Wales international Dan Lydiate returns for his first outing since November when the Ospreys take on Benetton in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship encounter at the Swansea.com Stadium (5.15pm).
The veteran back rower suffered a broken arm against Argentina in round two of the autumn series.
One of Welsh rugby’s most renowned tacklers, Lydiate was badly missed when the Ospreys leaked eight tries in a 58-3 thrashing at the hands of Munster last time out.
The blindside flanker had was the man in possession of the Wales No. 6 jersey prior to his injury after underlining his worth with some outstanding form on the tour of South Africa in the summer. Now he has to effectively start again, with Warren Gatland having taken over from Wayne Pivac as national coach. You can read about Lydiate's great renaissance here
Fellow Wales internationals Rhys Davies and Sam Parry also come back into Toby Booth’s starting lineup, lock Davies having been released by Wales along with Keiran Williams, who features in the centre.
An excellent defender like Lydiate, Davies makes his 50th Ospreys appearance, with the assumption being that both he and Williams will want to send a message to Warren Gatland, with Williams one of only three Wales squad players not to feature in this term’s Six Nations.
There is also a first outing in the run-on XV for ex-Wales U20s full-back Iestyn Hopkins after his eye-catching effort off the bench at Thomond Park, when the 20-year-old ran strongly from deep and put in a number of brave tackles.
Benetton are 10th in the league standings, with a decent chance of making the end-of-season playoffs.
“They are where they are in the table by no fluke,” said Booth. “They play a very expansive game, similar to Italy’s national team.
“The game against Munster isn’t where we set our standards. We’ll be looking for a much better performance.”
Ospreys: Iestyn Hopkins; Luke Morgan, Owen Watkin, Keiran Williams, Keelan Giles; Stephen Myler, Reuben Morgan-Williams; Nicky Smith (capt), Sam Parry, Tom Botha, Rhys Davies, Huw Sutton, Dan Lydiate, Ethan Roots, Morgan Morris.
Replacements: Tom Cowan-Dickie, Garyn Phillips, Rhys Henry, James Fender, Harri Deaves, Matthew Aubrey, Jack Walsh, Mikey Collins.
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