OSPREYS: Twelve changes as Wright and Giles lead new-look side into Johannesburg

Mark Jones has made 12 changes to his Ospreys side for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship trip to the Lions in Johannesburg, with Liam Wright and Keelan Giles leading the team as co-captains.

Only Wright, Tom Rogers and Iestyn Hopkins keep their places from the XV beaten 41-24 by the Sharks in Durban, as the head coach uses the full depth of his squad for the second leg of the South African tour.

Kick-off at Ellis Park is 1.45pm local time, 12.45pm in Wales. The hosts carry a new name this season, the 10bet Lions, after a sponsorship deal.

Giles back, Parry and Watkin out

Giles returns after missing the opener with a thigh injury picked up in training, and shares the captaincy with Wright, the Australian back-rower who scored on his competitive debut at Kings Park.

Regular co-captains Sam Parry and Owen Watkin both drop out of the matchday 23 altogether.

An entirely new front five

Wales international Gareth Thomas starts at loosehead, with Efan Daniel at hooker and Rhys Henry at tighthead, the three front-rowers who came off the bench in Durban promoted together.

Huw Sutton and Ryan Smith form a new second row, with James Ratti and Rhys Davies making way, Davies dropping to the bench.

Wright stays at six, Harri Deaves comes in on the other flank and Morgan Morse replaces Morgan Morris at number eight, with Ross Moriarty among the replacements.

Edwards back at ten

Kieran Hardy, whose break set up Hopkins’ bonus-point try as a replacement in Durban, starts at scrum-half, with Dan Edwards returning to action at fly-half in place of Lawson Creighton.

Keiran Williams partners Evardi Boshoff in the centre, with Watkin and Lalakai Foketi both absent.

Hopkins keeps the full-back shirt, with Giles on one wing and Rogers on the other. Luke Morgan, scorer of the first try in Durban, is on the bench.

Rotation after a bruising start

The changes have the look of rotation rather than reaction. Opening the campaign with back-to-back games on South African soil, the Sharks in Durban and then straight on to Johannesburg, places heavy physical demands on a squad at the very start of a long season, and Jones has spread the load across his group.

Jones has not yet spoken about the selection, but it follows the thinking he set out before the opener, when he explained why he had added overseas experience to a young squad.

“If you improve the competition, you improve the quality of your group, and therefore you’ve got more depth and a better chance over an eight or nine-month competition,” he said.

After the Sharks game he pointed to the region’s record at the Lions as a reason for optimism.

“It is few and far between when you get results over here, although we have had them in the past at the Stormers and at the Lions. We know we’re capable, we just need to improve our quality if we want to get four or five points out of the games,” he said. “There is some progress for us, and I think we should be confident going up to the Lions.”

Lewis Lloyd, Cam Jones, Ben Warren and Reuben Morgan-Williams all come into the 23 on a bench that also holds Creighton, Moriarty, Davies and Morgan.

The game is the second of four on the road before the Ospreys open the redeveloped St Helen’s against the Dragons on 24 October.

Ospreys team to face the Lions

Ospreys: 1. Gareth Thomas, 2. Efan Daniel, 3. Rhys Henry, 4. Huw Sutton, 5. Ryan Smith, 6. Liam Wright (co-capt), 7. Harri Deaves, 8. Morgan Morse, 9. Kieran Hardy, 10. Dan Edwards, 11. Keelan Giles (co-capt), 12. Keiran Williams, 13. Evardi Boshoff, 14. Tom Rogers, 15. Iestyn Hopkins.

Replacements: 16. Lewis Lloyd, 17. Cam Jones, 18. Ben Warren, 19. Rhys Davies, 20. Ross Moriarty, 21. Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22. Lawson Creighton, 23. Luke Morgan.