Dragons v Ospreys: Teams
Gavin Henson and Mike Phillips will make their comebacks for Ospreys in Friday night's Magners League clash with Newport Gwent Dragons.
Last Updated: 18/12/08 1:36pm
Gavin Henson and Mike Phillips will make their comebacks for Ospreys in Friday night's Magners League clash with Newport Gwent Dragons.
The Wales internationals will return from serious injuries with Henson starting at full-back after missing the autumn Tests with an Achilles problem.
Scrum-half Phillips will start amongst the replacements as he returns from a serious knee injury that has kept him out of the game for much of the year.
Arguably the leading scrum-half in Europe last season, Phillips has not seen action since Ospreys' EDF Energy Cup semi-final victory over Saracens almost nine months ago.
Both players are now firmly on course to feature in the province's remaining Heineken Cup pool games and challenge for places in Wales' RBS 6 Nations squad.
Time off
Coach Sean Holley has opted to rest international stars Shane Williams and Alun-Wyn Jones ahead of what promises to be a busy festive period.
"We've taken the decision to rest a few of our international players for this week," he said. "Players like Shane Williams, Lee Byrne, James Hook and Alun-wyn Jones have had a lot of rugby recently, and will do so over the coming months, but we felt that the time was appropriate to allow them some time off.
"All season long we've looked to rotate players, to ensure that they remain fresh and to help develop the depth of the squad and this is just an extension of that policy.
"We are able to do this because of the faith that we have in the squad as a whole, and in fact, the form of some of the young players warrants selection in itself.
"The likes of Tom Smith, Dan Biggar, Kristian Phillips and Ed Shervington epitomise this, and in Marc Breeze and Ashley Beck we have two of the most consistent players in the Welsh Premiership this season.
"We also have the likes of Ryan Jones, Gavin Henson and Mike Phillips available again which has increased our options so we're confident that our 22 will deliver the performance we want."
Ospreys line-up:
15 Gavin Henson, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Jonny Vaughton, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhodri Wells, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Marty Holah, 6 Tom Smith, 5 Jonathan Thomas, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Cai Griffiths, 2 Ed Shervington, 1 Paul James
Replacements:
16 Marc Breeze, 17 Adam Jones, 18 Filo Tiatia, 19 Steve Tandy, 20 Mike Phillips, 21 Ashley Beck, 22 Kristian Phillips