Ospreys have named their squad to face the Benetton in Round 1 of the EPCR Challenge Cup. The game will take place at the Swansea.com Stadium and is kicking off on Saturday 9th December at 17:30pm.
The team sees a much different look to the side that travelled to Treviso last week in the BKT URC.
Morgan Morris will captain the side for the third successive week.
Gareth Thomas starts at loosehead, with Dewi Lake lining up at hooker and Tom Botha completing the front three.
James Fender partners with Adam Beard at lock. Rhys Davies lines up at six, with Jac Morgan on the other flank and Morgan Morris starting at eight.
Reuben Morgan-Williams lines up at scrum half, with Owen Williams starting at 10. Owen Watkin starts with George North in the centres.
In the back three, Iestyn Hopkins starts at full back, with Keelan Giles returning from injury on one wing and Luke Morgan on the other.
Starting XV:
15. Iestyn Hopkins
14. Luke Morgan
13. George North
12. Owen Watkin
11. Keelan Giles
10. Owen Williams
9. Reuben Morgan-Williams
1. Gareth Thomas
2. Dewi Lake
3. Tom Botha
4. James Fender
5. Adam Beard
6. Rhys Davies
7. Jac Morgan
8. Morgan Morris ©
Replacements:
16. Sam Parry
17. Nicky Smith
18. Ben Warren
19. Harri Deaves
20. Tristan Davies
21. Luke Davies
22. Jack Walsh
23. Mat Protheroe
Head Coach, Toby Booth, said:
“They’re a good team, you don’t get the results they’ve had without playing to a certain standard.
“We had plenty of opportunity against Benetton last week and we felt we left a bit out there. We didn’t convert enough of the pressure we had early on into points, so we’ll need to be more clinical this week.”