The Ospreys team to play Northampton Saints at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday 17th December 2017, KO 3.15pm, is as follows:
15 Dan Evans
14 Ben John
13 Kieron Fonotia
12 Owen Watkin
11 Jeff Hassler
10 Sam Davies
9 Tom Habberfield
1 Nicky Smith
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Dmitri Arhip
4 Bradley Davies
5 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)
6 Dan Lydiate
7 Justin Tipuric
8 Olly Cracknell
REPLACEMENTS
16 Scott Otten
17 Paul James
18 Ma’afu Fia
19 Adam Beard
20 Rob McCusker
21 Rhys Webb
22 Dan Biggar
23 Ashley Beck
The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury
Cory Allen – Knee
Dan Baker – Knee
Keelan Giles – Knee
Dafydd Howells – Shoulder
James King - Shoulder
Brian Mujati – Shoulder
Sam Parry – Ankle
Rory Thornton – Shoulder
Eli Walker – Back
Kieran Williams – Ankle
Tom Williams - Forearm
Hanno Dirksen is suspended for one week following his red card in last weekend’s game
Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said:
“Our performances so far in this pool mean that at the halfway stage we are definitely still in contention. In the first two rounds we put in big efforts but you’d say we didn’t get what our efforts deserved and had to settle for three points from the two games. However, thanks to a fantastic first hour in Northampton we were able to come away with five deserved points, and then the Saracens and Clermont result means that there is everything to play for.
“We know that Northampton will be fired up for this and will want to set the record straight so we have to be ready for that and make sure we match them every inch of the way. It would be dangerous for anyone to assume that because we won last week then it’s going to be straightforward on Sunday. Rugby doesn’t work like that, these double headers don’t work like that.
“The world class quality that Northampton have throughout their squad speaks for itself as does the quality tries they scored against us last week so if we aren’t at our best we’ll be in real trouble.
“Last weekend’s game would have been great to watch as a supporter and this one is set up to be a cracker again. We just have to make sure that we get what we from the game to allow us to come back to Europe in January, playing Saracens at the Liberty, with everything still at stake.”
Forthcoming Fixtures
Tues 26 Dec – 5.35pm KO – Scarlets v Ospreys – Parc y Scarlets – PRO14
Sun 31 Dec – 5.35pm KO – Dragons v Ospreys – Rodney Parade – PRO14
Sat 6 Jan – 3.15pm KO – Ospreys v Cardiff Blues – Liberty Stadium – PRO14
12/13/14 Jan TBC – Ospreys v Saracens – Liberty Stadium - ERCC