The British & Irish Lion has successfully recovered from the shoulder surgery that ruled him out of Wales’ summer tour to make his first start of the season against the Scottish side.
Steve Tandy has made three changes to the side who secured an away victory at the Newport Gwent Dragons in round two. Wing wizard Eli Walker, who scored the decisive try in the win, will be replaced by Hanno Dirksen after suffering a shoulder injury. Jonathan Spratt comes in for Andrew Bishop at outside-centre to partner new recruit Josh Matevesi and Joe Bearman makes way for Wales open-side Tipuric.
Edinburgh have rung the changes after they failed to back-up their opening day victory over Munster with a 13-14 defeat against Connacht at Murrayfield. Scotland flyer Tim Visser will start on the right wing and is one of seven changes made by Director of Rugby Alan Solomons. Mike Coman will captain the side from the back-row and summer signing Anton Bresler gets his chance at lock.
If Edinburgh are to beat table-toppers Ospreys, they will have to win at the Liberty Stadium for the first time since April 2009. But Steve Tandy’s men have lost their last three matches against Scottish opposition.
Ospreys Head Coach Steve Tandy said: “Sunday will be a test for us. Edinburgh are in a good position and have recruited well with some quality overseas players providing real depth to their squad. They’ve had a decent start to the season, with a very good win at Munster in their last away game, so we know that it’s going to be tough 80 minutes, home advantage or not.
“We’ve prepared well over this week. The Dragons win was a welcome one but we realise that the performance was far from perfect and there’s still a lot of work to do. The desire in this group is unquestionable, there’s a real will to do the shirt justice and a pride in the Ospreys badge, and I think supporters can identify with that.
“It’s a young squad but we are heading in the right direction. We know there’ll be peaks and troughs over the course of the season as they get that valuable experience under their belts, and there’s a responsibility on the shoulders of people like Dan, Alun Wyn and Justin to help carry them through the sticky periods.”
Ospreys: D Evans, J Hassler, J Spratt, J Matevesi, H Dirksen, D Biggar, R Webb; N Smith, S Baldwin, A Jarvis, AW Jones (c), R Bernardo, J King, J Tipuric, D Baker.
Replacements: S Parry, D Jones, D Arhip, T Ardron, M Allen, M Roberts, S Davies, T Grabham.
Edinburgh: J Cuthbert, N McLennan, P Burleigh, A Strauss, T Visser, T Heathcote, S Hidalgo-Clyne; A Dickinson, J Hilterbrand, WP Nel, F McKenzie, A Bresler, M Coman (c), H Watson, C u Preez.
Replacements: N Cochrane, R Sutherland, J Andress, O Atkins, T Leonardi, G Hart, S Beard, G Tonks.
