Ospreys

Tipuric to captain Ospreys for Connacht URC opener

Veteran flanker Justin Tipuric will lead out the Ospreys tomorrow afternoon in their United Rugby Championship against Connacht at Sportsground Stadium in Ireland. A match which will mark the former Wales international’s 200th appearance for the region.

Published

7 months ago

20th October 2023

Richard Bond

The Ospreys will be then later celebrating Tipuric’s milestone in their first home fixture of the season against Zebre at the Swansea.com Stadium next Saturday afternoon.

Also selected in Toby Booth’s first selection of the season is Garyn Phillips who starts at loosehead, with debutant, Ethan Lewis lining up at hooker and Tom Botha completing the front three.

Rhys Davies partners with Will Griffiths in the second row, with Griffiths making his 50^th appearance for the team. In the back row, Justin Tipuric and James Ratti line up at flanker, with Ratti making his first appearance since returning to the Ospreys. Morgan Morris starts at eight.

Reuben Morgan-Williams lines up at scrum half, with Owen Williams starting at 10. Keiran Williams partners with Owen Watkin in the centres.

In the back three, Max Nagy starts at full back, with Keelan Giles and Luke Morgan on the wings.

On the bench, Ospreys pathway product, Lewis Lloyd could be in line to make his debut following his impressive u20s World Cup campaign with Wales. Luke Davies and Dom Morris could also make their debuts off the bench.

Head Coach, Toby Booth, said:

“We know that Connacht is a very difficult place to go. The conditions can be challenging and there’s an artificial pitch which can often impact preparation, as well as the game itself.

“Outside of that they’re a very committed team with a positive style of play and we know that they’ll want to impose that onto us, as we do to them. But we’re more focused on what we can do and transferring the stuff that we’ve been working on, onto the pitch.”

Ospreys XV:

15. Max Nagy, 14. Luke Morgan, 13. Owen Watkin, 12. Keiran Williams, 11. Keelan Giles,

10. Owen Williams, 9. Reuben Morgan-Williams , 1. Garyn Phillips, 2. Ethan Lewis, 3. Tom Botha,

4. Rhys Davies, 5. Will Griffiths (50^th Appearance), 6. James Ratti, 7. Justin Tipuric (captain),

8. Morgan Morris.

Replacements: 16. Lewis Lloyd, 17. Rhys Henry, 18. Ben Warren, 19. Huw Sutton, 20. Harri Deaves, 21. Luke Davies, 22. Jack Walsh, 23. Dom Morris.

[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]