The Ospreys team to play Leinster at the RDS Showground on Friday 3rd May, KO 19.45, is as follows:
15 Richard Fussell
14 Tom Habberfield
13 Ashley Beck
12 Ben John
11 Ross Jones
10 Dan Biggar
9 Rhys Webb
1 Duncan Jones
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Adam Jones
4 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)
5 James King
6 Justin Tipuric
7 Sam Lewis
8 Joe Bearman
REPLACEMENTS
16 Dmitri Arhip
17 Ryan Bevington
18 Cai Griffiths
19 Ian Evans
20 Morgan Allen
21 Matthew Morgan
22 Tom Isaacs
23 Jonathan Spratt
The following players were not considered because of injury:
Kahn Fotuali’i – Thigh
Richard Hibbard - Knee
Ryan Jones – Shoulder
Eli Walker - Back
Andrew Bishop – Back
Hanno Dirksen – Knee
Tom Smith – Groin
Aaron Jarvis - Knee
Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said:
“All the hard work of the last nine months rests on Friday evening. I was extremely disappointed with our performance up in Glasgow last time out. We didn’t do ourselves justice and that defeat has opened the door for the Scarlets, allowing them to jump ahead of us with one game to go.
“We know that we’re up against it if we are going to reach the play-offs but we definitely won’t be throwing the towel in. This team isn’t about that, it’s about playing for the cause and giving everything. The boys were hurting badly in the dressing room in Glasgow and are desperate to not go out with a whimper. We still have a chance of progressing so Friday night will be about giving it everything. If we can put in the kind of performance that’s needed then we’ll have to wait and see what happens elsewhere.
“The PRO12 is an extremely tough competition, we’re up against back to back European champions and this year’s Amlin finalists on Friday night and there’s a team like Munster who made the last four of the Heineken this season who are out of the play-off equation already. Just to get into the play-offs is extremely difficult. We gave ourselves an awful lot to do after losing the first three, particularly with home defeats to Glasgow and Ulster, but now we just have to give it everything on Friday.
“There’d be nothing worse than giving up the fight and then getting back into the changing room after the game on Friday to discover Treviso had done their part in Llanelli, which is why as long as the maths mean we still have a chance we’ll be going for it. Treviso are a quality team, they are extremely competitive with a physical pack that is a match for anyone. It’s going to be an interesting evening.”