The Ospreys team to face Stade Français in the Heineken Cup, at the Liberty Stadium "â¬" Sunday 14th January "â¬" kick off at 3.00pm, will be as follows: -
15 Lee Byrne 14 Shane Williams/ Stefan Terblanche 13 Andrew Bishop
12 Gavin Henson 11 Nikki Walker/ Richard Mustoe 10 James Hook
9 Justin Marshall
8 Ryan Jones 7 Steve Tandy 6 Filo Tiatia5 Alun Wyn Jones4 Brent Cockbain 3 Adam Jones
2 Barry Williams 1 Duncan Jones (Capt)
Replacements:
16 Ed Shervington 17 Paul James 18 Mike Powell19 Andy Lloyd 20 Jason Spice 21 Shaun Connor
22 Stefan Terblanche/ Tal Selley
There are late fitness tests on Nikki Walker (shoulder) and Shane Williams (ankle)
Tickets for the match are still on sale at the Liberty Stadium Ticket Office, via the Ticket Hotline on 08700 400 004, or online at http://www.ospreysrugby.com/.
Comment from Head Coach, Lyn Jones:
"All games are big, but this match clearly has an extra dimension given the closely contested nature of this group and the quality of our opposition. Stade will be doubly determined to set the record straight after last seasons result at the stadium, but we go into this game knowing it is within our capability to win it. We can have confidence approaching this fixture, not just off the back of last years result, but also on the back of the narrow defeat in Paris last October. It was one of our better performances, although without success, but it indicated that we can match the best teams in European rugby."
"Our injury situation is no different from the majority of teams at this time of year, although we are unfortunate to have lost two hookers and two second rows. Being successful in Europe is all about the majority of your squad being injury free, as this stage the Heineken Cup is totally unforgiving of any weakness in your line-up. Stade have a squad full of world class players and they play a great style of instinctive rugby. We will have to perform across the park, as we did last year at the Liberty Stadium, if we are to get anything out of this match. We have a hugely supportive fan base and the players respond well to vocal support. I am sure we will get the crowd behind us on Sunday and it should be a great occasion for both players and spectators."
Injury and squad availability news
We have eleven players not available for selection due to injury:
Sonny Parker (strained medial ligament) and Jonathan Thomas (AC joint) will both be out for another week and are targeting the Sale Sharks match
Jonathan Vaughton pulled a hamstring against Leinster last weekend. We are awaiting the results of a recent scan
Richard Hibbard (shoulder) hopes to return at the end of January
Huw Bennett (ankle ligament) is out for another three weeks
Matthew Jones (knee), Tim Evans (knee) and Craig Mitchell (knee) are all remain on course for late February returns
Ian Evans (shoulder - five/ six months) and Lyndon Bateman (knee ligament - three/ four months) have had operations earlier this week. Initial indications are that both operations have been successful and they will now commence their rehabilitation periods
David Bishop (knee) is making good progress on his rehabilitation programme and is looking forward to taking a full part in pre-season training
January/ February 2007 Fixtures
Ospreys v Stade Francais (Heineken Cup) - Liberty Stadium - Sunday 14th January - kick off at 3.00pm
Sale Sharks v Ospreys (Heineken Cup) - Edgeley Park - Saturday 20th January - kick off at 3.30pm
Ospreys v Ulster (Magners League) - Liberty Stadium - Saturday 27th January - kick off at 5.30pm
Ospreys v Connacht (Magners League) - Liberty Stadium - Saturday 17th February - kick off at 5.30pm