Ospreys pay toll for busy itinerary

Rugby Ulster v OspreysThe Ospreys have named a 22-man squad, with one more player to be added, for tomorrow night's meeting with Ulster at Ravenhill, although they have paid a toll for last week's itinerary of three matches in eight days.

Richard Hubbard will be sidelined for five or six months after sustaining a core shoulder instability against the Borders which requires a shoulder operation, thereby joining another hooker, Huw Bennett, who sustained torn stomach muscles against the Blues and will be out for two to three weeks. Andy Lloyd also strained his medial ligament against Borders and will be out for six to eight weeks.

They join twice-capped All Blacks' backrower Filo Tiatia, who is out for another three weeks with a broken hand sustained against Connacht and long-term casualties Matthew Jones, Tim Evans, Craig Mitchell and David Bishop (all knee injuries).

"It was disappointing to have sustained a number of quite serious injuries over a tough week and to have only won two out of the three fixtures," commented head coach Lyn Jones, "but that said we are now in stronger shape going back to Ireland than we were two weeks ago. We always look forward to the challenge at Ravenhill as it is consistently the best venue to play Magners League rugby.

"It will be a refreshing change to turn up for a game of rugby without being viewed as favourites. Each game we have played so far has been a tight affair, showing the improvement in our league since its creation only three years ago. We expect no different on Friday night," added Jones.

OSPREYS (squad v Ulster): G Henson, L Byrne, N Walker, S Parker, A Bishop, S Terblanche, S Williams, J Hook, J Marshall, A N Other (scrum half or prop), R Jones, R Pugh, J Thomas, L Beach, A W Jones, B Cockbain, I Evans, E Shervington, B Williams, D Jones (Capt), A Jones, P James.