Ospreys prop Ryan Bevington admits he’s relishing the competition with Duncan Jones for a starting berth, claiming the mood in the camp is buoyant after the defending champions won their first match of the RaboDirect PRO12 season last time out.

Bevington and co had lost their first three matches of the season until they claimed a 23-16 win over table toppers Scarlets with Jones picking up the man of the match award.

Jones must be content with a place on the bench however as Bevington comes in to make his 50th league appearance for the region against Munster.

The defending champions have lost their opening two games at Liberty Stadium so far this campaign but have never lost three successive home matches in the history of the tournament.

History is on the Ospreys’ side, having achieved a treble over Munster in the RaboDirect PRO12 last season, while the Irishmen's only win at Liberty Stadium since 2009 was in April 2011.

And while Bevington is expecting another tough clash against the Irish province, he revealed the Ospreys are full of confidence after getting their season up and running.

“He’s a great player and a good guy” Bevington said of Jones.

“I’ve got so much time and respect for Duncan. It’s massive competition but this is what I want and he would say exactly the same.

“You need competition to keep you on your toes. No one wants to feel like they’ve been handed a shirt, you want to know that you’ve earned it. I think we both feel it’s a good position to be in, for the team and for both of us. Whoever gets the shirt knows they have to be at their best or they’ll be out.

“It’s been a good place to be this week, there’s a definite buzz after last weekend. We want to try and build on that and run into a bit of form now. I don’t think we were a million miles away in the opening games if I’m honest.

“The guys realise that there’s a lot of hard work to do still, there are tweaks to work on across the pitch if we want to get to the standard we expect here. It was a good game last week, a lot better.

“The forwards clicked, the backs came together, and although there are negatives as well as positives like always, we were pretty happy. Now we need to build on it this Saturday.”

Ospreys coach Steve Tandy makes two changes to his backline with Ashley Beck returning at centre and Tom Isaacs on the wing while there is one further change in the forwards with Ryan Jones coming into the back row.

For Munster, Denis Hurley makes his return to action after recovering from tonsillitis which kept him side-lined for the victory over Newport Gwent Dragons last time out.

Conor Murray makes his first start of the season after coming off the bench for the matches against Ulster and Dragons, while Donnacha Ryan and Peter O'Mahony are included for the first time in a match day squad this season.

That victory over the Dragons was Munster’s third from four games – the only defeat coming against Ulster – but head coach Rob Penney is not getting carried away.

“By no means were we perfect and they [the Dragons] breached us a few times," he said.

“They made our lads work hard and they presented us with challenges so we certainly weren't perfect.

“Everyone is putting pressure on for a starting spot but it's really about the depth of players we have and it's critical for us to get through the season, guys can't play in every game.

“It is early days and we just have to keep our feet on the ground working on our game again this week.”

At Liberty Stadium, 6.30pm.
Referee: Dudley Phillips (IRFU, 27th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Rhys Thomas, Greg Morgan (both WRU)
Citing Commissioner: Dennis Jones (WRU)
TMO: Nigel Whitehouse (WRU)

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