{"id":342897,"date":"2025-12-30T13:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T13:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/342897\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T13:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T13:54:09","slug":"ospreys-v-cardiff-team-news-as-wales-star-returns-from-injury-and-new-co-captains-named","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/342897\/","title":{"rendered":"Ospreys v Cardiff team news as Wales star returns from injury and new co-captains named"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ospreys host Cardiff at the Brewery Field on New Year’s DayCardiff prop Keiron Assiratti (left) receiving his 100th club cap from Wales legend Sir Gareth Edwards(Image: Chris Fairweather\/Huw Evans Agency)<\/p>\n

Wales prop Keiron Assiratti has returned from injury to take his place in the Cardiff<\/a> side to take on the Ospreys<\/a> at the Brewery Field on New Year’s Day.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old has recovered from a calf complaint and is the only change to the match-day 23 that claimed a Boxing Day victory over Dragons. Cardiff head coach Corniel van Zyl has made five changes to the side that beat the Dragons on Boxing Day.<\/p>\n

On top of Assiratti second-row George Nott, No 8 Alun Lawrence, loosehead prop Danny Southworth and scrum-half Johan Mulder come into the starting XV.<\/p>\n

Mason Grady gets an opportunity to build on an excellent performance on Boxing Day and is joined in the back-three by Cam Winnett and Josh Adams, while Ben Thomas and Harri Millard are the centres.<\/p>\n

Liam Belcher captains the side from hooker, while Nott and Josh McNally form a strong second-row partnership.<\/p>\n

Alex Mann and Dan Thomas are in the back-row alongside Lawrence.<\/p>\n

The Blue & Blacks have again opted for a 6-2 split on the replacements’ bench with the likes of James Botham, Taulupe Faletau and Aled Davies providing experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were obviously pleased to get the win against Dragons on Boxing Day but it was a frustrating performance,” said van Zyl.<\/p>\n

“We left some opportunities out there in the second half and let them back into the game.\u201cBut that\u2019s given us plenty to work on and a sharpened focus this week, and we are all very aware that we will need to be much better on Thursday.\u201cThe Ospreys are a quality team and enjoyed an impressive win over the Scarlets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We will have to match their physicality, set-piece and manage the middle third of the pitch well. It\u2019s a challenge we are looking forward to.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk a lot about growth and going away to the Brewery Field gives us the chance to test our game in a different environment in what will be a tough game\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ospreys head coach Mark Jones has chosen utility back Jack Walsh and hooker Sam Parry as co-captains of the side, with Dewi Lake named on the replacements’ bench.<\/p>\n

He is joined in the back-three by Iestyn Hopkins and Keelan Giles, with Owen Watkin and Keiran Williams teaming up in midfield.<\/p>\n

Kieran Hardy and Dan Edwards are the half-backs.<\/p>\n

Up-front Sam Parry starts ahead of Lake, with Garyn Phillips and Tom Botha joining him in the front-row.<\/p>\n

Rhys Davies and Ryan Smith are in the second-row while James Ratti, Harri Deaves and Morgan Morris form a dynamic back-row.<\/p>\n

Ospreys: Jack Walsh; Iestyn Hopkins, Owen Watkin, Keiran Williams, Keelan Giles; Dan Edwards, Kieran Hardy; Garyn Phillips, Sam Parry, Tom Botha, Rhys Davies, Ryan Smith, James Ratti, Harri Deaves, Morgan Morris. Replacements: Dewi Lake, Steffan Thomas, Rhys Henry, James Fender, Morgan Morse, Gwylim Evans, Phil Cokanasiga, Max Nagy.<\/p>\n

Cardiff Rugby: Cam Winnett; Josh Adams, Harri Millard, Ben Thomas, Mason Grady, Callum Sheedy, Johan Mulder, Danny Southworth, Liam Belcher (capt), Keiron Assiratti, Josh McNally, George Nott, Alex Mann, Dan Thomas, Alun Lawrence. Replacements: Evan Lloyd, Rhys Barratt, Javan Sebastian, Rory Thornton, James Botham, Taulupe Faletau, Aled Davies, Jacob Beetham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Ospreys host Cardiff at the Brewery Field on New Year’s DayCardiff prop Keiron Assiratti (left) receiving his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[10579,26771,5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-342897","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-cardiff-rugby","9":"tag-ospreys","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}