The Ospreys team to play Zebre at Liberty Stadium on Saturday 2nd September 2017, KO 2.30pm, is as follows:
15 Dan Evans
14 Keelan Giles
13 Ben John
12 Cory Allen
11 Jeff Hassler
10 James Hook
9 Tom Habberfield (Capt)
1 Paul James
2 Sam Parry
3 Ma’afu Fia
4 Bradley Davies
5 Rory Thornton
6 Olly Cracknell
7 Justin Tipuric
8 Dan Baker
REPLACEMENTS
16 Scott Otten
17 Nicky Smith
18 Rhodri Jones
19 Lloyd Ashley
20 James King
21 Reuben Morgan-Williams
22 Sam Davies
23 Kieron Fonotia
Paul James makes his 223rd Ospreys appearance, equaling Duncan Jones at the top of the appearance list for the region
Cory Allen makes his competitive Ospreys debut
Reuben Morgan-Williams will make his senior Ospreys debut if he comes off the bench
The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury
Dmitri Arhip – Shoulder
Ashley Beck - Shoulder
Hanno Dirksen – Knee
Dafydd Howells – Shoulder
Brendon Leonard - Foot
Dan Lydiate – Knee
Rob McCusker - HIA
Brian Mujati – Shoulder
Luke Price - Foot
Eli Walker – Back
Owen Watkin - HIA
Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said:
“It’s great to be back into Guinness PRO14 action again, there’s definitely a buzz around the environment and everyone is excited about the weekend.
“Kicking off at the Liberty on a Saturday afternoon is great for us. When you look at what is a pretty testing schedule in the first six rounds, it’s crucial we get off to a positive start and being at home with our supporters behind us is important.
“With pre-season out of the way, we’ve had plenty to work on over recent weeks and the line-up is starting to have a more familiar look to it with players starting to come back in and more due to return over the next few weeks.
“The new conference system with the introduction of the South African teams has certainly created interest and given the championship a sense of freshness. It’s a competition which grows in stature year on year and I think that’ll be the case this year. We achieved a play-off spot last season off the back of an excellent first two-thirds of the year. The challenge now has to be to build on that, make sure we carry form throughout the season and look for continued improvement and growth, ensuring we are where want to be at the tail end, involved in big play-off fixtures.”
Forthcoming Fixtures
Sat 9 Sep – 3.15pm KO – Glasgow v Ospreys – Scotstoun – PRO14
Sat 16 Sep – 3.15pm KO - Ospreys v Munster – Liberty Stadium – PRO14
Fri 22 Sep – 8.35pm KO (Local) Benetton Treviso v Ospreys – Stadio Comunale di Monigo – PRO14
Fri 29 Sep – 5.00pm KO (Local) Cheetahs v Ospreys - Toyota Free State Stadium – PRO14