The Ospreys team to play Zebre at Stadio XXV Aprile on Friday 5th October, KO 7.05pm, is as follows:
15 Richard Fussell
14 Hanno Dirksen
13 Ashley Beck
12 Andrew Bishop
11 Eli Walker
10 Dan Biggar
9 Kahn Fotuali’i
1 Ryan Bevington
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Adam Jones
4 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)
5 Ian Evans
6 Ryan Jones
7 Sam Lewis
8 Jonathan Thomas
REPLACEMENTS
16 Richard Hibbard
17 Duncan Jones
18 Aaron Jarvis
19 Joe Bearman
20 George Stowers
21 Rhys Webb
22 Ross Jones
23 Jonathan Spratt
Richard Hibbard will make his 150th Ospreys appearance if he comes off the bench
The following players were not considered because of injury:
Justin Tipuric - Hip
Tom Smith - Groin
James Goode – Groin
Tom Habberfield - Ankle
James King – Shoulder
Head Coach Steve Tandy said:
“This is a big game for us and it’s important that we keep the momentum that we’ve built up over the last couple of weeks going. The whole squad has worked hard and last Saturday you could see clear signs that we are heading in the right direction.
“The win over Munster was about attitude, desire and commitment, typified by the way the team defended in their 22 in the closing minutes, they weren’t content to just sit back with the game won. We can’t get carried away though, we realise that we aren’t perfect and we’ve still got a lot of work to do, there’s plenty to put right.
“It’s the first time for us to play Zebre but as a group we are all well aware of the threat they’ll pose. We’ve struggled in Italy before, not least the defeat to Treviso at the start of this season so we know that we will have to approach the game just like we did the Scarlets and Munster matches and be at our very best, before coming home to kick-off Europe against Treviso at the Liberty Stadium the following Friday, another very difficult game against a very good team where we’ll need the backing of a big, passionate crowd to help us.”
Forthcoming Fixtures
Fri 12 Oct – 20.00KO – Ospreys v Benetton Treviso – Heineken Cup
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