Ospreys team for Premier 4x4 Challenge

The team to play Aberavon, Bridgend, Neath and Swansea at the Gnoll on unique regional rugby evening has been confirmed..

 

 

The Ospreys team for the Premier 4x4 Challenge at the Gnoll on Tuesday 19th August 2014, KO 7.00pm, is as follows:

 

15 Ross Jones

14 Dafydd Howells

13 Aled Jenkins

12 Ben John

11 Aisea Natoga

10 Sam Davies

9 Martin Roberts (Capt)

 

1 Gareth Thomas

2 Matthew Dwyer

3 Daniel Suter

4 Adam Beard

5 Rory Thornton

6 Olly Cracknell

7 Lloyd Evans

8 Morgan Allen 

 

REPLACEMENTS

 

16 Scott Otten

17 Marc Thomas

18 Nicky Thomas

19 Adam Williams

20 Jordan Collier

21 Hanno Dirksen

22 Joel Matavesi

23 Matthew Jenkins

24 Ashley Evans

25 Jake Cole

26 Tom Sloane

 

The Ospreys will face the four senior regional clubs, Aberavon, Bridgend, Neath and Swansea, in a series of four 20 minute matches at the Gnoll.  The full Ospreys squad will be in attendance.

 

Head Coach, Steve Tandy, commented:

 

“We are looking forward to going back to the Gnoll for the first time in nine years as a team. It’s a place that means a lot to me personally having played for the clubs as a youngster and throughout my Ospreys career. 

 

“It’s going to be a good evening, a real challenge for the squad that we are taking. The format is something that they wouldn’t have experienced before with all four clubs lining up to get one over them, so we’ll learn a lot about the character of this young team. It will be tough physically as every 20 minutes there’ll be a fresh team coming on to the field for them to contend with, with different characteristics and playing styles and as coaches we want to see how they react to that.

 

“It’s another building block of pre-season, as was last Friday in Worcester and Thursday night against Saracens will be. It was a mixed bag on Friday, there were things to be pleased with and things that we weren’t happy about, but it’s all about building towards the first game of the PRO12 season against Treviso at the Liberty. There are plenty of lessons to take from the Worcester match, but nobody is pressing a panic button because we lost a pre-season game. We never want to lose a match as Ospreys, but we’ve been around a while now and understand that there is a bigger picture.

 

“We’re looking at getting a big group of players up to speed, players who have come back at different times and are following different conditioning programmes, and giving people a chance to show what they can do. What’s important is that we use these games to find out more about what we’ve got in the locker.

 

“We’re in the middle of a busy week with three games in total, this challenge the second contest of three, and everyone is getting their head down and working hard. After Thursday night there’s a week of fine tuning and we’ll be ready to go in front of our own fans against Treviso on day one.”

 

Andrew Hore, Ospreys Chief Executive, said:

 

“We are delighted to be heading back to Neath for the first Premier 4x4 Ospreys Challenge. It’s a great concept that will, I’m sure, be a big hit with supporters of the Ospreys and the four clubs taking part. To bring the four teams, the Ospreys, and supporters of all five teams to one venue for an evening of rugby is something that has never been done before. It should be a special evening for everyone.

 

“Off the field, the full squad will be in attendance to help make it a memorable night for everybody. It’ll be a great experience, the Gnoll holds great memories for all Ospreys supporters and, hopefully, this event will create new memories for a new generation.”

 

Supporters attending can purchases tickets at the gate on Tuesday night priced just £5 for adults, £2 concessions.

 

Forthcoming Fixtures

 

Thurs 21 Aug - 6.15pm KO - Saracens v Ospreys - The HAC, London 

Fri 05 Sep - 7.35pm KO - Ospreys v Treviso - Liberty Stadium - PRO12

Fri 12 Sep - 7.35pm KO - NG Dragons v Ospreys - Rodney Parade - PRO12

Sun 21 Sep - 4.00pm KO - Ospreys v Edinburgh - Liberty Stadium - PRO12

Sat 27 Sep - 6.30pm KO - Munster v Ospreys - Thomond Park - PRO12