You can read more of Disco's thoughts on Glasgow's URC and European campaigns, Scotland's international fortunes, and much, much more at his excellent blog On Top of the Moon.
KO 8.00 at Scotstoun Stadium
Friday 20th January 2023
Live on Viaplay Sports 1
- This is Glasgow's first European fixture at Scotstoun since 22nd January 2022 and just the 3rd on their home ground in the last 3 years.
- The Warriors are looking for their first home win against an English side in the Challenge Cup pool stages*.
-However, since moving there permanently in 2012, Glasgow have only lost 2 of their 10 Champions Cup matches at Scotstoun versus teams from the Premiership (won 7, drawn 1).
- After going head to head with Pierre Schoeman at scrum time in two games against Edinburgh at the end of December, Lucio Sordoni now gets the chance to take on The Greatest Schoeman's older brother Juan.
- Nearly ever present this season for Glasgow, Jamie Bhatti, is the Warrior to Watch.
Teams
15 J. McKay
14 S. CANCELLIERE
13 S. TUIPULOTU
12 H. JONES
11 K. STEYN (Captain)
10 T. Jordan
9 A. PRICE
1 J. BHATTI
2 J. Matthews
3 L. SORDONI
4 A. Samuel
5 R. GRAY
6 E. Ferrie
7 S. VAILANU
8 M. FAGERSON
SUBSTITUTES
16 G. TURNER
17 N. McBeth
18 S. BERGHAN
19 J.P. du Preez
20 L. Bean
21 T. Gordon
22 G. HORNE
23 D. WEIR
15 O. Bailey
14 M. Ojomoh
13 O. LAWRENCE
12 C. REDPATH
11 J. COKANASIGA
10 P. FRANCIS
9 L. SCHREUDER
1 J. Schoeman
2 T. DUNN
3 J. Jonker
4 W. Spencer
5 F. Lee-Warner
6 T. HILL
7 C. Cloete
8 M. Reid
SUBSTITUTES
16 N. Annett
17 V. MOROZOV
18 D. RAE
19 T. Ellis
20 R. de Carpentier
21 B. SPENCER
22 M. Gallagher
23 J. JOSEPH
(Players in BLOCK CAPITALS are full internationals)
Head to Head:
Back 3 - ADV Glasgow Warriors
Centres - EVEN
Half Backs - EVEN
Front Row - ADV Glasgow Warriors
Second Row - EVEN
Back Row - ADV Glasgow Warriors
Subs - ADV Bath
Glasgow Greetings:
It's welcome back to Scotstoun for Tom Gordon, who hasn't featured in a home fixture for 105 days. Alex Samuel will make his first European start for the Warriors.
Once A Warrior:
It's also welcome back to Scotstoun for Warrior number 241, D'arcy Rae. The big prop's last game in Glasgow was the 15-12 win over Leinster in the Rainbow Cup back in June 2021. Hopefully he won't be leaving with such positive memories this time round!
Matchday Milestones:
Richie Gray plays for the 50th time in European competition (8 in the Challenge Cup and 42 in the Champions Cup). Exactly half of these games have been for Glasgow, with the rest for Toulouse, Castres and Sale.
Warriors' defence supremo, Peter Murchie, brings up 50 matches as part of the club's coaching team. Pete was already a centurion as a player, so his aggregate tally now stands at 166 games.
Warrior to Watch:
A dominant performance by Glasgow away to Perpignan last week allowed Jamie Bhatti to remain an unused sub - a well-deserved rest for a player who has started more games (11) this season than any other forward bar Richie Gray (also 11).
Since returning to the club at the start of 201/22, Bhatti has been selected for 33 of the 34 matches that he has been available for. The former Stirling County man has been a rock at scrum time and a bustling presence around the park. Huw Jones' try against the Stormers took 12 phases to build and JB contributed a carry and 4 rucks hit. His total of 5 actions in that passage of play was the equal most in the pack.
Loosehead is a relative area of strength for Scotland and Jamie's resurgence has maybe flown under the radar a wee bit due to the quality of the players he is competing against. His current form is right up with the best in his career and, even if he can't crack the Scotland lineup, he will continue to be a vital part of Glasgow's rebuild as they strive to become title contenders once more.
Past meetings in Glasgow:
16/12/05 Report
Glasgow 10
T: Kevin Tkachuk
C: Dan Parks
P: Dan Parks
Bath 29
T: Nick Walshe, Danny Grewcock, Tom Cheeseman, Michael Stephenson
C: Olly Barkley (3)
P: Olly Barkley
14/12/08 Report
Glasgow 19
T: Colin Gregor
C: Dan Parks
P: Dan Parks (3), Ruaridh Jackson
Bath 25
T: Matt Banahan (2), Shaun Beirne, Joe Maddock
C: Butch James
P: Butch James
13/11/11 Report
Glasgow 26
T: Stuart Hogg, Richie Gray
C: Duncan Weir (2)
P: Duncan Weir (4)
Bath 21
T: none
C: none
P: Tom Heathcote (6), Stephen Donald
25/01/15 Report
Glasgow 37
T: Mark Bennett (2), Sean Maitland, Tommy Seymour, Niko Matawalu
C: Duncan Weir (3)
P: Duncan Weir (2)
Bath 10
T: Jonathan Joseph
C: George Ford
P: George Ford
Duncan Weir, Tom Ellis and Jonathan Joseph are the only returning players from that last encounter in Glasgow.
Previous meeting in Glasgow:
You can view highlights from the last meeting here
Officials:
Referee: Luc Ramos (France)
AR1: Evan Urruzmendi (France)
AR2: Christian Coussan (France)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)
M. Ramos' record for 2022/23:
Matches - 10
Average penalty count - 22.5 per game
Home side penalties conceded percentage - 45.3%
Average card count - 0.8 per game
Penalties per card - 28.1
Another new face for Glasgow as M. Ramos takes charge of a Warriors' game for the first time. The French official has a remarkably low card count - especially considering the majority of his games are in the Top 14 which has had the highest rate of sin binnings over recent seasons.
With a point required for a home Round of 16 tie but more likely a BP win needed to have any slight chance of extending that into a possible home quarter final, Glasgow need to keep the head and not test the ref's patience as they did last week versus Perpignan.
Additional ref stats from:
https://www.cardiffrfcfans.com/analysis/referee_heads.php?countryID=5
* To be fair, this is from a very small sample! Glasgow's previous history at the pool stage of the tournament is just a loss to Sale in 1996 and a draw versus Saracens in 2007 (both at Hughenden).