The team for Saturday's crunch European Rugby Champions Cup clash at the Liberty Stadium has been named
- Six changes, plus one positional, to starting line-up
- Alun Wyn, Baldwin, Biggar, Dirksen, Leonard and Lydiate all return
- King switches to number eight
- Ospreys currently top of Pool 2 with six points from the first two rounds, equalling their best ever start
- Kick-off at the Liberty Stadium is 5.15pm
The Ospreys team to play Bordeaux at Liberty Stadium, on Saturday 12th December 2015, KO 5.15pm, is as follows:
15 Dan Evans
14 Hanno Dirksen
13 Jonathan Spratt
12 Josh Matavesi
11 Eli Walker
10 Dan Biggar
9 Brendon Leonard
1 Paul James
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Dmitri Arhip
4 Lloyd Ashley
5 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)
6 Dan Lydiate
7 Justin Tipuric
8 James King
REPLACEMENTS
16 Sam Parry
17 Nicky Smith
18 Aaron Jarvis
19 Rory Thornton
20 Dan Baker
21 Tom Habberfield
22 Sam Davies
23 Ben John
The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury:
Ashley Beck – ACL
Gareth Delve – Shoulder
Jeff Hassler - Calf
Dafydd Howells - Hamstring
Rhys Webb – Foot
Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said:
“We’ve started our campaign really well, winning our home game, beating Exeter who are flying in the Aviva, and then picking two points up on the road in Clermont, something not many teams do.
“We said before the campaign started that we had to make sure we win our home games, then it’s about what we can pick up on the road. That’s the mantra again for these two games. We’ve adapted well to two different challenges and now we have to go again for back-to-back games against a very dangerous team in Bordeaux.
“We can’t look at the table and think we are flying. If we take our eye off the ball over the next 10 days Bordeaux will make us pay, make no mistake about it. We got the performances we did in the first two rounds because of hard work, preparation, attention to detail, character and commitment, and we’ll need all those in abundance again for these two weeks, and then the challenges that come after that in a busy four or five week period.
“The performance out in Italy last weekend, and with some players coming back to fitness, meant that selection was tough this week, there were some difficult conversations, but that is exactly how it should be and why we are working so hard to create the kind of depth you need to compete. We aren’t there yet, we know that, but we are heading in the right direction with a squad of players who want to improve, who want to be the best and believe in what we are doing here.
“It’s a really exciting time for everybody involved with the region and this weekend’s game has the potential to be a belter so we are going to have to be focused on doing what we need to do to get the right performance while, hopefully, the supporters enjoy themselves and rise to the occasion as well.”
Forthcoming Fixtures
Sat 19 Dec – 6.15pm KO (Local) – Bordeaux Begles v Ospreys - ERCC
Sat 26 Dec – 2.05pm KO – Scarlets v Ospreys – PRO12
Fri 1 Jan – 2.00pm KO – Ospreys v Dragons – PRO12
Fri 8 Jan – 7.45pm KO – Ospreys v Leinster - PRO12