OSPREYS: Koroibete handed debut as Parry returns to lead side at Rodney Parade

Marika Koroibete will make his Ospreys debut against the Dragons at Rodney Parade on Friday night (7.45pm kick-off).

The Wallaby wing starts on the right, with Sam Parry back at hooker to captain the side.

Koroibete missed the trip to South Africa, but was in contention for Rodney Parade all week.

Parry returns after sitting out the Lions game. Head coach Mark Jones said that call was “a little bit more cultural than it was physical”.

His co-captain Owen Watkin, who was being assessed this week after a heavy blow to the calf, is not in the 23.

Six changes from Ellis Park

Jones makes six changes from the side that lost to the Lions in Johannesburg.

Tom Botha comes in at tighthead alongside Parry and Gareth Thomas, and Rhys Davies partners Ryan Smith in the second row.

Liam Wright stays at six, with Ross Moriarty and Morgan Morris completing the back row.

Kieran Hardy and Dan Edwards keep the half-back shirts, and Keiran Williams and Evardi Boshoff stay together in the centre.

Tom Rogers moves from the wing to full-back, with Keelan Giles on the other wing.

Lalakai Foketi, absent at the Lions, is among the replacements alongside fellow Australian Lawson Creighton.

‘A difference maker’

Jones did his homework on Koroibete before signing him. “When we realised he was available and I spoke to a few people I trust around him, they were very complimentary about him as a professional and how diligent he is, how conscientious he is around his conditioning and things,” he said.

While the squad was in South Africa, the wing trained with academy players brought in for numbers. “Everyone’s been saying just how good he’s been around the younger players here that have been training,” Jones said.

Academy coach Gareth Williams, he said, “has been really impressed with his diligence around the way he works with the young players and his own preparation”.

Now Jones wants to see it on the pitch. “We’ve brought him here to play and to be a difference maker for us, and we hope when he gets a shirt on his back, we’re going to see those points of difference that people recognise with him: his power, his aerial stuff, his physicality,” he said.

Dragons ‘three deep with international players’

Filo Tiatia’s side are unbeaten, with a draw at Benetton followed by a 38-26 derby win over the Scarlets.

Jones says the Dragons are reaping the rewards of their spending. “As a squad, they’ve grown their squad, you can see they’ve invested heavily in their squad as well over the last couple of seasons,” he said. “You just look at their front row, for example, they’re three deep with international players, either Welsh or overseas.”

“No doubt, confidence will be really high there, and rightly so.”

He said he had read that Friday is a sell-out. “It is a great place to go and play. The atmosphere is awesome,” he said. “It’s always been a tough hunting ground, but the derbies always are, there’s nothing new in that.”

Last season’s meeting at Rodney Parade finished 19-19. It came amid the uncertainty over Welsh rugby’s future, which Jones said “didn’t help the night before the game”.

That uncertainty has not gone away, but Jones trusts his squad to shut it out. “I’m confident the boys will put it all to the back of their mind on Friday, and we’re going to make it about the rugby every time and as often as we can,” he said.

Ospreys team to face the Dragons

Ospreys: 1. Gareth Thomas, 2. Sam Parry (capt), 3. Tom Botha, 4. Rhys Davies, 5. Ryan Smith, 6. Liam Wright, 7. Ross Moriarty, 8. Morgan Morris, 9. Kieran Hardy, 10. Dan Edwards, 11. Keelan Giles, 12. Keiran Williams, 13. Evardi Boshoff, 14. Marika Koroibete, 15. Tom Rogers.

Replacements: 16. Efan Daniel, 17. Steffan Thomas, 18. Rhys Henry, 19. Lewis Jones, 20. Morgan Morse, 21. Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22. Lawson Creighton, 23. Lalakai Foketi.