Newcastle Falcons have named their side for Saturday’s trip to Welsh side Ospreys, with director of rugby Steve Diamond freshening up his selection for the EPCR Challenge Cup clash.

Props Micky Rewcastle and Callum Hancock make their first starts in the 5.30pm kick-off at Swansea.com Stadium.

Philip van der Walt captains the Falcons from the blind-side flank, with Josh Bainbridge making his second appearance of the season on the open-side. Ollie Leatherbarrow packs down at No.8, with John Hawkins and Adam Scott lining up in the second row.

Sevens internationals Nathan Greenwood and Max Pepper ensure no shortage of pace on the wings, with Newcastle running out 28-24 winners on their last visit to Swansea back in April 2021.

“We’ve given opportunities to a lot of lads this week, because a number of the guys are out on their feet,” said Diamond.

“They’ve given blood for this club, they’ve played big minutes and you just can’t roll out the same players every week at this level. The lads who are coming in have trained every day with the squad, a lot of them have been knocking on my door for a shot, and now they’ve got it.

“I’m excited to see how they go. It’s a vibrant selection, it will be a big test against an Ospreys side who didn’t have a game last weekend and will have a lot of boys pushing for Welsh national team selection. They’re a good team, they’re well coached and it will be a formidable task.”

Looking to bounce back from the disappointment of last weekend’s Gallagher Premiership loss to Harlequins, the director of rugby added: “With nine minutes to go we were only three points down, and we’d actually done a lot of good stuff.

“We’d contained Marcus Smith for the most part and restricted their opportunities, but we couldn’t withstand their driving maul. No side has exposed us in that area in the way Harlequins did, and fair play to them. They got a couple of blockers into every maul, which is technically not legal but they saw they were getting away with it, and we’d have to admit we were out-coached in that area.

“I’m bitterly disappointed about that and of course we’ve spent a good amount of time working at putting it right for this weekend, but we’re well aware that every other team will have seen it and will be looking to do the same against us. It was quite an even game, that aside, but ultimately that was the difference and we have to learn from it.

“We don’t need people feeling sorry for themselves, we need actions, and we’re not a side who make excuses. We’ve got another chance to go out this weekend and show what we can do, and the lads who take the field will be determined to do that.”

Newcastle Falcons team v Ospreys (Saturday, 5.30pm, Swansea.com Stadium, live on S4C)

15 Louis Brown, 14 Max Pepper, 13 Oli Spencer, 12 Connor Doherty, 11 Nathan Greenwood, 10 Kieran Wilkinson, 9 James Elliott; 1 Micky Rewcastle, 2 Ollie Fletcher, 3 Callum Hancock, 4 John Hawkins, 5 Adam Scott, 6 Philip van der Walt (captain), 7 Josh Bainbridge, 8 Ollie Leatherbarrow.

Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Connor Hancock, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Finn Baker, 20 Reuben Parsons, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Jack Metcalf, 23 Rhys Beeckmans.

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams; 1 Gareth Thomas, 2 Sam Parry, 3 Rhys Henry, 4 Will Spencer, 5 Will Griffiths, 6 Jac Morgan (captain), 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Morgan Morris.

Replacements: 16 Lewis Lloyd, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Tom Botha, 19 James Ratti, 20 Morgan Morse, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Evardi Boshoff, 23 Harri Houston.

Referee: Kevin Bralley (France).