Ospreys v Ulster: Teams
Jonathan Thomas will make his 150th appearance for the Ospreys when they host Ulster at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday.
Last Updated: 23/09/11 2:48pm
Ospreys forward Jonathan Thomas will make his 150th appearance for the Welsh side when they host Ulster at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday.
He will be joined in the pack by prop Aaron Jarvis, hooker Scott Baldwin and flanker James Goode, who will all be making their first RaboDirect PRO12 starts for the Ospreys.
There is also a reshuffling of the back division as Sonny Parker drops to the bench with Tom Isaacs moving from the wing take his place in the midfield.
Richard Fussell moves from full-back to the wing, while Barry Davies comes into the starting line-up to take the No. 15 shirt.
Both sides have won all three of their opening games, with Ulster comfortably seeing off Cardiff Blues last time out and Ospreys being less convincing victors against Treviso.
"Ulster will no doubt bring plenty of confidence with them after their good start to the season," Ospreys director of coaching Scott Johnson said.
Recruits
"They have recruited well over the summer. Jared Payne in particular is a good signing who will bring something different to the table for them, and I'm expecting them to be there challenging on all fronts year after a good season last time.
"We saw from their performance against the Blues last week that they play good rugby and have a cutting edge, so we know that it's going to be a difficult afternoon."
Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin has opted to make just one change to his starting XV, with Luke Marshall coming into the centres for Darren Cave, who has suffered a recurrence of the hamstring injury that affected him last year.
Ian Humphreys has shaken off a shoulder knock to take his place at fly-half, while the side will once again be skippered by Chris Henry at openside flanker.
Reserve scrum-half Ian Porter has been ruled out with a rib injury, with his place on the bench taken by 19-year-old academy product Blane McIlroy.
Ospreys: 15 Barry Davies, 14 Richard Fussell, 13 Tom Isaacs, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Hanno Dirksen, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Justin Tipuric (C), 6 Tom Smith, 5 James Goode, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Joe Rees, 19 James King, 20 Joe Bearman, 21 Matthew Morgan, 22 Sonny Parker, 23 Kristian Phillips.
Ulster: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Nevin Spence, 11 Ian Whitten, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Robbie Diack, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Pedrie Wannenburg, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Lewis Stevenson, 3 Jerry Cronin, 2 Andy Kyriacou, 1 Declan Fitzpatrick.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 T Barker , 20 Willie Faloon, 21 Blane McIlroy, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Adam D'Arcy.
