The Ospreys team for the PRO12 game against Zebre at Liberty Stadium on Saturday 28th March 2015, KO 7.15pm, is as follows:
15 Dan Evans
14 Tom Grabham
13 Jonathan Spratt
12 Josh Matavesi
11 Hanno Dirksen
10 Sam Davies
9 Tom Habberfield
1 Ryan Bevington
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Aaron Jarvis
4 Lloyd Peers
5 Tyler Ardron
6 James King
7 Justin Tipuric (Capt)
8 Dan Baker
REPLACEMENTS
16 Scott Otten
17 Nicky Smith
18 Dmitri Arhip
19 Alun Wyn Jones
20 Dan Lydiate
21 Rhys Webb
22 Dan Biggar
23 Ben John
The following players were unavailable for selection through injury:
Joe Bearman – Groin
Ashley Beck - Ankle
Rynier Bernardo - Knee
Andrew Bishop – Back
Tevita Cavubati - Shoulder
Cai Griffiths - Bicep
Jeff Hassler – Knee ligaments
Dafydd Howells - Ankle
Ross Jones – Ankle
Aisea Natoga – Knee ligaments
De Kock Steenkamp – Achilles
Ieuan Jones has returned to Cardiff Blues following the completion of his loan period
Head Coach, Steve Tandy, commented:
“We are at the business end of the season now and with just five games to go there’s no margin for error. It’s incredibly tight at the top of the table and we know what we have to do as a group if we want to retain our play-off spot.
“It’s great to be able to welcome our Wales boys back. As always, they have reported back for duty at Llandarcy with a great attitude and a real desire to pull on the black shirt again, to help us in our hunt for a play-off place. They’ve all slotted back in seamlessly and had a good training week, but they haven’t had it easy, which is exactly how it should be. The boys in the core group who have been working tirelessly for the cause over the last two months have really stepped up, as we saw last time out against Munster. While that makes selection difficult on the one hand, it also allows us to think longer term as far as the reintegration of the internationals go. That will benefit everybody over the remaining weeks of the season.
“It’s going to be tough on Saturday night. We only just scraped through out there in October, while last season we had two difficult games, winning one and losing one. We know what to expect, but we’ve prepared well this week and are looking forward to the game.
“The Munster game set a standard for us that we have to not only maintain this weekend, but keep improving on. That win was down to the preparation in the week prior to the game. It was about attention to detail, individually and collectively, and being accurate in everything we do. It’ll be the same again on Saturday, and in the four games after that. Drop off in any facet of our game and we’ll be up against it, so it’s important we get the right performance.
“The supporters at the Munster game really appreciated the effort and commitment they saw and got right behind the team. We’ll need that again on Saturday, their backing could make all the difference when we find ourselves up against it.”
Forthcoming Fixtures
Fri 10 Apr – 7.35pm KO – Benetton Treviso v Ospreys – PRO12
Sat 25 Apr – 2.30pm KO – Cardiff Blues v Ospreys – PRO12
8/9/10 May – KO TBC – Ospreys v Glasgow – PRO12
Sat 16 May – 3.00pm KO – Connacht v Ospreys – PRO12