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Hibbard & Evans return for Ospreys

Hibbard & Evans return for Ospreys

British & Irish Lions tourists Richard Hibbard and Ian Evans look set for an earlier than expected return to action after being named on the bench for the Ospreys’ clash with Bath tomorrow night.

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Both forwards are named in the squad for the trip to the Recreation Ground though Steve Tandy keeps most of the same starters from the late win over Worcester Warriors last Saturday. 

Wales internationals Dan Biggar and Ashley Beck again get the chance to start while Dan Baker begins at No. 8. Eli Walker, Tom Grabham and Richard Fussell make up the back three and there is a return for Ryan Jones.

But it is the selection of Hibbard and Evans which is the main talking point. 

“There’s plenty to work on before we go to Treviso and Bath will definitely provide us with another tough test,” said Tandy, as he looked ahead to the start of the competitive season.

On the return of Hibbard and Evans, he added: “There are a few more of the experienced boys coming into the mix for this one and there’s another opportunity for some of the younger players to stake a claim.

“It’s going to be an interesting evening and an important one in terms of our preparation for those first weeks in the PRO12.”

Tandy will be hoping his side can push on from their narrow win over the Warriors and make it two from two in pre-season.

The clash at the Liberty Stadium saw the Ospreys fall behind early on but fightback in the second half.

They were still reliant though on a last minute try from Ross Jones to edge out the Aviva Premiership side.

“We had an excellent workout against Worcester at the weekend. It was exactly what we needed at this stage of pre-season and we are relatively happy with the outcome,” said Tandy.

“Worcester were further down the line in terms of preparation, they already had two games under their belt and you could see early on that we were maybe a bit rusty.

“What was good to see though was the way we dealt with some early setbacks and stuck to the task. The boys showed the attitude we want to see from an Ospreys team to grab the win right at the end.”

Ospreys side to face Bath at the Recreation Ground: (KO: 7.30pm)
15 Richard Fussell 14 Tom Grabham 13 Ben John 12 Ashley Beck 11 Eli Walker 10 Dan Biggar 9 Tito Tebaldi, 1 Ryan Bevington 2 Scott Baldwin 3 Dmitri Arhip 4 Sam Williams 5 James King 6 Tom Smith (C) 7 Sam Lewis 8 Dan Baker.
Replacements: Matthew Dwyer, Richard Hibbard, Duncan Jones, Joe Rees, Ian Gough, Ian Evans, Ryan Jones, Arthur Ellis, Morgan Allen, Jake Cole, Matthew Morgan, Jonathan Spratt, Tom Isaacs, Ross Jones.

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