The Ospreys team to play Saracens at Allianz Park on Saturday 21st October 2017, KO 7.45pm, is as follows:
15 Dan Evans
14 Jeff Hassler
13 Kieron Fonotia
12 Owen Watkin
11 Cory Allen
10 Dan Biggar
9 Tom Habberfield
1 Nicky Smith
2 Sam Parry
3 Dmitri Arhip
4 Adam Beard
5 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)
6 Dan Lydiate
7 Justin Tipuric
8 James King
REPLACEMENTS
16 Scott Baldwin
17 Paul James
18 Ma’afu Fia
19 Lloyd Ashley
20 Guy Mercer
21 Brendon Leonard
22 Sam Davies
23 James Hook
Lloyd Ashley will make his 100th Ospreys appearance if he comes off the bench
The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury
Dan Baker - Knee
Ashley Beck – Shoulder
Olly Cracknell - Shoulder
Hanno Dirksen – Knee
Ben John - HIA
Brian Mujati – Shoulder
Scott Otten - Shoulder
Rory Thornton – Shoulder
Eli Walker – Back
Rhys Webb - Knee
Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said:
“We are going up against the best team in Europe on Saturday night, one that hasn’t lost in this competition for two years, and they got off to a flying start in Northampton last weekend.
“There are some great match-ups across the parks, that’s what is really exciting about this competition and this game. A lot of the boys will know each other, some of them were together with the Lions in the summer, or they’ve met in international rugby, so we all know what to expect.
“With the artificial pitch it’s likely to be fast and there’ll be plenty of ball in play time, while it seems like conditions will get a bit wild and could prove particularly testing for both teams so we’ve got to make sure out mindset is right from the word go.
“We’ve been improving over the last few weeks, there has been signs that we are getting to where we need to be, with the performance last weekend against Clermont much better than we’ve been.
“There’s still some way to go though and a place like the Allianz isn’t where you want to be if you aren’t on the mark. We know that outside of our environment there’ll be little expectation on us but that won’t affect us. Our focus is solely on getting the job done to the best of our ability and working as a collective to ensure we do that, every day in training and on Saturday in particular.”
Forthcoming Fixtures
Fri 27 Oct – 7.35pm KO – Ospreys v Dragons – Liberty Stadium – PRO14
Sat 4 Nov – 5.30pm KO – Edinburgh v Ospreys – Myreside – PRO14
Fri 10 Nov – 7.30pm KO – Ospreys v Wasps – Liberty Stadium - AW
