The Wales internationals will be given as much time as needed to prove their fitness before a late decision will be made by head coach Mark Jones prior to naming his Ospreys 23 on Friday lunchtime.
Jones’ side are aiming to finish in the top eight of the United Rugby Championship (URC) for the second season in a row but will need to beat Matt Sherratt’s men in the Welsh capital to realistically keep that dream alive.
Lying in 12th place in the URC table, the Ospreys come into the matchup against rivals Cardiff three points behind the final play-off placings currently held by the Italian’s of Benetton and Scottish powerhouse Edinburgh.
“Judgement Day becomes a big focus for us and we hopefully have an opportunity to have a good crack at that,” said Jones.
“If we can get some momentum through the next couple of weeks hopefully we can push for potentially getting in the top eight when we get to South Africa.”
It is from one Welsh derby to another then as a second must-win all affair follows against against the Dragons at home on 26th April, before Ospreys finish their league campaign with two games in South Africa against the Sharks and the Lions.
The Ospreys though have been left to count the cost of the end of their European adventure after agonisingly falling just short in their Challenge Cup quarter-final 20-18 defeat against Lyon at the Swansea.com Stadium last weekend.
Tipuric was forced off early on with a pectoral muscle problem, whilst Beard and Davies all picked up injuries in a bruising contest.
“They’re being assessed and it is a bit of a mixture,” explained Jones.
“He [Tipuric] felt something in his pec area that he was uncomfortable with.
“When you’re a guy in a line-out like he is aerially or uses your hands in the contact area like he does, you’ve got to be able to use two hands on the rugby field.
“He’s a tough cookie so for him to come off, there must have been a serious amount of discomfort for him.
“They’re [Beard & Davies] obviously not great or they wouldn’t have come off if they were.
“They’ll probably miss next week based on what we’ve seen, but we’ve not seen any further than that, so I can’t say any further than that without speaking to the physios or the doctor.”
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
