Still no Henson for Ospreys
Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:28
There is still no Gavin Henson as the Ospreys prepare to face the Newport Gwent Dragons in a Magners League game at the Liberty Stadium on Friday.
Henson has been given another week to recover from the ligament damage to his left ankle, suffered in the Heineken Cup quarterfinal loss to Saracens earlier this month.
The Ospreys medical team is hopeful that he will be involved against Edinburgh next week.
Scrumhalf Mike Phillips recently underwent surgery to repair damage to his anterior cruciate and medial collateral knee ligaments and will be out of action until next season.
Nikki Walker is recovering well from a stress fracture of the fibia in the right leg and it is still hoped that he will return to action this season.
Ospreys head coach Lyn Jones said he was expecting "another tough challenge" in Swansea.
"Welsh derby matches always are tough, but it is a fixture that we must win if we are to achieve our double aims of Heineken Cup qualification for next season and to finish as the highest placed Welsh side [in the Magners League]," Jones said.
"We have two games on the sides immediately above us, both against the Dragons, and if we can win both of those we will move up to fourth place, ahead of the Scarlets.
"The message we will be giving the players ahead of the match will be a simple one: "go out there and win'.
"There is no question about it that we will be paying full respect to the Dragons despite their recent form. They have nine players who have experienced international rugby over the last two seasons, so they have experience and talent.
"I've no doubt that they will be fired up for this match, given that it is a local derby and Heineken Cup qualification is at stake, so we must ensure that we do a professional job and secure the points as efficiently as possible.
"All the players are looking forward to 'going home' as it were, this will be only the fourth home match we have had in 2008.
"It will be the first opportunity for the squad and the management team to say a big thank you to the fans who got behind them so well at Twickenham in the EDF Energy Cup Final recently, to acknowledge their contribution to our success, and we're hoping that there'll be another large crowd present to help cheer us on to another important win."
Ospreys: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Johnny Vaughton, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Justin Marshall, 8 Ryan Jones (captain), 7 Marty Holah, 6 Filo Tiatia, 5 Alun-wyn Jones, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Ian Evans, 19 Jonathan Thomas, 20 Gareth Owen, 21 Jonathan Spratt, 22 Aled Brew.
Date: Friday, 25 April
Venue: Liberty Stadium, Swansea
Kick-off: 19.35 (18.35 GMT)
Referee: Tim Hayes (Wales)
