The Ospreys travel to Parma knowing that victory over Zebre will give them the chance to stay in Bridgend and compete for Challenge Cup glory.
Mark Jones’ side are one of three teams to have a perfect record in Europe’s second tier, thanks to extra-point success against Connacht and Montauban.
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The top two seeds in the Challenge Cup will gain home advantage until the final in Bilbao.
The Ospreys are motivated not just by qualifying for the last 16, but by ensuring they take their opponents out of their comfort zones at the Brewery Stadium.
“You never say you can’t win on the road in Europe – even if we end up as an away seed, we’ll still back ourselves – but we know that, historically, having home field advantage against the best teams makes a huge difference,” coach Richard Kelly said.
“The support and atmosphere at Bridgend lifts the players up, so if we can give ourselves that chance it’ll be fantastic.”
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Victory in Italy would see them advance to the group final against Montpellier, who put their perfect record on the line when they face Connacht in France on Sunday.
The Ospreys have been given a boost by the return of Reuben Morgan-Williams from a shoulder injury as replacement for Wales half-back Kieran Hardy.
They beat Cardiff City 33-22 at Bridgend on New Year’s Day, despite Hardy being their only fit nine specialist, with Kieran Giles coming in from the wing in the closing stages.
“We have to give Kieran credit for everything he’s done for us, learning the nine-point game during the training week and his performance in games,” coach Richard Kelly said.
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“That’s a credit to him, he’s such a hard worker and he puts the team first. The kids appreciate what he does and the staff appreciates it because it’s not easy to perform in a big game with a lot of spectators in a situation like this.”
Head coach Jones made four changes to the XV that beat Cardiff City, with Wales captain Dewi Lake brought in to lead the Ospreys against the Huskers.
Lock James Fender and number eight Morgan Morse were also promoted from the bench, with center Evardi Boshoff moving into the midfield.
The Ospreys have reignited their hopes of advancing to the play-offs in the second half of the season with wins over Scale and Cardiff in United Rugby Championship (URC) derbies.
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“It’s been a great two weeks and the kids really enjoyed the opportunity to play against players they’re very familiar with,” Kelly said.
“They really go out of their way for each other, which shows how close they are and how much they will go to for each other.”
They face a Zebra side who have lost both festive derbies to Benetton before losing 47-10 to Glasgow in Scotland to start their 2026 campaign.
The Ospreys beat Zebra 24-0 at the Brewery Stadium in October but lost 22-17 at Parma in 2024-25.
“Zebre has wins over Montauban, the Lions and Edinburgh this season, so they’re a pretty good team, especially at home,” Kelly said. “We have no illusions about what challenges we will face.”
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The Ospreys will qualify for the knockout stages if the winner of Saturday’s game between Montauban and the Black Lions fails to score four times.
If a team does win by five points, a match point in Parma would put the Welsh club through to the last 16.
how they line up
zebra: Montemori; Belloni, Bertaccini, Mazza, Gassi; Darre, Fusco; Hasa, Di Bartolomeo, Nocera, Canali, Klumov (captain), Bianchi, Locatelli, Ferrari.
Alternatives: Quatrini, Buonfiglio, Piereto, Ortombina, Odiace, Domingos, Zanon, Stavel.
osprey: Walsh; Hopkins, Boshoff, K. Williams, Giles; D. Edwards, Hardy; G. Phillips, Lake (captain), Botha, Smith, Fender, Lartie, Dieves, Morse.
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Alternatives: L Lloyd, S Thomas, Hill, L Jones, G Evans, Morgan Williams, Watkin, Cassander.
referee: Griffin Colby(SA)
assistant: Rob McDowell (Scotland), Jack McNeice (Ireland)
Technology Management Office: Marius Jonker(SA)