Glasgow well equipped to beat Ospreys, insists Kelly Brown

Published on Thursday 29 October 2009 21:43

THE Ospreys are without most of their Wales internationals tonight and will be led for the first time by lock Ian Gough, but Glasgow already have all the incentive they need to win the final Magners League match before the autumn break at Swansea tonight.

The Scots were torn apart by the Ospreys in the second half of the league meeting at Firhill just a month ago, which, added to a defeat at the Dragons the week before, destroyed the delight at back-to-back wins in the season's opening weeks.

The key to the Ospreys' success that night was their domination of the breakdown, and Kelly Brown, the Glasgow and Scotland flanker, acknowledged yesterday that that defeat had focused minds intently within the Warriors in the weeks since on lifting their ability to compete both with brain and brawn.

He explained: "The Ospreys are very clever and they bring a blend of intelligence and sheer power to that area, which puts the pressure on you to go in as physically as you possibly can, but also as accurately as you can, to compete for the ball.

"So, it's not just a case of flying into it, and you can't afford to sit off and look about to see where the opportunities might be either. They are one of the best around certainly, and it provided us with a good lesson. But we actually did well in the first half at Firhill – it was the second half we fell off unfortunately – and our breakdown work has improved a lot since that game. And we do want to make amends.

"It doesn't matter what side they put out this week because they have such a strong squad that this will be a very strong team, and one that wants to show they can win without some of their Wales boys I'm sure.

"You can't start thinking about weakened sides at this level of the game because you can get a warped sense of a game being easier – you just have to look at their pack, with four internationalists in the back five, and I think it's pretty clear we'll face the same test at the breakdown that we did at Firhill."

The Glasgow team features just one change to the 22 that beat Connacht at home last Friday night, Scotland hooker Fergus Thomson coming on to the bench after recovering from a series of injuries and proving his form with West of Scotland.

The starting XV remains the same which means Scotland centre Max Evans and 20-year-old lock Richie Gray retain their positions after impressive returns from injury last week.

Much of the focus this weekend outside the Glasgow and Edinburgh camps will be on which players thrust themselves forward for Scotland, but Brown insisted that had not penetrated the players' minds as of yet.

"Standing outside the group you might feel the Scotland focus was there, but within the squad we're not even thinking about Scotland. We have been working hard to get consistency in the Magners League and we know we can do nothing about that over the next four weeks, so we are determined to finish this period on a high by winning again.

"We were pleased to get a bonus point last week, and with guys coming back from injury there is a good feeling in the squad, but winning definitely helps that."

Liam Davies makes his competitive Ospreys debut, while Ryan Bevington is handed his first start. Ross Davies, James King and Nicky Thomas will make their Ospreys debuts if they come off the bench.

All of which makes it a very inexperienced team. Ospreys coach Scott Johnson said: "It's been an interesting week for us, preparing for an important Magners League game minus so many players, with ten players in the Wales squad and a growing injury list. But what circumstances like this do is give someone else the chance to shine.

"We've got some exciting talent coming through, and the next few weeks will give us and our supporters the chance to see what they are capable of."