Sam Parry, James Fender, James Ratti, and Tristan Davies come into an understrength pack missing the injured trio of lock Adam Beard, Rhys Davies and flanker Justin Tipuric whilst Wales hooker Dewi Lake is rotated to the bench.
Morgan Morse replaces number eight Morgan Morris who has undergone foot surgery, and the final change sees Reuban Morgan-Williams preferred to Keiran Hardy at scrum half.
Both Ospreys and Cardiff come into the match intriguingly placed within a cluster of sides just outside of the top eight placings in the URC with six points separating Irish provinces Muster in fifth and Connacht in 13th place in the standings.
A win for either would boost a play-off push in the final rounds of games with the loser likely to miss out on the end-of-season knockout phase.
The loss of several key personnel including Morris has made the challenge harder this weekend for Jones’ side, but the Ospreys boss is backing his side to triumph in testing conditions.
“We are a team that doesn’t get too overawed by the occasion and have the mentality to deal with it,” said Jones in his pre-match conference.
“It’s one game in isolation. Cardiff have been very strong all year and picked up some big wins along the way. They have been around the top four for the large part of the season.
“The boys have responded really well [to the Lyon defeat] and have a been in a good mindset.
“They have been really open and humble around the learnings and have accepted where individually they can be better or as a unit.
“We have also recognised that there was some pretty good stuff there around our game. It’s important not to look too much to the negative and respond to the positive and I think the group have taken that on board.”
Ospreys face Cardiff this weekend, before playing the final home match of the season in another all-Welsh contest against the Dragons at the Swansea.com Stadium next weekend. Jones’ side will then jet off to complete their campaign against high-flying Sharks and the Lions in South Africa into May.
Taking one game at a time, the former Scarlets winger says the focus is purely on the game ahead this weekend.
“I genuinely believe we need to win three games out of the last four if you want to be in genuine contention and take it out of the hands of other people’s results,” continued Jones.
“We are really excited about what’s on this game for both teams and what it could set up in the next three games after.
“This is a big fixture for us, and we feel we need to get some decent points out of this game. First and foremost, though we need to get a good performance to give ourselves a chance.
“Wins are going to affect the table more than bonus points. If we get the wins then the bonus points become vital.
“When you go on tour, those points whether they come from wins or losses could prove pivotal as well.
“That tour won’t mean anything though without good points out of the next two fixtures, we have to make sure we focus on this game this weekend. That will help set us up with what we think we will or won’t need from the last two games.
“Our focus now is to try and win this game and not past that.”
Ospreys XV to face Cardiff:
Jack Walsh, Daniel Kasende, Evardi Boshoff, Keiran Williams, Keelan Giles, Dan Edwards, Reuben Morgan-Williams
Gareth Thomas, Sam Parry, Tom Botha, James Fender, James Ratti, Tristan Davies, Jac Morgan (captain), Morgan Morse.
Replacements:
Dewi Lake, Garyn Phillips, Ben Warren, Will Spencer, Lewis Lloyd, Kieran Hardy, Owen Williams, Iestyn Hopkins.
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
