Ospreys team to play the Dragons

Dec 30 • General News, Guinness Pro14 • 1606 Views • Comments Off on Ospreys team to play the Dragons

The Ospreys team to play the Dragons at Rodney Parade on Sunday 31st December 2017, KO 5.35pm, is as follows:

15 Dan Evans

14 Hanno Dirksen

13 Kieron Fonotia

12 Owen Watkin

11 Jeff Hassler

10 Dan Biggar

9 Rhys Webb

1 Nicky Smith

2 Scott Baldwin

3 Dmitri Arhip

4 Bradley Davies

5 Adam Beard

6 Dan Lydiate (Capt)

7 Justin Tipuric

8 Olly Cracknell

REPLACEMENTS

16 Scott Otten

17 Paul James

18 Ma’afu Fia

19 Alun Wyn Jones

20 Rob McCusker

21 Tom Habberfield

22 Sam Davies

23 Ashley Beck

The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury

Dan Baker – Knee

Keelan Giles – Knee

Dafydd Howells – Shoulder

Ben John – HIA

James King – Shoulder

Brian Mujati – Shoulder

Sam Parry – Ankle

Rory Thornton – Shoulder

Eli Walker – Back

Kieran Williams – Ankle

Tom Williams – Forearm

Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said:

“There’s a quick turnaround from Boxing Day but we were straight back in on Wednesday morning to begin preparations for Sunday and are ready to go again.

“With the Dragons this weekend followed by the Blues at the Liberty next Saturday, that’s another couple of huge games played in front of big crowds with real intensity and we have to make sure that we are up for the challenge.

“There was plenty of character and effort against the Scarlets in conditions that made life difficult for both teams and negated the influence of the extra man following their red card with the necessity to play a tight game. We got ourselves into a winning position so were incredibly disappointed not to see it through, losing the way we did at the last play.

“We’ll keep working hard as a collective to put it right on the field, we know the difference back to back PRO14 wins would make. We also understand that won’t happen by chance and we have to transfer the good work in training to the matchday

. “The supporters have been fantastic and continue to get behind the team and that is all you can ask for as a player or coach. We want to make sure we end the year on a positive for them, taking that momentum into a busy January with some huge games coming up that we can all look forward to.”

Forthcoming Fixtures

Sun 31 Dec – 5.35pm KO – Dragons v Ospreys – Rodney Parade – PRO14

Sat 6 Jan – 3.15pm KO – Ospreys v Cardiff Blues – Liberty Stadium – PRO14

Sat 13 Jan – 7.45pm KO – Ospreys v Saracens – Liberty Stadium – ERCC

Sat 20 Jan – 4.15pm KO (Local) – Clermont Auvergne v Ospreys – Stade Marcel Michelin – ERCC