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May 24, 2019

Glasgow Warriors v Leinster

Posted by Editor on May 24, 2019 10:25 PM | No comments | Print | E-mail author

Scott Cummings is the Warrior to Watch
As Glasgow Warriors prepare to face Leinster in the climax to the PRO14 season Disco looks at where the match could be won and lost.

You can read more of Disco's thoughts on Glasgow's pursuit of the PRO14 title and their European Cup campaigns, as well as the fortunes of Scotland's international teams, at his excellent blog Top of the Moon.

KO 6.30 at Parkhead
Saturday 25th May
Live on Premier Sports 1 *

- This will be the 46th occasion that these two teams have met. Glasgow have won 14, Leinster 29 and there have been 2 draws.
- Nigel Owens referees an encounter between these sides for the 10th time, the first of which was more than 15 years ago.
- The Warriors have yet to defeat Leinster in a knock-out match (5 previous games).
Leinster haven't won a game outside Dublin since they beat Zebre in Italy on the 16th of February.
- 13 of the visitors' XV started their Champions Cup final defeat to Saracens two weeks ago.
- Dave Rennie has selected the same starting XV for consecutive matches for the first time as Warriors' head coach.

Glasgow Warriors

15 Stuart Hogg

14 Tommy Seymour
13 Kyle Steyn
12 Sam Johnson
11 DTH van der Merwe

10 Adam Hastings
9 Ali Price

1 Jamie Bhatti
2 Fraser Brown
3 Zander Fagerson
4 Scott Cummings
5 Jonny Gray
6 Robert Harley
7 Callum Gibbins (Captain)
8 Matt Fagerson

Substitutes

16 Grant Stewart
17 Oli Kebble
18 Siua Halanukonuka
19 Ryan Wilson
20 Tom Gordon
21 George Horne
22 Peter Horne
23 Huw Jones

Leinster

15 Rob Kearney

14 Jordan Larmour
13 Garry Ringrose
12 Robbie Henshaw
11 James Lowe

10 Johnny Sexton (Captain)
9 Luke McGrath

1 Cian Healy
2 Sean Cronin
3 Tadhg Furlong
4 Scott Fardy
5 James Ryan
6 Rhys Ruddock
7 Josh van der Flier
8 Jack Conan

Subtitutes

16 Bryan Byrne
17 Ed Byrne
18 Andrew Porter
19 Ross Molony
20 Max Deegan
21 Nick McCarthy
22 Ross Byrne
23 Rory O'Loughlin

Head-To-Head

15 ADV Glasgow Warriors

14 ADV Glasgow Warriors
13 ADV Leinster
12 ADV Glasgow Warriors
11 ADV Leinster

10 ADV Leinster
9 ADV Glasgow Warriors

1 ADV Leinster
2 ADV Glasgow Warriors
3 ADV Leinster
4 ADV Leinster
5 ADV Leinster
6 ADV Leinster
7 EVEN
8 ADV Glasgow Warriors

Substitutes

16 ADV Leinster
17 ADV Glasgow Warriors
18 ADV Leinster
19 ADV Glasgow Warriors
20 ADV Leinster
21 ADV Glasgow Warriors
22 EVEN
23 ADV Glasgow Warriors

Tale of the Tape:

BACKS

Tries
Glasgow Warriors 154
Leinster 150

Appearances
Glasgow Warriors 532
Leinster 647

Average age
Glasgow Warriors 27.3
Leinster 27.5

Capped players
Glasgow Warriors 6
Leinster 6

FORWARDS

Pack weight
Glasgow Warriors 904kg
Leinster 887kg

Appearances
Glasgow Warriors 666
Leinster 874

Average age
Glasgow Warriors 25.9
Leinster 27.6

Capped players
Glasgow Warriors 6
Leinster 8

SUBSTITUTES

Tries
Glasgow Warriors 52
Leinster 64

Appearances
Glasgow Warriors 460
Leinster 429

Average age
Glasgow Warriors 26.9
Leinster 24.5

Capped players
Glasgow Warriors 5
Leinster 3

Changes from the semi-finals
Devin Toner misses out through injury for Leinster and his replacement Scott Fardy is one of just three changes to the starting XVs - all of them for the visitors. Johnny Sexton and Rob Kearney return for the defending champions in the 10 and 15 shirts respectively. Ross Byrne and Dave Kearney are the players to miss out.

Dave Rennie has been very consistent in his selections over the past 2 months so the unchanged XV this time round is unsurprising. This will be the fifth game on the bounce for 10 of his starters (it would have been 11 but for Jonny Gray 'going at both ends' and being a late withdrawal from the Edinburgh game).

Glasgow Greetings:
15 of the Warriors' 23 have never experienced a Grand Final before. Of the 8 men that have previously been in this position Tommy Seymour, Jonny Gray and Robert Harley will be the only ones to start all three of Glasgow's finals.

Matt Fagerson will be the second youngest player to feature in a championship match for the Warriors. The top 5 are:

Jonny Gray - 20 yrs & 78 days (2013/14)
Matt Fagerson - 20 yrs & 313 days (2018/19)
Jonny Gray - 21 yrs & 77 days (2014/15)
Finn Russell - 21 yrs & 250 days (2013/14)
Scott Cummings - 22 yrs & 173 days (2018/19) *
* Scott will be overtaken by Tom Gordon (22 yrs & 115 days) if/when the flanker makes it off the bench.

Matchday Milestones:
Zander Fagerson will make his 50th start for the Warriors. Still just a baby in propping terms the big man just keeps on getting better.

In the last 15 years the only players to manage 28 games in a season for Glasgow are Robert Harley (2013/14) and Nikola Matawalu (2014/15). Rob will bring up that tally for a second time when he turns out on Saturday having only missed 2 of Glasgow's 30 matches in the current campaign. In fact it's more than 6 months since the club last played a fixture without Big Bad Bob, when he was rested for the home game against Scarlets. He'll be making his 13th consecutive start - the most by any Warrior this season.

Among the backs Kyle Steyn will start for the 10th time in a row. No other Glasgow back has managed more than 6 matches on the spin during 2018/19. The former Griquas player has had an astonishing opening to his time at the Warriors after initially being brought in to provide cover during the Six Nations window. Indispensable since his debut, the man who is still contracted to Scotland 7s has yet to lose a PRO14 game in his Glasgow career.

Warrior to Watch:
This has already been big season for Scott Cummings and if he can perform to the level he's shown in the last couple of months it could get even bigger. After a slow start to the campaign due to injury he grabbed his chance and has only missed a single game since the turn of the year, becoming one of the first names on Dave Rennie's teamsheets.

Scott is an all-round operator in the second row. His lineout work has always been exemplary but it's the increased intensity and focus in his tackling and carrying that has really caught the eye in recent matches. Picking great lines to get the Warriors on the front foot and stopping the opposition in their tracks when they have possession is pretty much everything you could want from a young lock at this stage of his career.

Glasgow v Leinster - recent history:

Most recent meetings in Glasgow:

06/09/14: Glasgow 22 - 20 Leinster (PRO12)
18/03/16: Glasgow 12 - 6 Leinster (PRO12)
10/09/16: Glasgow 33 - 25 Leinster (PRO12)
21/10/17: Glasgow 18 - 34 Leinster (Champions Cup)
03/11/17: Glasgow 31 -21 Leinster (PRO14)

Most recent match-up:

Officials:
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU, 180th competition game)
AR1: John Lacey (IRFU)
AR2: Mike Adamson (SRU)
TMO: Ian Davies (WRU)

Mr Owens' regular season record for 2018/19 in the PRO14:

Matches - 12 (all refs - 147)
Average penalty count - 13.8 per game (all refs - 18.4)
Home penalty percentage - 57% (all refs - 52%)
Average card count - 0.4 per game (all refs - 0.9)
Penalties per card - 33 (all refs - 19)

Of the 22 men and women who refereed in the PRO14 this season none awarded fewer penalties or cards per game than Nigel Owens. The Welsh whistler's modus operandi has always been clear - to keep the action flowing with the intention of leaving it up to the players, as much as possible, to influence what type of match it will be. Combined with the positive intent of both these sides this could well make for a cracking final. With so much leeway on offer though there are still opportunities for skullduggery, particularly with a laissez faire attitude at the breakdown.

As things stand this looks like it will be the last time that Mr Owens takes charge of a Warriors' match. It's almost 19 years since he had to abandon at half-time due to torrential rain the very first Glasgow game he officiated. Since then Mynyddcerrig's finest has risen to the very top of rugby refereeing and has taken charge of every showpiece match the game has to offer. If this is his last appearance in a Warriors' fixture then thanks for the memories Nigel and for persisting with what can often be a pretty thankless job!

* Other coverage:

Match re-run on FreeSports:

Monday 27th May at 11.00pm
Tuesday 28th May at 12.00pm

Previous Matches with Leinster
Sunday October 22 2023
Glasgow Warriors 43 25 Leinster Match Report
Saturday November 26 2022
Leinster 40 5 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday June 4 2022
Leinster 76 14 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday October 22 2021
Glasgow Warriors 15 31 Leinster Match Report
Friday June 4 2021
Glasgow Warriors 15 12 Leinster Match Report
Sunday February 28 2021
Leinster 40 21 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Monday November 2 2020
Glasgow Warriors 19 32 Leinster Match Report
Friday February 28 2020
Leinster 55 19 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday November 30 2019
Glasgow Warriors 10 23 Leinster Match Report
Saturday May 25 2019
Leinster 18 15 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday April 13 2019
Leinster 24 39 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Sunday January 14 2018
Leinster 55 19 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday November 3 2017
Glasgow Warriors 31 21 Leinster Match Report
Saturday October 21 2017
Glasgow Warriors 18 34 Leinster Match Report
Friday April 28 2017
Leinster 31 30 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday September 10 2016
Glasgow Warriors 33 25 Leinster Match Report
Friday March 18 2016
Glasgow Warriors 12 6 Leinster Match Report
Saturday December 5 2015
Glasgow Warriors P P Leinster Match Report
Friday October 23 2015
Leinster 23 18 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday March 27 2015
Leinster 34 34 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday September 6 2014
Glasgow Warriors 22 20 Leinster Match Report
Saturday May 31 2014
Leinster 34 12 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday March 1 2014
Leinster 28 25 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday September 20 2013
Glasgow Warriors 12 6 Leinster Match Report
Saturday May 11 2013
Leinster 17 15 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday March 23 2013
Leinster 22 17 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday November 23 2012
Glasgow Warriors 0 6 Leinster Match Report
Saturday May 12 2012
Leinster 19 15 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday February 25 2012
Glasgow Warriors 10 10 Leinster Match Report
Sunday January 15 2012
Glasgow Warriors 16 23 Leinster Rugby Match Report
Sunday November 20 2011
Leinster Rugby 38 13 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday September 17 2011
Leinster 19 23 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday May 6 2011
Leinster 38 3 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday September 3 2010
Glasgow Warriors 22 19 Leinster Match Report
Friday April 23 2010
Glasgow Warriors 30 6 Leinster Match Report
Thursday March 18 2010
Leinster 20 14 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday January 8 2010
Leinster P P Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday April 25 2009
Leinster 36 13 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday October 24 2008
Glasgow Warriors 15 12 Leinster Match Report
Friday March 21 2008
Leinster 34 18 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday October 12 2007
Glasgow Warriors 21 17 Leinster Match Report
Friday April 6 2007
Glasgow Warriors 26 20 Leinster Match Report
Friday November 10 2006
Leinster 38 23 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Sunday May 7 2006
Glasgow Warriors 18 21 Leinster Match Report
Saturday January 14 2006
Leinster 46 22 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Sunday October 30 2005
Glasgow Warriors 20 33 Leinster Match Report
Saturday September 10 2005
Leinster 26 21 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday April 29 2005
Leinster 33 24 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Saturday April 16 2005
Glasgow Warriors 23 30 Leinster Match Report
Friday November 26 2004
Leinster 22 16 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday April 2 2004
Leinster 31 30 Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday October 31 2003
Glasgow Warriors 10 31 Leinster Match Report