If Adam Beard is to stand any chance of continuing as a British & Irish Lion then he is going to have to hit the ground running on his return from an injury that kept him out of the Wales side for the whole of the Six Nations.
A Test Lion in South Africa in 2021, the Ospreys lock returns to action for his pro club in a vital game at the Swansea.Com Stadium against Connacht in Round 13 o the BKT United Rugby Championship.
The 29-year-old Beard has been out of action since suffering a knee injury during Wales’ Autumn Nations Series defeat to Australia in November. Now he has a handful of games to prove to Lions boss Andy Farrell he still has what it takes to make the squad for Australia this summer.
“It’s great to see Adam Beard back because he’s a top-quality player who is always so good to have around the place,” said his second row partner to face Connacht, fellow Welsh international James Ratti.
“We’ve all had to step in and step up while he’s been out injured. Players like James Fender have done a great job in leading the line out and the competition for places is really good.”
With only one defeat in their six games to date this year the Ospreys will come into the game full of confidence, especially as they picked off reigning champions Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun in their last outing, 32-31, and pushed unbeaten league leader Leinster all the way in their last home game before going down 22-19.
Those performances have left them a point off the top eight and two places, and a single point behind Connacht in ninth. A home win is definitely required to give them the chance of mirroring last season’s achievement of reaching the quarter finals.
“Glasgow was a great win, and we gave a good account of ourselves up there. We are a team that doesn’t give up and you could see that up there,” added Ratti.
“We’re coming into a new block where we will have a game every week. We feel we are competitive against any team in the league when we get out game right.
“We need to keep this momentum going because it’s an important part of the season. We want to impose our brand of rugby on them, especially at home.
“It’s another game where we need a big performance because it is so tight in the race for the top eight. We have to target every game and against a good Connacht side we know we’ll have to be right on it.”
Sam Parry returns from Six Nations duty to lead the side. He will have Garyn Phillips and Tom Botha propping him up in the front row.
Kieran Hardy gets the nod at scrum half and will partner another Six Nations returnee, Dan Edwards, at half back.