Exeter v Ospreys: Champions Cup preview
Last Updated: 24/01/16 2:59pm
Ospreys coach Steve Tandy praised his side for the work put in to top their Champions Cup pool with one round remaining.
Ospreys claimed four bonus points in two trips to France, and after beating Clermont 21-13 in the fifth round of competition, their quarter-final fate is in their own hands as they travel to Sandy Park on Sunday.
Victory for the Welsh region would see them progress to the knock-out stages regardless of other results in the pool, and Tandy says it's reward for the effort put in by his side throughout the season.
"We've worked extremely hard to put ourselves into the position we are in going into the final round of fixtures knowing that we have our fate in our own hands," said Tandy.
"Win and we go through to the quarter-finals. We realise there aren't many people who would have backed us to get to this point at the start of the season and we have to be pleased that we've done enough to get to this point.
"At the start of this competition we said that we had to win our home games. We've done that. We said that we had to go away and pick up points, and we managed to secure four on our trips to France, which have put in a good place.
"We've shown the strength of character there is in the group, the culture we've worked hard to build in our environment.
"Nobody is getting carried away though. We are all well aware that possibly the toughest part of the job is still ahead of us on Sunday.
"Exeter are a great club who have established themselves at the top of the English game, with an outstanding record at home in particular.
"They haven't lost at theirs in over a year, that's the size of the challenge ahead of us this weekend."
Tandy has made just one change to his side from last Friday's win at the Liberty Stadium, with tighthead prop Dmitri Arhip coming in for Aaron Jarvis.
The Chiefs on the other hand have made 13 changes to the side that lost 34-27 to Bordeaux-Begles in France, as Thomas Waldrom, Geoff Parling and Gareth Steenson all make a return.
Exeter have a slender chance of topping the pool if they beat Ospreys convincingly and Clermont lose to Bordeaux-Begles.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Dave Lewis, 1 Alec Hepburn, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 3 Alex Brown, 4 Jonny Hill, 5 Geoff Parling, 6 Kai Horstmann, 7 Don Armand, 8 Thomas Waldrom.
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Tom Johnson, 21 Haydn Thomas, 22 Will Hooley, 23 Max Bodilly.
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Jonathan Spratt, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Brendon Leonard, 1 Paul James , 2 Scott Baldwin, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 4 Lloyd Ashley, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 6 Sam Underhill , 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 James King.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Dan Baker, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Owen Watkin.