Bradley back as an Ospreys Bulls fighter

THE Ospreys will look to old warhorse Bradley Davies to help show the way up front when they take on the Bulls in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship clash at Loftus Versfeld (1pm UK time).

With the Swansea.com Stadium region’s squad ravaged by Wales calls and injuries, head coach Toby Booth is forced to dig deep for the outing in Pretoria.

But he will be cheered to have 66-cap Wales international Davies back in the fold.

The 35-year-old hasn’t featured since the game with the Bulls in Swansea in May but will provide the priceless commodity of experience, if not match fitness, as he packs down in a forward unit that sees back rower Will Hickey make his first league start and prop Garyn Phillips feature in a run-on side in the URC for only the second time. You can read about Davies’ planned move into coaching here.

Lock Huw Sutton, a youngster the Ospreys have been quietly impressed with, figures in a league starting line-up for only the third time.

On the bench, fly-half Luke Scully and second-row James Fender could be poised for Ospreys debuts in the competition. Rhys Webb captains the side from scrum-half, while Scott Baldwin, Davies and Tom Botha will add forward know-how. But a major challenge awaits the visitors, with Toby Booth saying: “The Vodacom Bulls are one of the toughest teams we’ll face this year. The biggest challenge for us in this game is to prepare for the physicality of the Bulls.”