The dynamic Wales made his second debut for his home region in their opening pre-season clash with Leicester Tigers last weekend. Hook partners Cory Allen in the centre on Saturday as they ramp-up their preparations for the PRO14 campaign by welcoming Bath Rugby to the Liberty Stadium. And Hook reckons this Ospreys squad is capable of something special.
He said: “It’s great to be back. It’s changed and there are a lot of different things to 2011 when I was last here, but it’s changed in a good way. There are so many familiar faces here and a lot of the boys I played with previously are now coaches.
“Looking at the squad with the youngsters and the experience we have I don’t think there’s any reason why we can’t compete at the top again. We’ve got a lot of strength in depth which is important because it’s a tough old league. Then there’s the European competition again. If we can keep all our players fit there’s no reason why we can’t aim for the top. We got to the semi-finals last season and if we can do that again or go one better that would be great.”
Phil Jones starts at full-back alongside Ben John and Tom Williams in the back-three. Former All Black Brendon Leonard captains the side from scrum-half alongside Luke Price, with Dan Biggar and Sam Davies still enjoying time off after their tours with the British and Irish Lions and Wales.
Gareth Thomas, Ifan Phillips and Dmitri Arhip make up the front-row, while new Wales caps Adam Beard and Rory Thornton make up the second-row pairing. Josh Cole, Wales Under-20 captain Will Jones and Rob McCusker complete the line-up.
International front-rowers Nicky Smith and Rhodri Jones will be unleashed from the bench, while Keelan Giles, Bradley Davies, Owen Watkin and Lloyd Ashley will all be out to make an impact.
Ospreys: P Jones; B John, C Allen, J Hook, T Williams; L Price, B Leonard (caot); G Thomas, I Phillips, D Arhip, A Beard, R Thornton, J Cole, W Jones, R McCusker.
Reps: H Gustafson, N Smith, R Jones, J Ratti, S Otten, M Aubrey, J Thomas, K Giles, B Davies, L Ashley, M Morris, R Morgan-Williams, O Watkin, J Baker.
