With the absence of a number of players due to World Cup duty, flanker Justin Tipuric will lead the Ospreys into battle.
Tipuric has been handed the role once again by Scott Johnson and his coaching team after impressing last season when he became the second youngest ever person to captain the Ospreys, leading the team out for the first time at the RDS Showground in Dublin against Leinster in January, before taking the captaincy throughout the Six Nations period.
Speaking about the decision to reappoint Tipuric as skipper for the start of the season, Johnson said: “You don’t make decisions around who will captain the team lightly and Tips is a worthy skipper as he has shown already, despite his youth.
“We take our developmental responsibilities very seriously here, and when we appointed Alun Wyn Jones as our captain we did that not only because of his current standing within the squad but with an eye to giving him the experience that will allow him to become captain of Wales.”
Referring to tonight’s game, Johnson added: “We’re really looking forward to the game, it’ll be good to get back into the serious stuff after a tough pre-season and it should a good test for where we are. It’s important that we get off to a good start, but we’re up against a good team in Leinster, regardless of how many players they will have away at the World Cup.
“This group of players have come together really well over the summer, they’ve been diligent, worked hard, and are ready to go. They know their roles, what they’ve got do and they are desperately keen to do well for the Ospreys.
“We are particularly proud that given the number of players that are away, we can field a team on Friday night that has 14 Welshmen in the starting line-up. That’s a great achievement in the circumstances and something that the region should be proud of. They’ll be up against a Leinster team that while shorn of it’s Irish internationals will still possess a lot of experience, and a lot of players who have experience from different countries, but we’ve got belief in this group of players to make a positive impression this season.
“These players, and a lot of them are still young kids making their first steps as a rugby player with their home region, have a good attitude, they want to wear the shirt with pride, and I sincerely hope that our supporters share our excitement, our sense of optimism and really get behind them this season.”
Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell 14 Kristian Phillips 13 Andrew Bishop 12 Ashley Beck 11 Hanno Dirksen 10 Dan Biggar 9 Rhys Webb; 1 Duncan Jones 2 Mefin Davies 3 Cai Griffiths 4 Ian Gough 5 Ian Evans 6 Tom Smith 7 Justin Tipuric (Capt) 8 Jonathan Thomas
Replacements: 16 Matthew Dwyer 17 Ken Dowding 18 Joe Rees 19 James King 20 Morgan Allen 21 Tom Isaacs 22 Matthew Morgan 23 Sonny Parker
Leinster: 15: Isa Nacewa 14: Fionn Carr 13: Eoin O’Malley 12: Luke Fitzgerald 11: David Kearney 10: Mat Berquist 9: John Cooney; 1: Heinke van der Merwe 2: Richardt Strauss 3: Jamie Hagan 4: Damian Browne 5: Devin Toner 6: Kevin McLaughlin 7: Dominic Ryan 8: Rhys Ruddock (capt)
Replacements: 16: Aaron Dundon 17: Jack McGrath 18: Jack O’Connell 19: Mark Flanagan 20: Leo Auva’a 21: Cillian Willis 22: Ian Madigan 23: Brendan Macken
