The Ospreys team to play Saracens at Allianz Park on Saturday 21st October 2017, KO 7.45pm, is as follows:

15 Dan Evans

14 Jeff Hassler

13 Kieron Fonotia

12 Owen Watkin

11 Cory Allen

10 Dan Biggar

9 Tom Habberfield



1 Nicky Smith

2 Sam Parry

3 Dmitri Arhip

4 Adam Beard

5 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)

6 Dan Lydiate

7 Justin Tipuric

8 James King



REPLACEMENTS



16 Scott Baldwin

17 Paul James

18 Ma’afu Fia

19 Lloyd Ashley

20 Guy Mercer

21 Brendon Leonard

22 Sam Davies

23 James Hook



Lloyd Ashley will make his 100th Ospreys appearance if he comes off the bench





The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury



Dan Baker - Knee

Ashley Beck – Shoulder

Olly Cracknell - Shoulder

Hanno Dirksen – Knee

Ben John - HIA

Brian Mujati – Shoulder

Scott Otten - Shoulder

Rory Thornton – Shoulder

Eli Walker – Back

Rhys Webb - Knee

Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said:



“We are going up against the best team in Europe on Saturday night, one that hasn’t lost in this competition for two years, and they got off to a flying start in Northampton last weekend.



“There are some great match-ups across the parks, that’s what is really exciting about this competition and this game. A lot of the boys will know each other, some of them were together with the Lions in the summer, or they’ve met in international rugby, so we all know what to expect.



“With the artificial pitch it’s likely to be fast and there’ll be plenty of ball in play time, while it seems like conditions will get a bit wild and could prove particularly testing for both teams so we’ve got to make sure out mindset is right from the word go.



“We’ve been improving over the last few weeks, there has been signs that we are getting to where we need to be, with the performance last weekend against Clermont much better than we’ve been.



“There’s still some way to go though and a place like the Allianz isn’t where you want to be if you aren’t on the mark. We know that outside of our environment there’ll be little expectation on us but that won’t affect us. Our focus is solely on getting the job done to the best of our ability and working as a collective to ensure we do that, every day in training and on Saturday in particular.”



Forthcoming Fixtures

Fri 27 Oct – 7.35pm KO – Ospreys v Dragons – Liberty Stadium – PRO14

Sat 4 Nov – 5.30pm KO – Edinburgh v Ospreys – Myreside – PRO14

Fri 10 Nov – 7.30pm KO – Ospreys v Wasps – Liberty Stadium - AW