Ospreys team to play Edinburgh

The Ospreys team to play Edinburgh at The Liberty Stadium on Friday 22nd February, KO 20.00, is as follows:

15 Richard Fussell

14 Tom Habberfield

13 Tom Isaacs

12 Jonathan Spratt

11 Kahn Fotuali’i (Capt)

10 Matthew Morgan

9 Rhys Webb

 

1 Ryan Bevington

2 Scott Baldwin

3 Cai Griffiths

4 Lloyd Peers

5 Jonathan Thomas

6 James King

7 Sam Lewis

8 Morgan Allen

 

REPLACEMENTS

16 Matthew Dwyer

17 Marc Thomas

18 Dmitri Arhip

19 Sam Williams

20 George Stowers

21 Arthur Ellis

22 Ashley Beck

23 Tom Grabham

 

Sam Williams and Arthur Ellis will make their PRO12 debuts if they come off the bench

15 players were unavailable for selection because of international duty with Wales senior and U20 squads

Joe Bearman and Ross Jones were unavailable for selection due to suspension

 

The following players were not considered because of injury:

Duncan Jones - Knee

Ben John – Ribs

Ian Gough - Calf

Andrew Bishop – Back

Hanno Dirksen – Knee

Tom Smith – Groin

Joe Rees - Neck

Aaron Jarvis - Knee

 

Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said:

“This is a huge game for us in terms of shaping the rest of the season. There’s no margin for error after last weekend’s defeat, we are realistic enough to know that we need to put in a winning performance to maintain our push for the play-offs. With teams in the top four playing against each other this weekend, the right performance and result could see us back into the top four and with six games left then it’ll be in our hands. It’s going to be tough whatever the outcome on Friday night, but as coaches we have belief in this group to tough it out when they have to.

“It’s on night’s like Friday that titles are won and reputations are made. If you look back at last season we bounced back from two defeats against Ulster and Glasgow at this time of the year and went on a winning run that took us right through to Dublin at the end of May. It’s going to have to take something similar, so we’ll roll up our sleeves and get stuck into the task. Just as last year players like Hanno and Eli came to wider attention because we were missing people on international duty, it’s time for those involved to step up and follow in their footsteps.

“The fans have just as important a role to play, we need them to be with us this weekend and for the two remaining home games. The cause is all about times like this, when we have to pull together to get through difficult periods.”

Forthcoming Fixtures

Sat 2 Mar – 18.30 KO – Munster v Ospreys – RaboDirect PRO12

Fri 22 Mar – 19.05KO – Ospreys v NG Dragons – RaboDirect PRO12

Sat 30 Mar – 17.15KO – Cardiff Blues v Ospreys – RaboDirect PRO12