The Ospreys team to play Benetton Treviso at the Liberty Stadium on Friday 12th October, KO 8.00pm, is as follows:
15 Richard Fussell
14 Hanno Dirksen
13 Andrew Bishop
12 Ashley Beck
11 Eli Walker
10 Dan Biggar
9 Kahn Fotuali’i
1 Ryan Bevington
2 Richard Hibbard
3 Adam Jones
4 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)
5 Ian Evans
6 Ryan Jones
7 Justin Tipuric
8 Jonathan Thomas
REPLACEMENTS
16 Matthew Dwyer
17 Duncan Jones
18 Aaron Jarvis
19 George Stowers
20 Sam Lewis
21 Rhys Webb
22 Matthew Morgan
23 Tom Isaacs
Richard Hibbard makes his 150th Ospreys appearance
Jonathan Thomas makes his 50th Heineken Cup appearance for the Ospreys
Ryan Bevington makes his first Heineken Cup start
If involved off the bench, Matthew Dwyer and Sam Lewis will make their Heineken Cup debuts
The following players were not considered because of injury:
Scott Baldwin - Shoulder
Joe Bearman - Knee
Tom Smith - Groin
James Goode – Groin
Tom Habberfield - Ankle
James King – Shoulder
Backs Coach Gruff Rees said:
“This time of the year is always an exciting period and that’s moreso than ever this year, with such a tough and challenging pool facing us. We’ve been drawn against the best team in Italy, France and England, there are six Heineken Cup titles in the pool and every match is going to be a real test.
“Treviso first up is a difficult one, we’ve seen for ourselves already, not just on the opening day of the season but also last year in the Heineken, how good a team they are. Leicester have also found it tough going against them in Europe and Toulouse will be well aware of how Biarritz fared against them last season, so we will be paying them the respect you would expect for such a good team.
“It’s crucial in Europe to get off to a good start, and crucial that you win your home games, so the importance of Friday night can’t be underestimated. As a group we’ll need to be at our best if we want to get the right reward, and we need the crowd to be there fighting every inch for the cause with the team.”
Forthcoming Fixtures
Sun 21 Oct – 15.00KO – Leicester Tigers v Ospreys – Heineken Cup
Sat 27 Oct – 14.30KO – Ospreys v Connacht – RaboDirect PRO12
Sun 4 Nov – 16.00KO – Ospreys v Leinster – RaboDirect PRO12
Fri 9 Nov – 19.45KO – Ospreys v Gloucester – LV= Cup