The Ospreys team to play Newport Gwent Dragons at Liberty Stadium on Friday 25th October, KO 7.05pm, is as follows:
15 Daniel Biggar
14 Jeff Hassler
13 Jonathan Spratt
12 Andrew Bishop
11 Eli Walker
10 Matthew Morgan
9 Tom Habberfield
1 Ryan Bevington
2 Richard Hibbard
3 Aaron Jarvis
4 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)
5 James King
6 Tyler Ardron
7 Justin Tipuric
8 Morgan Allen
REPLACEMENTS
16 Scott Baldwin
17 Duncan Jones
18 Adam Jones
19 Lloyd Peers
20 Joe Bearman
21 Tito Tebaldi
22 Ben John
23 Sam Lewis
Head Coach Steve Tandy said:
“Obviously we are disappointed about Sunday but a game like this one is the perfect way for us to pick ourselves up and go again. This group has plenty of fight and spirit and are determined to do themselves justice, starting on Friday night.
“This is an important time of the season for us, one where we have traditionally done well when the core group and the spirit they have pulls us through. It won’t be any different this season. There’ll be boys coming into the 23 who will see it as a real opportunity to stake a claim for a regular place and we’ll be encouraging that attitude as it will help to drive this squad on.
“It’s a Welsh derby so that gives the game a bit of something extra. We’ve started the PRO12 well and with three of the next four games in the competition at home it’s important that we make that count. Hopefully we’ll see supporters getting behind the cause in the same way that they have in the opening games of the season as this is when we see the true value of their support, when we may be perceived as being up against it a bit.
“We are a proud bunch, as are our supporters, and we all realise that the expectation is we give everything in every game, and that will certainly be the case over the coming weeks. We’ve been stung a bit and there’s definitely approve point to prove.”
The following players were unavailable for selection through injury:
Dmitri Arhip – Achilles
Dan Baker - Shoulder
Hanno Dirksen – Knee
Ian Evans - Achilles
Tom Smith - Knee
Rhys Webb – Knee
Richard Fussell – Back
Forthcoming Fixtures
Sat 02 Nov 19.15 KO – Munster v Ospreys – RaboDirect PRO12
Fri 08 Nov 19.45 KO – Leicester Tigers v Ospreys – LV= Cup
Fri 15 Nov 19.30 KO – Ospreys v Cardiff Blues – LV= Cup
Sat 23 Nov 14.30 KO – Ospreys v Zebre – RaboDirect PRO12
Fri 29 Nov 19.05 KO – Ospreys v Glasgow – RaboDirect PRO12