JJ Engelbrecht

As speculated here on rugby-talk a few weeks ago the former Bulls player JJ Engelbrecht is set to make his debut for Ospreys on Sunday 31 January against Glasgow Warriors. Engelbrecht has been named as player No 23 in the Ospreys match day squad for the hosts in their PRO12 match.

It remains to be seen where the Ospreys will be utilizing his talents for the rest of the season and clarity on this may only be gained once he is listed in any of their starting line ups.  The pacey winger who has spent the bulk of the last few seasons playing at outside centre will at least be sleeping more peacefully for the next few nights than he would have been had he been listed as centre in the starting line up. This ensures that he will be required for less time or may completely avoid having to help the midfield defend against the mammoth Fijian Australian winger Taqele Naiyaravoro who is due to don the No 13 jumper for the reigning champions.

Naiyaravoro has been brought in from the wing with various regular centres unavailable for the match. Alex Dunbar and Richie Vernon have been ruled out due to injury, while Peter Horne and Mark Bennett are with the Scotland squad ahead of the 6 Nations and just last weekend Bennett was ruled out of playing for the Warriors in their European Champions Cup encounter against Racing 92 due to injury.  Loose forward Hugh Blake has helped out at centre earlier this season as well, but he is away with the Scotland 7s team in Wellington New Zealand.

The Ospreys picked another big Fijian, Josh Matavesi, as inside centre possibly with a view to try and keep Naiyaravoro in check. At 1.88m tall and weighing 112kg Matavesi will take some stopping as well and the fans can look forward to some big collisions.

Ospreys team announcement mentioning JJ Engelbrecht:

The Ospreys team to play Glasgow Warriors at Liberty Stadium on Sunday 31 January 2016 (kick-off at 14:30 UK Time) is as follows:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Tom Grabham, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Brendon Leonard (Captain), 1 Nicky Smith, 2 Sam Parry, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 4 Rynier Bernardo, 5 Rory Thornton, 6 Joe Bearman, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Dan Baker
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Ben John, 23 JJ Engelbrecht.

JJ Engelbrecht will make his Ospreys debut if he comes off the bench. Adam Beard will make his PRO12 debut if he comes off the bench.

The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury:

• Tyler Ardron – Knee
• Lloyd Ashley – Knee
• Ashley Beck – Knee
• Gareth Delve – Ankle
• Hanno Dirksen – Ankle
• Jeff Hassler – Thigh
• Dafydd Howells – Hamstring
• Rhys Webb – Foot

The following players are absent on international duty:

•  Paul James
• Scott Baldwin
• Aaron Jarvis
• Alun Wyn Jones
• Dan Lydiate
• Justin Tipuric
• James King
• Dan Biggar

Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said:

“This game marks the start of the next phase of the season for us. We’ve got a tough run of games during the SIX Nations that will push us but we have to rise to the challenge if we want to get the outcome we want.

“We have a very young group of players that we are turning to during this period but they are excited about the opportunity to really push the team up the table. Some of them have already gained great experience belt in Europe and the league this season while others are really itching to pull the shirt on and show what they are about during this period.

“There’s no margin for error, we have to get the performance level where it needs to be if we’re going to get the right outcome. Youth and inexperience isn’t going to be an excuse, this is their time. We know that with Glasgow just behind us in the table they’ll target this match as one where they can push ahead of us and damage our hopes, so it has the makings of a great contest.

“It’s not about these boys keeping the shirt warm for the internationals when they are away. It’s about representing the shirt and all it stands for and ensuring that we remain in contention, so that when the internationals come back we are still involved at the sharp end. The boys here understand that they have a big job on their hands and they can’t wait to get stuck into it.

“We know what we’ve got to do between now and the end of the season, starting on Sunday, if we want to make sure we are back in the top level of European competition next season. Everybody has to pull together now, on and off the field. This is a team of young and predominantly local players so I’d like to think that the community will get behind them.

“The atmosphere we’ve had at the Liberty in recent games has been brilliant, I think the supporters understand the part they’ve got in this battle and we want to see them inspiring the team again on Sunday afternoon.”