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Preview: Ospreys v Treviso

Friday 05th December 2008

Crunch time: Byrne is back as the Ospreys aim for the quarters

Lee Byrne returns from international duty for the Ospreys on Saturday as they take on Italian side Benetton Treviso in the Heineken Cup at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

Having impressed for Wales in November Byrne comes straight back into the starting XV, along with James Hook and Andrew Bishop.

There is also a welcome return to action for Jonathan Thomas, who has missed the last six weeks with a groin injury, as he looks to get his season back on track.

Head Coach Sean Holley has resisted bringing all of his Test stars straight back into the mix, opting to leave Alun Wyn-Jones and Shane Williams on the bench.

Form: The Ospreys lost their last two games, 32-16 away to Edinburgh and 23-19 away to London Irish. They have won their last two home games however, beating Worcester in the EDF and Perpignan in the Heineken Cup.

The Teams:

Ospreys: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 James Hook, 9 Rhodri Wells, 8 Filo Tiatia, 7 Marty Holah, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 5 Lyndon Bateman, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James (c).
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Alun-wyn Jones, 19 Steve Tandy, 20 Rhys Webb, 21 Dan Biggar, 22 Shane Williams.

Benetton Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Emiliano Mulieri, 13 Benjamin De Jager, 12 Fraser Waters, 11 Marius Goosen, 10 Andrea Marcato, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Dion Kingi, 7 Hottie Louw, 6 Silvio Orlando, 5 Cornelius Van Zyl, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Pedro di Santo, 2 Giorgio Intoppa, 1 Franco Sbaraglini.
Replacements: 16 Diego Vidal, 17 Andrea Ceccato, 18 Enrico Pavanello, 19 Michael Barbieri, 20 Mark Gilbride, 21 Andrew Vilk, 22 Alberto Lucchese.

Date: Saturday 6 December, 2008
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Venue: Liberty Stadium, Swansea
Referee: J�r�me Garces (France)