Ospreys Show Their Talons

Ospreys in Wales
By LDTT
February 16 2007

Second-row Andrew Farley, wings Conor McPhillips and Ted Robinson and flanker Brendan O'Connor have all been ruled out of contention for next Saturday's trip to the Liberty Stadium to face the Ospreys.

Connacht will welcome back John Muldoon and Darren Yapp as they look for a much needed win to lift the spirits around the Sportground. They will be hoping for a repeat of their famous victory over the Welsh side in Galway, when they beat the side of Internationals by 15 points to 10.

Their injuries mean that Connacht coach Michael Bradley now has eight players unavailable. Connacht do not intend to name a team until Friday.

Wales have released Shane Williams and Brent Cockbain to the Ospreys for Saturday's Magners League match with Connacht in Swansea. Wales had cleared Gavin Henson to play but an inflamed knee has ruled him out for seven to 10 days. The men from the West will have their work cut out for them to get a rare win on Welsh soil. The Welsh trio have a chance to play themselves back into the Wales team to face France, although wing Williams will have to prove his fitness. Jon Thomas is also free to play for his region after Wales bench duty, while Lee Byrne is set to return from injury.

Ospreys:
Lee Byrne; Nikki Walker, Tal Selley, Andrew Bishop, Shane Williams; Shaun Connor, Justin Marshall; Paul James (capt), Huw Bennett, Andrew Millward, Brent Cockbain, Mike Powell, Lee Beach, Richard Pugh, Jonathan Thomas.
Replacements: Barry Williams, Adam Jones, Chris Martenko, Tom Smith, Jason Spice, Jonathan Vaughton, Stefan Terblanche.

Connacht lineup:
David Slemen; Darren Yapp, John Hearty, Mark McHugh, Daniel Riordan; Paul Warwick, Conor O’Loughlin; Brett Wilkinson, John Fogarty (C), Stephen Knoop; David Gannon, Ryan Strudwick; John Muldoon, Ray Ofisa, Colm Rigney.
Replacements: A Flavin, B Sturgess, M Swift, M Lacey, C Keane, G Williams, P Durcan.
LAST LEAGUE MEETING 8 September: Connacht 15-10 Ospreys