De Kock Steenkamp and Gareth Delve will make their Ospreys debuts when Steve Tandy’s side kick off the new GUINNESS PRO12 season against Ulster on Friday night. Steenkamp’s debut in particular is long awaited, after the South African lock arrived at the Liberty Stadium for the start of last season only to miss the entire campaign through injury. He joins captain Lloyd Ashley in the second row, while new signing Delve is at No.8 with Joe Bearman and GUINNESS PRO12 debutant Lloyd Evans on the flanks. The front row consists of Marc Thomas at loosehead, Dmitri Arhip at tighthead and Sam Parry between them in the No.2 jersey. Scrum-half Tom Habberfield makes his 50th Ospreys appearance and he is joined by Sam Davies at ten and Ben John and Jonathan Spratt in midfield. Dan Evans is full-back, while Tom Grabham lines up on the left wing and Kristian Phillips – who re-joined the region this summer – on the right. Brendon Leonard and Sam Underhill will make their Ospreys debuts if they come off the bench and head coach Steve Tandy is excited to see his new charges run out. “Ulster is always a tough place to go,” said Tandy. “They have a strong squad and a big, passionate and loud crowd who get behind whoever is wearing the Ulster shirt, whatever the circumstances. “It can be a real test of character out there so we need to be sure that we are 100 per cent switched on and everybody is completely focused on the job in hand. “It's about the small things, attention to detail, that can make a big difference on the night.” Ulster have not been beaten at the Kingspan Stadium in the GUINNESS PRO12 since Leinster were the visitors in May 2014. Ospreys, however, have got off to a winning start in the GUINNESS PRO12 in five of the last seven seasons and finished off their regular season campaign in 2014/15 with six straight wins. They are also the only Welsh side to have triumphed in Belfast since 2010, having done so on two occasions – in April of that year and again in February 2013. Ulster have called on Andrew Trimble to help ensure there is no repeat on Friday, the winger winning his 189th cap for the province. He is joined in the back three by Craig Gilroy, who scored 11 tries in the competition last season, and Louis Ludik. Peter Nelson starts his first game for Ulster at out-half, while Paul Marshall is selected at scrum-half, with centres Stuart McCloskey and Luke Marshall completing the backline. Rob Herring captains the side and starts at hooker. He is joined in the front row by Andrew Warwick, who is picked at loosehead, and tighthead Wiehahn Herbst. Dan Tuohy and Franco van der Merwe are paired in the second row, with Roger Wilson named at blindside, Willie Faloon returning to competitive action with Ulster at openside and Nick Williams at No.8. And Marshall is determined to ensure the Ulstermen hit the ground running this season. “With the play-offs, and the top two getting those home semi-finals, there’s a massive incentive there to be in those top spots and you can’t afford any slip-ups,” he told the Belfast Newsletter. “There are certain games that we lost, or didn’t pick up the bonus point, that hurt us last season. “We’ve got ourselves into positions but we need to make sure that we hammer home the advantage and are completely ruthless.” Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12 At Kingspan Stadium, 7:35pm. Referee: Ian Davies (WRU, 32nd competition game) Assistant Referees: Sean Gallagher, Brian MacNeice (both IRFU) Citing Commissioner: Eugene Ryan (IRFU) TMO: Kevin Beggs (IRFU) Live on BBC NI and BBC Wales
