Ospreys v Toulouse - Heineken Cup match preview

Thierry Dusautoir: Toulouse skipper leads the side at Liberty Stadium

Richard Hibbard: replaces Scott Baldwin at hooker for the Ospreys

The Ospreys have made two changes to the front-row for Saturday's visit of Pool 2 leaders Toulouse to the Liberty Stadium.

Prop Ryan Bevington and hooker Richard Hibbard replace Duncan Jones and Scott Baldwin respectively in the only alterations to the starting XV that lost 30-14 at Toulouse last weekend.

That defeat left the Ospreys third in the pool, seven points adrift of Toulouse.

The French side are bolstered by skipper Thierry Dusautoir's return in place of Yannick Nyanga at openside flanker.

With Luke McAlister ruled out for a month earlier this week, Jean-Marc Doussain fills in at fly-half alongside Luke Burgess. Maxime Médard starts at full-back, with Yoann Huget moving to the left wing.

Teenager Gael Fickou also starts, in place of the injured Florian Fritz at inside centre, while Roman Millo-Chluski and Vasil Kakovin come into the pack.

Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Ross Jones, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kahn Fotualii, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones, 5 James King, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Campbell Johnstone, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Lloyd Peers, 20 George Stowers, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Tom Isaacs

Toulouse: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Yann David, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Jean-Marc Doussain, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Cencus Johnston, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Vasil Kakovin.
Replacements: 16 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 17 Yohan Montes, 18 Roman Millo-Chluski, 19 Yannick Nyanga, 20 Gregory Lamboley, 21 Sébastian Bézy, 22 Yannick Jauzion, 23 Christopher Tolofua

What they said...

Ospreys backs coach Gruff Rees

"With our next two Heineken Cup fixtures both at home here at the Liberty, it gives us a great opportunity to really put ourselves back in the mix.

"There's everything still to play for in the pool, and we know that if we can get the performance levels right in these games against Toulouse and then Leicester next month, then anything can happen and we could be going into the final round of fixtures with qualification hopes very much still alive."

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