Preview: Ospreys v Leinster

Nathan Hines and Eoin Reddan will make their first starts for Leinster in Friday's Magners League trip to face the Ospreys.

Nathan Hines and Eoin Reddan will make their first starts for Leinster in Friday's Magners League game against the Ospreys in Swansea.

Scotland international Hines partners Malcolm O'Kelly at second row, while in the front row Stan Wright lines up alongside Cian Healy and John Fogarty.

Ireland scrum-half Reddan partners Jonathan Sexton in a backline which also sees Gordon D'Arcy come in for his first start of the season.

The back three of David Kearney, Shane Horgan and Isa Nacewa remains the same from the one that started last weekend's 23-14 victory over the Dragons. The replacements bench will be confirmed closer to kick off.

“The Ospreys will prove to be a stiff test for us coming, as it does, after having lost their last game at home to Ulster,” said Nacewa.

“Like us they have a proud record at home and I'm sure that they'll be determined to get back to winning ways so we'll need to be focused and wary of them.

“I'm definitely pleased with Leinster's form after the first two games. As a squad we felt that had we been a bit more clinical against the Scarlets in week one then we could have won that game and though the Dragons were tough opponents, we showed definite improvements last weekend in the RDS.

“We've seen a fair bit of the Ospreys in recent weeks and they're an extremely talented side. Friday's game will have a Super 14 feel to it with Jerry Collins, Filo Tiatia and Marty Holah.

“They're three top class performers and I've played against them back in New Zealand. It will be a real battle up front to match them, but we know that the Ospreys have a lot of other threats.”

Meanwhile Andrew Bishop makes his 100th Ospreys appearance, while Lee Byrne makes his first appearance following the British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa.

Fellow Lion Tommy Bowe makes his first start after coming off the bench last Saturday, while Alun-Wyn Jones is named among the replacements.

“We're disappointed with the game went last weekend, we're disappointed with the way we played, there's no other way of saying it,” said Ospreys Director of Rugby Scott Johnson on last week's home defeat to Ulster.

“There won't be any knee-jerk reactions here though, we can't change everything we are trying to do here on the back of one game and one poor performance, that would just be crazy and would get us nowhere in the long term.

“If you look at results so far this season, not just in the Magners but in England as well, other sides have had disappointing results already, but those teams aren't tearing everything up and starting again, and neither are we.”

Form: Ospreys slipped up in losing 16-20 to visiting Ulster at Liberty Stadium on Saturday, and have now been defeated in three of their last five matches at their home ground. Leinster lowered the colours of the Dragons last Saturday at the RDS with a 23-14 scoreline, but away from home the Leinstermen have slipped to four successive defeats – their only longer losing run in the league was six straight defeats between February-May 2004. Leinster have won their last four encounters against Ospreys and have been victorious in each of their last two visits to Liberty Stadium.

Ospreys: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Jonathan Spratt, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 James Hook, 9 Jamie Nutbrown, 8 Tom Smith, 7 Marty Holah (c), 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Jonathan Thomas, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Paul James, 18 Alun-Wyn Jones, 19 Filo Tiatia, 20 Mike Phillips, 21 Dan Biggar, 22 Gareth Owen.

Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Gordon D'Arcy, 12 Shaun Berne, 11 David Kearney, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Sean O'Brien, 7 Shane Jennings (c), 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Stan Wright, 2 John Fogarty, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements (from): Bernard Jackman, Mike Ross, Leo Cullen, Devin Toner, Stephen Keogh, Chris Keane, Fergus McFadden, Simon Keogh.

Date: Friday, September 18
Venue: Liberty Stadium, Swansea
Kick-off: 19.30 BST
Referee: Peter Allan (SRU)