14 Richard Fussell
13 Tom Isaacs
12 Andrew Bishop
11 Hanno Dirksen
10 Dan Biggar
9 Rhys Webb
1 Duncan Jones
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Aaron Jarvis
4 Ian Gough
5 James Goode
6 Tom Smith
7 Justin Tipuric (Capt)
8 Jonathan Thomas
Replacements:
16 Richard Hibbard
17 Cai Griffiths
18 Joe Rees
19 James King
20 Joe Bearman
21 Matthew Morgan
22 Sonny Parker
23 Kristian Phillips
Jonathan Thomas makes his 150th Ospreys appearance
Aaron Jarvis and Scott Baldwin make their first start for the Ospreys
James Goode makes his first RaboDirect PRO12 start for the Ospreys
If he comes off the bench Joe Bearman will make his Ospreys debut
The following players were not considered because of injury:
Craig Cross - Knee
Gareth Owen - ACL
Nikki Walker - Medial Ligament
Ross Jones - Ankle
Ashley Beck - Shoulder
Director of Coaching, Scott Johnson, commented:
"Ulster will no doubt bring plenty of confidence with them after their good start to the season. They have recruited well over the summer. Jared Payne in particular is a good signing who will bring something different to the table for them, and I'm expecting them to be there challenging on all fronts year after a good season last time.
"We saw from their performance against the Blues last week that they play good rugby and have a cutting edge, so we know that it's going to be a difficult afternoon.
"For our part, we need to lift our all round performance up a couple of notches from where we were last weekend against Treviso. Yes, we got another win to make it three from three but we rode our luck at times, particularly in the first half.
"The resolve and effort was first class though. The boys really dug in and toughed it out to get a win, and it's a win that we can really be happy with as it's a tough place to go. A lot of teams got a bloody nose there last season and no doubt will again this year, so it's pleasing to be able to come away with the points.
"But, make no mistake about it, this week has been about picking up the performance level to get it to where we'll need it to be to deal with the threats that Ulster have all over the park. It's going to be a real test, and promises to be quite a contest at this early stage of the season."
Forthcoming fixtures
Fri 30 Sep - Ospreys V Connacht - Liberty Stadium - RaboDirect PRO12 - 7.30pm
Sat 8 Oct - Munster V Ospreys - Thomond Park - RaboDirect PRO12 - 7.30pm
Sat 15 Oct - Exeter Chiefs V Ospreys - Sandy Park - LV= Cup - 7.45pm
Sat 22 Oct - Ospreys v Northampton Saints - Riverside Hardware Brewery Field - LV= Cup - 6.00pm
Fri 28 Oct - Glasgow V Ospreys - Firhill - RaboDirect PRO12 - 7.05pm
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