The Ospreys team to play Zebre at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday 7th November 2015, KO 2.30pm, is as follows:
15 Dan Evans
14 Dafydd Howells
13 Jonathan Spratt
12 Josh Matavesi
11 Eli Walker
10 Dan Biggar
9 Brendon Leonard
1 Paul James
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Aaron Jarvis
4 Lloyd Ashley
5 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)
6 James King
7 Justin Tipuric
8 Dan Baker
REPLACEMENTS
16 Sam Parry
17 Ryan Bevington
18 Cai Griffiths
19 Olly Cracknell
20 Sam Underhill
21 Tom Habberfield
22 Sam Davies
23 Ben John
The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury:
Tyler Ardron - Knee
Adam Beard – Shoulder
Ashley Beck – ACL
Rynier Bernardo - Ankle
Jeff Hassler – Knee
Nicky Smith – Ankle
Rory Thornton – HIA protocols
Rhys Webb – Foot
Dmitri Arhip was unavailable for selection due to international call-up with Moldova
Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said:
“There’s no two ways about it, this weekend has to be where we start performing like an Ospreys team. We haven’t been at the level expected so far this season and the PRO12 table tells its own story. It’s disappointing but we won’t dwell on the last few weeks, we are looking forward and looking at how we can start climbing the table. In order to do that, we need to go up several levels from where we have been so far this season, particularly with this game starting off a busy period of big games.
“The appetite and the desire is there among the squad and the coaches, the attitude is good, and everybody is pulling together to get us out of the position we are in. Our interna-tionals have enjoyed another week in our environment and we’ve got one or two coming off the injury list so things are starting to look a bit brighter, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy the next few weeks.
“Zebre are coming here off the back of two very good wins over Edinburgh and the Blues and will no doubt fancy their chances so we’ll have to be on our game. We have to cut out the unnecessary mistakes that have been costing us, we have to be clinical and accurate, and everybody needs to not just know their roles but keep calm under pressure and stick to what we’ve practiced all week. Those are the key ingredients for an improved perfor-mance which is what we need, not only to get the right performance on Saturday but to start building momentum and confidence.
“It’s a Saturday afternoon kick-off, no TV coverage, so we are hoping that our supporters will come out and get behind us when we need them.”
Forthcoming Fixtures
Sun 15 Nov – 5.15pm KO – Ospreys v Exeter Chiefs – ERCC
Sun 22 Nov – 2.00pm KO (Local) – Clermont Auvergne v Ospreys – ERCC
Sat 28 Nov – 3.00pm KO – Ospreys v Cardiff Blues – PRO12
Sun 6 Dec – 3.00pm KO (Local) – Zebre v Ospreys – PRO12