Preview: Ospreys v Munster

Ospreys have named Tommy Bowe at outside centre for their must-win Heineken Cup game against Munster in Swansea on Saturday.

Ospreys have named Tommy Bowe at number thirteen for their must-win Heineken Cup game against Munster at Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

The British & Irish Lion has been shifted in to replace a benched Andrew Bishop in the only change to the XV that fell narrowly in Limerick.

Saturday's contest will also be Ryan Jones' 100th game for the region where he has recently made the move forward to the number four jersey.

“Everybody knows how much I love this region so it's a tremendous honour and achievement to reach 100 caps for the Ospreys, and is something that gives me great pride,” the forward said.

Meanwhile, Munster coach Tony McGahan made just one change from the side that beat Ospreys last weekend, for the return game in Swansea.

That change sees Donnacha Ryan come onto the bench in place of Paul O'Connell, who picked up a four-week ban for the red card incident in last week's game.

Munster understandably remained tight lipped about the O'Connell incident and will wait until they've received the written verdict before deciding on an appeal. Players and management remain focused on the job ahead with coach Tony McGahan sensibly leading the way in the immediate aftermath of the game when he said:

“We'll let the process run its course and abide by the decision that's handed down whatever it may be.”

Nor would McGahan or any of his players engage in discussion about the comments from Ospreys coach Jonathan Humphreys in relation to his allegations of illegal scrummaging.

“We're happy to let the match officials adjudicate on that,” he said.

The teams:

Ospreys: 15 Barry Davies, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Tommy Bowe, 12 James Hook, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Marty Holah, 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Ryan Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Ian Gough, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Jamie Nutbrown, 22 Sonny Parker, 23 Andrew Bishop.

Munster: 15 Paul Warwick, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 James Coughlan, 5 Mick O'Driscoll, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Darragh Hurley, 18 John Hayes, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Alan Quinlan, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Lifeimi Mafi, 23 Denis Hurley.

Date: Saturday, December 18
Kick-off: 15:30
Venue: Liberty Stadium
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Franck Maciello (France), Eric Soulan (France)