

Hanno Dirksen makes his Magners League debut

Tom Prydie makes his first Magners League start

Craig Cross will make his Ospreys Magners League debut if he comes off the bench

 

The following players were not considered because of injury:

Jonathan Spratt – ACL

Conor McInerney – Knee

Andrew Bishop – Ankle

Adam Jones – Elbow

Tommy Bowe – Knee

Barry Davies – Groin

James Goode - Ankle

17 players were unavailable on international duty with Wales, Scotland,  Wales U20 and Wales 7’s

 

Ospreys Forwards Coach, Jonathan Humphreys, said:

“The last few weeks and the LV= Cup has been a great experience for the Ospreys as an organisation, and undoubtedly, we will be stronger for it. We aim to compete in every competition we participate in so obviously we are disappointed not to be involved in the next stage, but when we review our performance there’s a lot that we can take great pride in.

“A very young group of players did exceptionally well to record some good wins and it definitely bodes well for the future, while the young coaches involved have also benefited from the experience. I think we’ve seen clear signs that the investment we are making into development structures are starting to bear fruit. Longer term, we’ve still got a long way to go, but we are heading in the right direction in terms of development from within.

“There’ll be a reliance on a lot of these younger players over the next four Magners League games, and you can’t fail to be excited by the potential we have on display. These boys have got to continue fronting up. We are targeting becoming the first team to retain the Magners championship, and to do that there’s a lot of work ahead. We need the likes of Tom Prydie, Hanno Dirksen, Rhys Webb, Craig Cross, James King and Justin Tipuric who are involved on Sunday to really step up – and that’s not counting the likes of Dan Biggar and Ryan Bevington who themselves are still very young despite the experience they have personally.

“It’s an exciting time for the Ospreys and we are all really up for the challenge.”

 

Forthcoming fixtures

Sat 19 Feb – Benetton Treviso V Ospreys – Stadio Comunale di Monigo – Magners League – 5.30pm

Sun 27 Feb – Ospreys V Connacht – Liberty Stadium – Magners League – 2.30pm

Sat 5 Mar – Ospreys V Glasgow – Liberty Stadium – Magners League – 6.30pm

Sat 26 Mar – Edinburgh V Ospreys – Murrayfield – Magners League – 6.30pm