Eli Walker, Scott Baldwin, Joe Rees, Richard Kelly and Morgan Allen will all make their first Ospreys starts in a young looking Ospreys outfit.
Acting Head Coach, Steve Tandy, commented: “This is an exciting time for the Ospreys and a great opportunity for some of these young players to really show what they are about. As a coach, I’m also proud to have this chance to lead the team for two difficult fixtures that will really test this group.
“It will be a great benchmark to see where these boys are, Exeter are a strong team doing well in the Premiership and their fans always create a fantastic atmosphere so it’s going to be a tough evening.
“The boys have worked hard in training, they know their roles, now they have to pay attention to detail, be accurate and clinical, do things properly, and we’ll see how they cope with the challenges that Exeter will throw up.
“The LV= Cup is an important competition for us, it allows us to bring young players on. Look at the squad that played in this competition last season and you’ll see some of the boys who have established themselves, kicked on and played a big part in the opening period of the PRO12 where we’ve won all six games.
“The boys coming in this week have seen the standard that has been set, and they’ve got to hit that standard if they want to follow in the footsteps of those who’ve stepped up this season.”
Ospreys 15 Barry Davies 14 Kristian Phillips 13 Ben John 12 Sonny Parker 11 Eli Walker 10 Matthew Morgan 9 Tom Habberfield; 1 Cai Griffiths 2 Scott Baldwin 3 Joe Rees 4 Tom Smith (Capt) 5 Richard Kelly 6 James King 7 Sam Lewis 8 Morgan Allen
Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies 17 Aaron Jarvis 18 Craig Cross 19 Lloyd Peers 20 Ben Thomas 21 Tom Grabham 22 Will Price
