“This weekend presents a great opportunity for players such as Martin Roberts, Ed Shervington and Mike Powell to show us what they can offer at this level, and there may also be an opportunity to give Ben Lewis some game time,” said Jones
“These guys are hugely talented players that we are bringing through in conjunction with our associate clubs and I am sure they each have a promising future in the game.”
Jones added: “Winning against Leinster in Ireland has proved difficult for all of the Welsh regions. Indeed, we were the last region to have enjoyed any success in Donnybrook and that was almost two years ago. When you strive to play rugby at the highest level you want to be tested against the very best players, and Leinster will be offering that on Saturday. The Christmas period has had a massive impact on our injury situation, and we now have fourteen players unavailable. It was always our intention to rotate the squad over these few weeks, but the enforced changes have made this weekends selection even more difficult. Having said that we have always performed well at Donnybrook and we have enjoyed our previous visits to the ground.”
Ospreys team:
15 Stefan Terblanche
14 Jonathan Vaughton
13 Tal Selley
12 Andrew Bishop
11 Richard Mustoe
10 Shaun Connor
9 Martin Roberts
8 Andy Lloyd
7 Richard Pugh
6 Lee Beach
5 Michael Powell
4 Brent Cockbain
3 Andrew Millward
2 Ed Shervington
1 Paul James (Capt)
Replacements:
16 Barry Williams
17 Adam Jones
18 Chris Martenko
19 Ben Lewis
20 Jason Spice
21 Nikki Walker
22 AN Other (back)
|
