Ospreys vs Saracens Anglo Welsh LV= Cup preview

Saracens have named a youthful team to play the Ospreys in the Anglo Welsh LV= Cup at Liberty Stadium on Friday evening.

Meanwhile, Maro Itoje captains a youthful side as Saracens give full debuts to five players in their starting XV.

In the pack, recent signing Brett Sharman starts at hooker alongside England U20 Junior World Championship winner Biyi Alo and Hertford RFC player Jack Culverhouse in the front-row.

Hayden Smith returns from USA Eagle duty to partner skipper Maro Itoje at lock.

In the back row, Matt Hankin and Hayden Thompson-Stringer start on the flanks, with Nick De Jager at number eight.

Ben Spencer and Nils Mordt once again partner each other at half-back, whilst USA international Thretton Palamo starts at inside centre alongside Nick Tompkins.

George Perkins, Jack Wilson and Will Edwards make up the Saracens back three.

Aled Jenkins, Gareth Thomas, Rory Thornton and Ifereimi Boladau make their Ospreys debuts. Jordan Collier makes his first Ospreys start. Tommy Spinks and Ashley Evans will make their Ospreys debuts if they come off the bench

“This group has gone really well over the last couple of weeks in preparation for this period and are bursting to go on Friday night. There’s a good mix to this squad,” said said Head Coach Steve Tandy

“There’s a decent sprinkling of experience with guys who are looking forward to getting on the field after not featuring much so far this season, and there is a lot of young talent keen to show that they’ve got what it takes to be an Osprey,”added Tandy.

“It’s an exciting selection, one that will whet the appetite of supporters, definitely. Going back to the Gnoll will also give the game an extra spice as there is so much of the Ospreys history associated with the venue despite only playing there for a couple of seasons.”

Match : Ospreys vs Saracens
Date : Fri 7/11/14
Venue : Liberty Stadium
Kick Off : 19:35 GMT
Live on: N/A
Match Officials
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Rob Price (Wales), Jon Mason (Wales)

Teams

Ospreys

15 Richard Fussell, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 Ashley Beck, 12 Aled Jenkins, 11 Aisea Natoga, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Tom Habberfield (c), 8 Ifereimi Boladau, 7 Lloyd Evans, 6 Jordan Collier, 5 Rhodri Hughes, 4 Rory Thornton, 3 Daniel Suter, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Gareth Thomas.

Replacements: 16 Matthew Dwyer, 17 Marc Thomas, 18 Nicky Thomas, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Tommy Spinks, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Hanno Dirksen, 23 Ashley Evans.

Saracens

15 Will Edwards, 14 Jack Wilson, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Thretton Palamo, 11 George Perkins, 10 Nils Mordt, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Nick De Jager, 7 Matt Hankin, 6 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 5 Maro Itoje (c), 4 Hayden Smith, 3 Biyi Alo, 2 Brett Sharman, 1 Jack Culverhouse.

Replacements: 16 Josh Taylor, 17 Ralph Adams-Hale, 18 Sebastien Ferreira, 19 Kennet O’Neil, 20 Ben Featherstone, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Max Wilkins, 23 Matt Gallagher.