The Ospreys team to play Ulster at Ravenhill on Friday 8th February, KO 19.05, is as follows:
15 Richard Fussell
14 Tom Habberfield
13 Tom Isaacs
12 Jonathan Spratt
11 Ben John
10 Matthew Morgan
9 Kahn Fotuali’i (Capt)
1 Ryan Bevington
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Cai Griffiths
4 Ian Gough
5 James King
6 Morgan Allen
7 Sam Lewis
8 Joe Bearman
REPLACEMENTS
16 Matthew Dwyer
17 Duncan Jones
18 Dmitri Arhip
19 Alun Wyn Jones
20 Lloyd Peers
21 Arthur Ellis
22 Ross Jones
23 Jamie Murphy
Ben John makes his PRO12 debut
Morgan Allen and Tom Habberfield make their first PRO12 starts
Arthur Ellis and Jamie Murphy will make their PRO12 debuts if they come off the bench
16 players were unavailable for selection because of international duty with Wales senior, U20 and sevens squads
The following players were not considered because of injury:
Andrew Bishop – Back
Rhys Webb – Mild concussion
Ashley Beck – Ankle
Hanno Dirksen – Knee
Tom Smith – Groin
Joe Rees - Neck
Aaron Jarvis - Knee
Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said:
“We’ve got a very big month ahead of us, with three very difficult away games in Ireland and a home game against Edinburgh in a couple of weeks.
“It’s going to be a season defining period for us. We’ve bounced back well from the slow start we had to the season and when the PRO12 broke up at the start of last month we had managed to claw our way up into the top four. The challenge now is to stay there, and it won’t be easy.
“It’s a really challenging period for the organisation. With more than 20 players missing this weekend we are pretty stretched, particularly when you look at the squad Ulster have with real world class quality in the group that is available to them all season long. It’s the reality of our current situation that we are going to Ravenhill with a young looking group and a few boys making PRO12 debuts, but we know that we have a tight knit squad of players who believe in the cause and will play with real pride in the jersey.
“We’ve seen some of our young talent stepping up time after time already this season and they’ll need to do so again on Friday night. If we are going to successfully defend our title then we’ll need to do well over the coming weeks and put in the kind of performances that will make the supporters proud. It was this period last season, with a young group, that we went on a run that provided a springboard for the title success and that needs to happen again.
“The Edinburgh game looks like being a massive one. That’s a game that will be crucial for us, and it’s at times like this that we need the supporters to be behind us and also step up and do their bit for the cause. It’s evening like that, month’s like this one, which define seasons and define teams.”
Forthcoming Fixtures
Fri 15 Feb – 19.45 KO – Connacht v Ospreys – RaboDirect PRO12
Fri 22 Feb – 20.10KO – Ospreys v Edinburgh- RaboDirect PRO12
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