Captaining Ospreys: Kahn Fotuali'i
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The Ospreys must beat Leicester Tigers at Liberty Stadium on Sunday to keep their Heineken Cup quarter-final hopes alive.
Tigers lead Pool Two and victory in Wales will leave the two-time champions in pole position ahead of next weekend's showdown with Toulouse.
Reigning Pro12 champions Ospreys are third in Pool Two and are four points behind Toulouse.
The Welsh side, who have failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup for the last two seasons, came through the festive period unbeaten and will be full of confidence after recording the shock of the tournament by beating Toulouse.
Ospreys have lost just one of their last four Heineken Cup matches against Leicester but four of the seven meetings between the two have gone the Tigers' way.
"This is as big as it comes. It's a massive game and is one that we can't afford any slip-ups in," said Ospreys head coach Steve Tandy.
"We've got to be absolutely spot-on in everything we do, our preparation, our attitude and our attention to detail, if we are going to get anything from the match.
"We've done well over the last few weeks to put ourselves in contention in the PRO12 and in Europe, but we realise that we'll need to go up another level this weekend in terms of performance if we want to get the result we need to stay in the competition.
"It's a tough group with six Heineken Cup wins between Leicester and Toulouse, and we are up against teams whose budgets blow us out of the water, but we've got a competitive group of players who will give everything for the cause, who never know when they are beaten, and we are looking forward to this contest.
"They'll come down here confident after some good results of their own lately and we know that we are going to have to match them physically. They've got the advantage in the pool as it stands but there's everything to play for."
In team news, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole and Geoff Parling are among the senior internationals recalled to the Leicester Tigers team.
Forward trio Cole, Youngs and Parling, plus centre Manu Tuilagi, all return in changes to the team that started the Premiership win over Worcester Warriors last week.
Anthony Allen, Marcos Ayerza, Julian Salvi and Jordan Crane also return to the Tigers starting line-up.
The teams:
Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Ross Jones, 13 Tom Isaacs, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i (c), 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones, 5 James King, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Campbell Johnstone, 19 Lloyd Peers, 20 Sam Lewis/Jonathan Thomas, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Jonathan Spratt.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Niall Morris, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Steve Mafi, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Louis Deacon (c), 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Rob Hawkins, 17 Logovi'i Mulipola, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Ed Slater, 20 Thomas Waldrom, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 George Ford, 23 Matt Smith.
Date: Sunday, January 13
Venue: Liberty Stadium
Kick-off: 15.00 GMT
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Comments
rugby_rockstar says...
Owen Farrel laid down a kick ass marker on saturday to keep the england shirt. Toby is under alot of pressure to play well. Let's hope he's smart enough to stay away from the newspapers.
Posted 22:17 12th January 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Would like to have seen Croft in there. Expecting a cracker from Parling in response to Lawes performance for Saints. Parling is playing for his England start. Hope for no injuries and a good game. Ben Youngs and Flood also fighting for England shirts so due to intense EPS rivalry I predict a Tigers win. Quiet games from Tuilangi and Cole.
Posted 08:31 12th January 2013
Mr_Right says...
@PR
How was the Ospreys beating Toulouse the shock of the tournament? They are hardly minnows. It was a game between the Rabo Pro 12 champions and the T14 champions and Ospreys were at home where they have an excellent home record. No surprise to me.
Hope it's a good game this weekend, it usually is between these two.
Posted 19:21 11th January 2013
ShamanSheep says...
Match em up front, stop Tuilagi on the crash, win most of your own lineout ball and the game is there for the Ospreys. Adam Jones v Dan cole performances will be interesting. Scrum should be fine, lineout might be where it all falls down. Tight and low scoring I reckon, Ospreys to squeeze it
Posted 18:07 11th January 2013
bluechief says...
Tuilagi vs Isaacs looks ominous
Posted 15:15 11th January 2013
TVaddict says...
This is the match of the weekend for me, and it should be a cracker. Plenty of history and talent in the team, but with all the players having something to prove to selectors.
I'd say for the starting XV the Ospreys should have parity with Leicester up front, about equal half-backs with Ospreys slightly ahead, Leicester have the better midfield, and Ospreys the better back three. The problem for Ospreys is that Leicester have better forwards on the bench, so might struggle with possession in the last 20 mins. Then again Crane is starting for Leicester and he's a huge negative for the team. Also where is Kitchener, is he injured?
I think Leicester will need Tuilagi to have a big game for them as he is perfectly capable of tearing this back line apart but he seems to go missing for Leicester at times during the season.
I'd say that Ospreys start as slight favourites, since they beat Toulouse here, but they'll need big games from the likes of Jones, Tipuric, Fotuali'i, Biggar and Walker.
I actually rate Crane so little that simply because he's starting I'm predicting an Ospreys victory by about 8 (i.e. no bonus point for Leicester).
Posted 15:12 11th January 2013
BMakka8 says...
Adam Jones vs Ayerza will be fascinating, although I'm sure that the Celtic ref will give all scrum advantage to the celtic side - cue rants from Cockers on Sunday night!
I have to admit, I am very nervous about this.
Posted 13:23 11th January 2013
makemehappy says...
Game of the round for me! Good forward battle. Hard to pick a winner.
Posted 13:10 11th January 2013
sirtidychris says...
Great to see matthew tait starting a big match like this...on paper i fancy tigers being too much for the O's but who knows, hopefully this match will pass without the usual controversy !!
Posted 12:54 11th January 2013