The Ospreys team to play Exeter Chiefs at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday 15th November 2015, KO 5.30pm
- 3 changes from starting XV that beat Zebre last weekend, all in the pack, including one positional
- Arhip and Lydiate come in, King moves to eight
- Thornton returns on the bench following HIA protocols
- European debut for Howells
- Lydiate and Leonard make first appearance for Ospreys in European Cup
The Ospreys team to play Exeter Chiefs at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday 15th November 2015, KO 5.30pm, is as follows:
15 Dan Evans
14 Dafydd Howells
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 Ryan Bevington
18 Aaron Jarvis
19 Rory Thornton
20 Dan Baker
21 Tom Habberfield
22 Sam Davies
23 Ben John
Dafydd Howells makes his European Cup debut
Rory Thornton will make his European Cup debut if he comes off the bench
The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury:
Tyler Ardron – Knee
Adam Beard – Shoulder
Ashley Beck – ACL
Rynier Bernardo - Ankle
Jeff Hassler – Knee
Nicky Smith – Ankle
Rhys Webb – Foot
Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said:
“It was much better from us last weekend against Zebre but we are all well aware that we need to go up quite a few notches now over the coming weeks. The character of the squad came through last Saturday, there was belief in what we were doing and a desire to represent what the Ospreys are about but that has to be just the starting point for us.
“The focus switches now to the European Rugby Champions Cup, the northern hemisphere’s flagship competition and one that has got even better and even tougher after the changes made with the restructuring last year. Every pool is a pool of death now.
“You look at the fixtures coming up, Clermont Auvergne, who have been in two of the last three European Cup finals, losing French T14 finalists earlier this year and are the current league leaders, Bordeaux with their new world class signings and Exeter, in great form and second in the Aviva Premiership, it really doesn’t get any tougher. You have to be full of respect for Exeter and all they’ve achieved over the last few years, coming up from the Championship and establishing themselves as one of England’s leading clubs.
“As a coach or a player, it is really exciting to be involved in games like this. It’s why you are involved in professional rugby in the first place, for big matches and big occasions. Sunday has all the historic association of traditional Anglo Welsh clashes, it’s what supporters say they want, hopefully we’ll get the crowd to mark the occasion.
“We have to accept that from the outside the perception will very much be that we are going into the competition as underdogs based on factors including current form, budget, etc and are comfortable with that. Only performance can change that perception. We know that we will need to make a huge step up from where we have been so far this season and we’ll need to get our preparation right on and off the field, and live the words that we talk about regularly, being clinicial, accurate, diligent. If we don’t, we’ll be in for a tough few weeks but we want this period to be where we kick start the season.”
Forthcoming Fixtures
Sun 22 Nov – 2.00pm KO (Local) – Clermont Auvergne v Ospreys – ERCC
Sat 28 Nov – 3.00pm KO – Ospreys v Cardiff Blues – PRO12
Sun 6 Dec – 3.00pm KO (Local) – Zebre v Ospreys – PRO12
Sat 12 Dec – 5.15pm KO – Ospreys v Bordeaux Begles – ERCC