Connacht v Ospreys: Teams
Connacht will take on an Opsreys side on Saturday missing no less than seven players due to international duty.
Last Updated: 25/11/11 5:26pm
Connacht will take on an Opsreys side on Saturday missing no less than seven players due to international duty.
Huw Bennett, Ryan Bevington, Dan Biggar, Ian Evans, Ryan Jones, Justin Tipuric and Shane Williams - who will be making his last Test appearance next weekend - are all away with Wales ahead of the clash with Australia.
Tom Habberfield, Will Price and Tom Prydie are also absent, the trio having been picked to play for Wales in the inaugural Gold Coast Sevens event.
As if that wasn't enough for head coach Sean Holley to deal with, he's unable to call upon a further eight players due to injury.
Despite being so short of numbers, Holley has still been able to name a fairly strong line-up for what he expects to be a tough encounter.
Partisan crowd
"Connacht away at the Sportground is always a tough fixture It's a difficult place to play with tough conditions and a partisan crowd, so it's going to be a real experience for some of the youngsters in the squad who may not have played there before," he said.
"We were very fortunate to secure the win at the Liberty earlier in the season so we are well aware of what to expect on Saturday night."
Meanwhile, Connacht coach Eric Elwood has been forced into making three personnel changes for the game at the Sportsground.
Eoin Griffin and Michael Swift are ruled out with hamstring and knee injuries respectively, while Mike McCarthy is suspended.
George Naoupu replaces Swift in the second row while Henry Fa'afili comes into the midfield in place of Griffin.
TJ Anderson comes off the bench to take over the number six jersey from McCarthy as Connacht look to end a run of six straight defeats in all competitions against the current RaboDirect PRO12 leaders.
Connacht:
15 Gavin Duffy (C), 14 Brian Tuohy, 13 Dave McSharry, 12 Henry Fa'afili, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 Miah Nikora, 9 Paul O'Donohoe, 8 Ray Ofisa, 7 John Muldoon, 6 TJ Anderson, 5 George Naoupu, 4 Dave Gannon, 3 Rodney Ah You, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Stewart Maguire, 19 Mike Kearney, 20 Eoghan Grace, 21 Frank Murphy, 22 Niall O'Connor, 23 Mark McCrea.
Ospreys:
15 Barry Davies, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 Matthew Morgan, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Tom Smith (Capt), 5 James King, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Joe Rees, 19 James Goode, 20 George Stowers, 21 Tom Isaacs, 22 Sonny Parker, 23 Hanno Dirksen.
