The Ospreys team to face Munster at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday 13th September 2015, KO 2.30pm, is as follows:
15 Dan Evans
14 Kristian Phillips
13 Jonathan Spratt
12 Owen Watkin
11 Hanno Dirksen
10 Sam Davies
9 Brendon Leonard
1 Nicky Smith
2 Sam Parry
3 Dmitri Arhip
4 Lloyd Ashley (Capt)
5 Rory Thornton
- Joe Bearman
7 Sam Underhill
8 Dan Baker
REPLACEMENTS
16 Scott Otten
17 Marc Thomas
18 Cai Griffiths
19 De Kock Steenkamp
20 Olly Cracknell
21 Tom Habberfield
22 Aled Jenkins
23 Richard Fussell
Lloyd Ashley and Sam Davies make their 50th Ospreys appearance
Owen Watkin makes his Ospreys debut
Sam Underhill makes his first Ospreys/PRO12 start
Brendon Leonard makes his first Ospreys start
Aled Jenkins will make his PRO12 debut if he comes off the bench
Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said:
“It was obviously a disappointing start to the season, losing like we did last weekend in Ulster, but it’s a test of our mental character as a group now to bounce back and put on the kind of performance expected of an Ospreys team this Sunday.
“Ours isn’t the kind of environment where we hide behind excuses or try to avoid responsibiity. The review process this week has been honest and we all know where we stand. Importantly, everybody knows what they have to do this week, in what promises to be a another difficult afternoon against a very good Munster side.
“We talk about attention to detail, accuracy, knowing your role, and these can’t just be words, there has to be meaning to it. When you don’t show those characteristics, day to day and when you step on to the field on game day, then you get the kind of un-Ospreys like performance that we saw last Friday.
“We aren’t going to dwell on it though, it’s important that we knuckle down and get on with the job. That defeat doesn’t make us a bad team, just as we weren’t the best team in the world after the win against Saracens the week before. If we are going to get the performance right on Sunday we need to do the basics and ensure we put the building blocks in place.
“We have a youthful look to the squad again, with some debuts and new faces featuring, but it is a great opportunity for these boys to show what they are about and to earn an extended crack at earning the jersey, and it is a great opportunity for our supporters to have maybe their first look at some of these boys in action for their region.
“It’s going to be an emotional afternoon with the tribute to Jerry so we need to make sure that we channel that emotion in the right way and show the true Ospreys spirit, the spirit typified by JC. It’s important that we put on the kind of performance that will make our supporters proud and would make Jerry proud.”
The following players were unavailable for selection due to Rugby World Cup selection:
Scott Baldwin, Dan Biggar, Paul James, Aaron Jarvis, Alun Wyn Jones, James King, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric and Eli Walker (Wales)
Tyler Ardron and Jeff Hassler (Canada)
Josh Matavesi (Fiji)
The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury:
Adam Beard – Shoulder
Ashley Beck - ACL
Rynier Bernardo - Knee
Ryan Bevington – Groin
Andrew Bishop – Back
Tom Grabham – MCL
Ben John - Ankle
Rhys Webb - Foot
Forthcoming Fixtures
Fri 2 Oct - 6.00pm KO – Edinburgh v Ospreys – Murrayfield - PRO12
Sat 17 Oct – 2.30pm - Benetton Treviso v Ospreys – Stadio Comunale di Monigo – PRO12
Sat 24 Oct – 1.30pm KO - Ospreys v Connacht - Liberty Stadium - PRO12
Sun 1 Nov - 2.30pm KO – Glasgow v Ospreys – Scotstoun – PRO12
Sat 7 Nov – 2.30pm KO - Ospreys v Zebre – Liberty Stadium – PRO12