Wales contingent boost Ospreys
Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:51
The Ospreys squad to play against Edinburgh in the Magners League on Sunday at Murrayfield remains a strong one despite the host of players unavailable through international duty and injury.
Unavailable because of international duty are Huw Bennett, Tommy Bowe, Lee Byrne, James Hook, Paul James, Adam Jones, Ryan Jones, Jonathan Thomas and Shane Williams, while eight players were not considered because of injury. They are Alun Wyn Jones (elbow), Ross Davies (ankle), Duncan Jones (foot), Tom Isaacs (shoulder), Lyndon Bateman (knee), Jonathan Spratt (back), Tom Smith (hip/knee) and Conor McInerney (hamstring).
Ospreys head coach Sean Holley commented: "This is the tightest I've ever seen the Magners League, I think, and with seven games to go there's still a lot to play for.
"We have five away games in those seven; we've still got to go to places like Munster, Leinster, Ulster and the Dragons after this weekend. They are not easy games.
"We'll be looking for a big performance on Sunday and we want to improve on our Connacht performance, which wasn't great. We've been boosted by the addition of some of the Wales contingent, who will join up with us later in the week. We are grateful to the Welsh management for allowing these boys to return to us; their availability has certainly allowed us more options going into a difficult game.
Talking about the opposition, Holley commented: "Edinburgh are a good side. When you look at their side, a lot of them have been involved with the Scotland A side and u20 recently. I don't know what the situation will be with the national squad, whether they will give anyone back with the England coming up, but they are a very good unit and are well coached by Rob Moffatt.
"He's a shrewd coach with a good squad. We know it's going to be a hard game, but we've prepared really well for it. We enjoyed a good army camp visit which was to try and keep the boys together between games, and I think that'll stand us in good stead going into the game. We're looking forward to it," said Holley.
Ospreys: 15 Gareth Owen/Barry Davies, 14 Jonny Vaughton, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Filo Tiatia,7 Marty Holah, 6 Jerry Collins (captain), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Richard Hibbard/Ed Shervington, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington/Marc Breeze, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Andy Lloyd/James Goode, 19 Steve Tandy/Ben Lewis, 20 Jamie Nutbrown, 21 Ashley Beck, 22 Barry Davies/Gareth Owen.
Date: Sunday, March 7
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 14.00 (14.00 GMT)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Dave Changleng (Scotland), Bob Nevins (Scotland)
TMO: Iain Ramage
(Scotland)
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