Ospreys team to play Cardiff Blues

20th March

Rugby

Biggar, Webb, Alun Wyn and Tipuric all named in starting line-up for Friday night's Welsh derby at the Liberty Stadium

The Ospreys team to play Cardiff Blues at the Liberty Stadium on Friday 21st March 2014, KO 7.05pm, is as follows:

15 Sam Davies

14 Jeff Hassler

13 Jonathan Spratt

12 Ashley Beck

11 Aisea Natoga

10 Dan Biggar

9 Rhys Webb

1 Duncan Jones

2 Scott Baldwin

3 Aaron Jarvis

4 Ryan Jones

5 Alun Wyn Jones

6 Sam Lewis

7 Justin Tipuric

8 Dan Baker

REPLACEMENTS

16 Scott Otten

17 Marc Thomas

18 Adam Jones

19 James King

20 Joe Bearman

21 Morgan Allen

22 Tom Habberfield

23 Hanno Dirksen

Dan Baker makes his first PRO12 start

Scott Otten will make his senior Ospreys debut if he comes off the bench

Head Coach Steve Tandy said:

“There’s been a buzz around training this week, looking forward to a big Welsh derby match and the start of an important period for us. There are six games left, we are sitting in fourth place at the moment and that’s where we want to stay. If we are going to achieve that, then we all know we’ll need to raise our performance level considerably from where it was in our last game, and that’s a challenge for everybody in the group.

“We know there’ll be a good crowd at the Liberty on Friday night with all the passion and intensity that a derby match brings on and off the field. These are the games that players and supporters alike look for when the fixtures come out, and this one has added importance for us because we need a good performance, and the win that’ll come with that if we get it right.

“We’ve got an excellent record in this competition since play-offs were introduced, having won it twice and made the semis one other time, with last year the only time we failed to finish in the top four. That still hurts and we want to make sure we don’t miss out this year. We are only taking it one game at a time but we know we can’t afford to slip up at all. There’s a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of the experienced boys in the squad, but it’s also time for some of the youngsters to step up and show what they are about.

“It’s an exciting time for everybody at the Ospreys, regardless of any of the politics, and we want to see this team kicking on from where we are, to push for the play-offs and to set us up for a positive end to the season.”

The following players were unavailable for selection through injury:

Dmitri Arhip – Achilles

Ryan Bevington - Groin

Andrew Bishop – Back

Matthew Dwyer - Groin

Richard Hibbard - Shoulder

Dafydd Howells - Knee

Tom Isaacs – Ankle

Ben John - Shoulder

Lloyd Peers - Shoulder

Tom Smith - Knee

Eli Walker - Hamstring