Ospreys team to play Munster

21st February

Rugby

Tandy names team to face Munster on Sunday afternoon at the Liberty Stadium (4.00pm KO)

The Ospreys team to play Munster at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday 23rd February, KO 4.00pm, is as follows:

15 Sam Davies

14 Aisea Natoga

13 Jonathan Spratt (Capt)

12 Ashley Beck

11 Jeff Hassler

10 Matthew Morgan

9 Tom Habberfield

1 Duncan Jones

2 Scott Baldwin

3 Dan Suter

4 Perry Parker

5 James King

6 Tyler Ardron

7 Sam Lewis

8 Joe Bearman

REPLACEMENTS

16 Matthew Dwyer

17 Marc Thomas

18 Joe Rees

19 Ryan Jones

20 Dan Baker

21 Tito Tebaldi

22 Hanno Dirksen

23 Richard Fussell

Dan Suter makes his first PRO12 start

Hanno Dirksen will makes his 50th Ospreys appearance if he comes off the bench

Head Coach Steve Tandy said:

“This game will be a big step up in intensity from what this young group have experienced in recent weeks, but it’s a challenge they are definitely up for. It was a good win last weekend but it’s been important to keep people’s feet on the ground in training. We put together some decent attacking moves, something we’ve put a lot of work into, but analysing the performance as a whole in the early part of this week we picked up a lot of areas where we need to improve.

“What was really pleasing about the Treviso game was the positive intent about the performance, how we took things we’ve been working on in training and put them into practice. It was exciting to see the youngsters who are getting their chance in the PRO12 to really take the opportunity to go for it and anyone who was here for the game would have left the Liberty full of optimism about the future of the Ospreys.

“We’ve worked hard on developing local young talent and it’s really pleasing to see that the increased investment that the board are making in that area bearing real fruit. Like I said, Sunday’s game against Munster will be another level again for these boys but they will be approaching the game with confidence and self belief that they can get the performance right and make the supporters proud of them. There’s responsibility on the likes of Jonathan Spratt, Duncan and Joe Bearman to provide the experience and the guidance to these youngsters, but there is a good mix and a good feeling about the group.

“Hopefully the supporters will buy into what we are doing and will get behind this team in the numbers they deserve on Sunday.”

The following players were unavailable for selection through injury:

Dmitri Arhip – Achilles

Andrew Bishop – Back

Tom Isaacs – Ankle

Aaron Jarvis - Calf

Ben John - Shoulder

Lloyd Peers - Shoulder

Tom Smith - Knee

Eli Walker - Hamstring

Sam Williams - Shoulder

Forthcoming Fixtures