Ospreys team to play Connacht

Feb 8 • General News, Guinness Pro14 • 1241 Views • Comments Off on Ospreys team to play Connacht

The Ospreys team to play Connacht at the Sportsground on Friday 9th February 2018, 7.35pm KO is as follows:

OSPREYS

15 Dan Evans
14 Hanno Dirksen
13 Kieron Fonotia
12 Ashley Beck
11 Dafydd Howells
10 Sam Davies
9 Tom Habberfield

1 Rhodri Jones
2 Scott Otten
3 Dmitri Arhip
4 Lloyd Ashley
5 James King
6 Olly Cracknell
7 Will Jones
8 Rob McCusker (Capt)

REPLACEMENTS

16 Sam Parry
17 Nicky Smith
18 Ma’afu Fia
19 Guy Mercer
20 Sam Cross
21 Reuben Morgan-Williams
22 Luke Price
23 Joe Thomas

Rob McCusker makes his 100th Championship appearance

The following players are unavailable for selection due to international duty

Adam Beard, Dan Biggar, Bradley Davies, Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Owen Watkin (Wales)

Callum Carson, Cai Evans, Rhys Henry, Dewi Lake, Harri Morgan and Morgan Morris (Wales U20)

The following players are unavailable for selection due to injury

Cory Allen – Pectoral
Scott Baldwin – Foot
Dan Baker – Knee
Keelan Giles – Knee
Jeff Hassler – Facial fracture
James Hook – Chest
Paul James – Shoulder
Ben John – HIA
Dan Lydiate – Bicep
Brian Mujati – Shoulder
James Ratti – Stinger
Rory Thornton – Shoulder
Eli Walker – Back
Rhys Webb – Knee
Kieran Williams – Ankle
Tom Williams – Forearm

Interim Head Coach, Allen Clarke, said:

“We know what we need to do over the next four weeks if we want to achieve our goal of qualification for the Champions Cup next season. We have to continue the improvement in performances that we saw in December and we have to win games, it’s as simple as that.

“The qualification spot is definitely still up for grabs, it’s very tight between Cardiff, Connacht and ourselves, but it’s true that we are running out of games saw it’s important that we get the results we need.

“Connacht is always a tough place to go and they will be looking to knock us over on Friday night, making the most of home advantage, so it’s important that this group makes a statement of intent.”

Forthcoming Fixtures

Fri16 Feb – 7.35pm KO – Ospreys v Southern Kings – Liberty Stadium – PRO14
Sat 24 Feb – 5.30pm KO – Ospreys v Cheetahs – Liberty Stadium – PRO14
Sat 3 Mar – 6.30pm KO (Local) – Zebre v Ospreys – Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi – PRO14