Philips returns for Ospreys duty

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James Hook ready for Liberty farewell

The Ospreys have made six personnel and two positional changes to start in Saturday’s crucial Magners League clash against leaders Munster.

Scrum-half Mike Phillips also returns to the bench having missed their 32-28 defeat by Newport Gwent Dragons.

Richard Fussell, Ryan Bevington, Richard Hibbard, Ian Gough, Justin Tipuric and Jonathan Thomas start.

Tommy Bowe moves to centre and Nikki Walker switches wings for the Liberty Stadium clash.

Andrew Bishop, Paul James, Huw Bennett, Ryan Jones and Jerry Collins drop to the bench while Tom Smith is out of the matchday squad to make way for the changes.

Phillips was omitted from the 22-man squad for last week’s defeat at the Dragons, a game which came three days after the region announced his services were no longer required.

Ospreys forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys has backed his players to respond to the pressure in the race to secure a Magners League play-off place.

Munster have already secured their play-off spot, but reigning league champions the Ospreys are in danger of missing out this season.

“When these boys’ backs are up against the wall, we seem to produce our best,” said Humphreys. “We’re hoping that’s the case on Saturday.”

Ospreys slipped from fourth to fifth place in the table on Thursday after Cardiff Blues beat Treviso.

Friday’s shock 32-28 defeat away to Newport Gwent Dragons left the Ospreys with an uphill task to qualify for the end of season play-offs.

But Humphreys says the players will take heart from last season’s finale when they beat Munster and Ulster away, before lifting the league title in the inaugural play-off final on Leinster’s home patch.

“Last year’s run-in was pretty impossible by the look of it when we were away for a large part of it,” he said. “But we went to Munster and won.

“We need to win these two games firstly and then we’re reliant on other teams. We’re hoping the Dragons play as well as they did against us in their last two home remaining fixtures against Ulster and the Blues.

“And if that’s the case, and we win our last two games then we’ll finish in the top four.”

An added incentive against Munster on Saturday will be to secure a fitting farewell party to a host of Ospreys stars. James Hook, Lee Byrne, Marty Holah and Phillips could be playing their final games at the Liberty Stadium, while Jerry Collins is also set to follow the mass exodus.

“We’ve got three guys who will possibly have their last game at the Liberty Stadium in Lee Byrne, James Hook and Marty Holah. So we want to do them justice because they’ve been fantastic servants to this region.

“We wanted to freshen things up a little bit in terms of selection, there are some boys who have performed well who we felt deserve a chance in a game like this.

“We’re disappointed with how things went against the Dragons and we believe that these guys can really put a spring in our step for a game that has so much riding on it.

“It’s the time of year when it’s all or nothing, we have to get two wins and hope that the Dragons can continue to perform like they did against us.

“If that happens, then we’ll be in the play-offs, but it’s going to be tough.

“We know what we need to do, and we know that we have to keep clear heads, focus on doing the basics right and be professional. If we do that, the rest should fall into place.”

Ospreys: Lee Byrne; Nikki Walker, Tommy Bowe, James Hook, Richard Fussell; Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb; Ryan Bevington, Richard Hibbard, Adam Jones, Ian Gough, Alun Wyn Jones (capt), Justin Tipuric, Marty Holah, Jonathan Thomas.

Replacements: Huw Bennett, Paul James, Duncan Jones, Ryan Jones, Jerry Collins, Mike Phillips, Andrew Bishop, Sonny Parker.

Munster: TBC