Saracens v Ospreys:THE OSPREYS have been dealt a second injury blow ahead of tomorrow's Heineken European Cup quarter-final against Saracens. Scotland wing Nikki Walker is expected to be sidelined for a month after suffering a stress fracture of his right fibia.
He joins Wales scrumhalf Mike Phillips, who is nursing a serious knee injury, in missing the Ospreys' trip to Vicarage Road.
Phillips will not play again until next season, while Walker will also miss the Anglo-Welsh Cup final against Leicester at Twickenham next Saturday. Justin Marshall takes over from Phillips, with Johnny Vaughton replacing Walker. Ospreys head coach Lyn Jones, though, still fields 12 members of Wales' Grand Slam squad.
The Ospreys smashed Saracens 30-3 in a Welsh Cup semi-final just two weeks ago, but Jones says his players will not be reading too much into that result. "Sunday's game is sure to be a cracker, with two good sides fully aware of what is at stake," said Jones.
"It is always a strange situation when you face a side twice in such short succession, but it's fair to say that we won't be taking anything for granted, despite the manner of our victory at the Millennium Stadium two weeks ago.
"Back-to-back matches can be completely different affairs, as our own experiences against Ulster in this tournament in December show. We recorded a comfortable win at the Liberty Stadium, but it was a much tighter affair at Ravenhill the following week. The message that we've been getting across to our players all week is that they must stay focused."
Saracens boss Alan Gaffney has gone for experience, recalling centre Andy Farrell, prop Cobus Visagie and flanker Richard Hill, while wing Richard Haughton also features as a fourth change from the side that crushed English Premiership relegation favourites Leeds Carnegie 66-7 last weekend.
"We got the kind of performance we wanted against Leeds, and we have to take that into Sunday's game. We know the Ospreys will be a completely different opponent, but the fact is we have to go out on the front foot and attack them," said Gaffney
SARACENS: B Russell; R Haughton, K Sorrell, A Farrell, K Ratuvou; G Jackson, N de Kock (capt); N Lloyd, M Cairns, C Visagie, H Vyvyan, K Chesney, P Gustard, R Hill, B Skirving. Replacements: F Ongaro, C Johnston, T Ryder, D Barrell, M Rauluni, A Powell, F Leonelli.
OSPREYS: L Byrne; J Vaughton, S Parker, G Henson, S Williams; J Hook, J Marshall; D Jones, H Bennett, A Jones, I Gough, A-W Jones, J Thomas, M Holah, R Jones (capt). Replacements: R Hibbard, P James, I Evans, F Tiatia, R Webb, A Bishop, A Brew.
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland).
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