Edinburgh v Ospreys: Teams

At Murrayfield, Friday November 28, kick-off 7.30pm

Last updated: 27th November 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Edinburgh v Ospreys: Teams

Parker: Back for Ospreys

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Edinburgh coach Andy Robinson has named seven of his returning Scottish internationals in his side to tackle the Ospreys at Murrayfield - including centurion Simon Webster.

The 27-year-old will make his 100th appearance for the club in the match, having arrived at Edinburgh from Northampton in 2002.

And Webster, who is the club's record scorer, is determined to keep setting milestones for the club.

Webster said: "It is great to have reached the 100 appearance mark with Edinburgh, but I still want to achieve so much more with the club.

"I missed the first five games of the season through injury, so I'm hoping to help Edinburgh climb higher up the Magners League table and in our Heineken Cup Pool.

"I've thoroughly enjoyed my time with Edinburgh and the fans have always been brilliant with me.

"Ospreys have one of the strongest squads in the division, so we understand the sheer magnitude of the task ahead.

"But I will be aiming for a double celebration on Friday; making my 100th appearance and playing my part in an Edinburgh win."

Webster and Mike Blair are among the returning internationals, however Scotland lock Jim Hamilton is the only international rested.

In the back row, Ross Rennie will back his first start since March after recovering from a knee injury.

Pleased

The Ospreys have been boosted by the news that Sonny Parker and Jonathan Thomas are available for the trip to Edinburgh.

The Welsh region are without a number of players for the clash - with Lee Byrne, Andrew Bishop, Shane Williams, James Hook, Ryan Jones, Ian Gough, Alun-wyn Jones, Duncan Jones and Richard Hibbard all on international duty.

On top of that, Huw Bennett, Duncan Jones, Ian Evans, Andy Lloyd, Ben Lewis, Mike , Jamie Nutbrown, Gareth Owen, Gavin Henson, Jonathan Spratt, Leigh Bevan and Jonny Vaughton are all injured.

So coach Sean Holley is pleased to be able to name the experienced Thomas and Parker, as well as Cai Griffiths and Kristian Phillips, in his side.

He said: "This game marks the start of a very busy period for us, with six matches over the course of the next month, so we are pleased to see the likes of Jonathan Thomas, Sonny Parker, Cai Griffiths and Kristian Phillips making themselves available after injury as it increases the options available to us.

"We have a large squad here at the Ospreys, which will be utilised to the full over the coming weeks, so we're expecting all those selected for Friday to be looking to stake a claim to keep hold of the shirt."

Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Mark Robertson, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Simon Webster, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair (captain), 1 Allan Jacobsen, 2 Ross Ford, 3 Geoff Cross, 4 Craig Hamilton, 5 Ben Gissing, 6 Alan MacDonald, 7 Ross Rennie, 8 Allister Hogg.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Gavin Kerr, 18 Matt Mustchin, 19 Scott Newlands, 20 Greig Laidlaw, 21 David Blair, 22 Hugo Southwell.

Ospreys: 15 Tommy Bowe, 14 Kristian Phillips, 13 David Bishop, 12 Sonny Parker, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Tom Smith, 7 Marty Holah, 6 Steve Tandy, 5 Lyndon Bateman, 4 Filo Tiatia, 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Ed Shervington, 1 Paul James (c).
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Ryan Bevington, 19 Mike Collins, 20 Jonathan Thomas, 21 Rhodri Wells, 22 Ashley Beck.