Cabango wings back in as AWJ hits 250th landmark for Ospreys
ALUN Wyn Jones will make his 250th appearance for the Ospreys when he lines up against Cardiff at the Arms Park on Saturday evening (kick-off 5.15pm). It’s the Lions captain’s first outing since he returned from five months out with shoulder damage in Wales’ final Six Nations fixture versus Italy.
He figures alongside a number of fellow internationals including Adam Beard, Alex Cuthbert, Tomas Francis, Owen Watkin, Rhys Webb and Gareth Anscombe, with scrum-half Webb acting as skipper. You can read the thoughts of Ospreys coach Toby Booth on Alun Wyn here.
In the Cardiff ranks, there’s a return for exciting young wing Theo Cabango, who has sat out the last couple of games, while No 8 James Ratti is fit again, along with centre Rey Lee-Lo, with flanker Josh Navidi continuing as captain. Prop Corey Domachowski and wing Aled Summerhill and are both sidelined by injury following last week’s Challenge Cup clash with Saracens.
It’s the first time the Ospreys have visited the Arms Park for a league match in nine years, with the majority of fixtures having taken place at the Principality Stadium as part of Judgement Day in recent years.
Cardiff Director of Rugby Dai Young said: “We’re all really excited about the opportunity that presents itself and are looking forward to getting back in front of our home fans. We let ourselves down the last time we were here against the Scarlets so there is no shortage of motivation to prove a point and right some wrongs.
“The boys are desperate to give themselves and everyone associated with the club something to be proud of and we go into the game on the back of a muchimproved performance against Saracens. We know we need to hit that level of performance once again and maintain it for the full 80 minutes while being disciplined and accurate.
“There’s no doubt that the Ospreys will present a significant challenge, they are a quality team with a formidable pack and some very good backs. They will be coming here targeting a win. But we can only concentrate on ourselves and make sure we do everything in our power to produce the required level of performance. The boys have trained well this week, there has been a bit of an edge and now we are just looking forward to kick-off and the opportunity we have.”
Ospreys head coach Toby Booth said: “We are still in with a shout for the Welsh Shield and that starts with Cardiff. All the Welsh regions know each other pretty well, so we know what they are good at and what their strengths are, and they will know the same about us. Derbies are often about doing what you want to execute and the change in competition for the Saracens game probably helped them.
“They found the Scarlets games and South Africa tough, like we did, so there are a lot of similarities in our preparation to this point. We know they are at home and they will want to bounce back, will be looking for a result and they have a good performance against Sarries to base their preparation on. It is going to be an arm-wrestle and that is how Derbies often are. It’s about how you hold your nerve, deal with pressure and how you deliver the game, you want to deliver.”
Cardiff: Hallam Amos; Owen Lane, Rey Lee-Lo, Max Llewellyn, Theo Cabango; Rhys Priestland, Tomos Williams; Rhys Carre, Liam Belcher, Dmitri Arhip, Seb Davies, Rory Thornton, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Josh Navidi (capt), James Ratti. Reps: Kristian Dacey, Brad Thyer, Dillon Lewis, Matthew Screech, James Botham, Lloyd Williams, Jarrod Evans, Matthew Morgan Ospreys: Max Nagy; Alex Cuthbert, Michael Collins, Owen Watkin, Keelan Giles; Gareth Anscombe, Rhys Webb (capt); Gareth Thomas, Dewi Lake, Tomas Francis, Adam Beard, Alun Wyn Jones, Will Griffiths, Jac Morgan, Morgan Morris. Reps: Sam Parry, Nicky Smith, Tom Botha, Rhys Davies, Ethan Roots, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Stephen Myler, Mat Protheroe.