Newcastle v Ospreys: Teams

Newcastle Falcons supremo Alan Tait has made eight changes to his starting line-up for the visit of the Ospreys to Kingston Park in Saturday's LV= Cup encounter.

Five of those changes come in the pack with the front-row seeing Kieran Brookes switch to three, Grant Shiells getting the nod at loosehead and Joe Graham hooking.

Fit-again lock Glen Townson is selected after overcoming from an ankle injury, whilst a reshuffled back-row sees Mark Wilson switch to number eight as Brent Wilson takes the number six shirt and Ed Williamson slots in at openside.

In the back division Chris Pilgrim takes over from Micky Young at scrum-half, while centre James Fitzpatrick is handed his first senior start after impressing for the second string.

The only other change to the side sees former Munster player Jeremy Manning start at full-back after his scoring cameo at Northampton - the Kiwi crossing for the Falcons' only try just minutes after coming on from the bench last weekend.

"It's a chance for players to stake a claim, and it's only fair that I reward guys who have been doing the business for the Development Team in the A-League," said boss Alan Tait over his selection.

"Everybody would be honest and say the Premiership is the priority, but that's not to say we're knocking the LV= Cup or taking it lightly at all."

Debutants for Ospreys

Meanwhile, Ben John and Matthew Morgan will make their Ospreys debuts at Kingston Park with Conor McInerney making his first start for the Welsh region.

If he is given a chance off the bench, Joe Rees will also make his Ospreys bow in a side that is without seventeen players away on international duty.

"For the boys involved this weekend there is a real challenge now as they need to front up and show the world that they have what it takes to be Ospreys," said forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys.

"We've come in for a bit of stick after the Dragons game and rightly so. We don't hand out Ospreys jerseys lightly, there is a certain expectation on anyone representing the region and last week we failed to reach those standards.

"There is a lot of talent in this group. It's a young squad, but we have faith and confidence that they can step up and deliver for us.

"It's a fantastic opportunity for some of these boys to really show this month what they are capable of and to establish themselves as Ospreys. We've had some players asking why they haven't played more, well now is their chance to show what they can bring to the team."

Newcastle: 15 Jeremy Manning, 14 Luke Fielden, 13 James Fitzpatrick, 12 Luke Eves, 11 Charlie Amesbury, 10 Jimmy Gopperth (capt), 9 Chris Pilgrim, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Ed Williamson, 6 Brent Wilson, 5 Glen Townson, 4 Filipo Levi, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Joe Graham, 1 Grant Shiells
Replacements: 16 Sean Crombie, 17 Micky Ward, 18 James Hall, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Redford Pennycook, 21 Will Welch, 22 Micky Young, 23 Andy Henderson

Ospreys: 15 Barry Davies, 14 Kristian Phillips, 13 Ben John, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 Matthew Morgan, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Tom Smith, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 James King, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Conor McInerney, 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Mefin Davies (capt), 1 Duncan Jones
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Joe Rees, 18 Cai Griffiths, 19 James Goode, 20 Andy Lloyd, 21 Tom Isaacs, 22 Matthew Jarvis, 23 Gareth Owen