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 7.35 at Scotstoun Stadium
Friday 3rd March 2023
Live on Viaplay Sports 1
- Just 91 days have passed since Glasgow played their away fixture against Zebre.
- Despite that short passage of time, the teams are barely recognisable from the last time out. There are 5 returning starters for the Warriors and 6 for Zebre. All in all, there are 22 changes across the combined matchday squads.
- With just 4 rounds remaining and designs on a top 4 slot and home playoff quarter-final, Glasgow know that this game is a must-win.
- OTOTM has had a go at predicting the remaining results in the URC - and the Warriors just made it into 4th place! If you fancy having a crack at this yourself, a spreadsheet to enter the results and build a final league table can be found here
- Try-happy hooker, Johnny Matthews, is the Warrior to Watch.
Teams
GLASGOW WARRIORS
15 O. SMITH (26)
14 C. Forbes (33)
13 S. McDowall (CAPTAIN) (50)
12 S. JOHNSON (100)
11 J. McKay (26)
10 T. Jordan (16)
9 G. HORNE (91)
1 A. DELL (1)
2 J. Matthews (41)
3 S. BERGHAN (26)
4 L. Bean (32)
5 J.P. Du Preez (16)
6 S. CUMMINGS (97)
7 R. DARGE (23)
8 S. VAILANU (12)
SUBSTITUTES
16 F. BROWN (135)
17 J. BHATTI (82)
18 O. KEBBLE (84)
19 A. Samuel (5)
20 G. Brown (11)
21 T. Gordon (62)
22 J. DOBIE (45)
23 D. WEIR (133)
ZEBRE PARMA
15 R. Kriel (8)
14 J. TRULLA (36)
13 T. BONI (116)
12 E. LUCCHIN (CAPTAIN) (51)
11 S. Gesi (16)
10 T. Eden (14)
9 C. Cook (15)
1 P. Buonfiglio (34)
2 G. Ribaldi (16)
3 M. Nocera (34)
4 L. Krumov (84)
5 A. ZAMBONIN (31)
6 L. Andreani (26)
7 M. KVESIC (10)
8 D. Ruggeri (8)
SUBSTITUTES
16 M. Manfredi (38)
17 L. Rizzoli (10)
18 I. NECULAI (27)
19 J. Uys (10)
20 G. LICATA (53)
21 R. Jelic (9)
22 G. PRISCIANTELLI (12)
23 D. Mazza (4)
(players in CAPITALS are full capped internationals, numbers in brackets are previous appearances for Glasgow / Zebre)
Head to Head:
Back 3 - ADV Glasgow Warriors
Centres - EVEN
Half Backs - ADV Glasgow Warriors
Front Row - ADV Glasgow Warriors
Second Row - ADV Zebre
Back Row - ADV Glasgow Warriors
Subs - ADV Glasgow Warriors
Glasgow Greetings:
Allan Dell makes his home debut and first start after an injury-plagued beginning to his Warriors' career.
In the 11 months since Glasgow last hosted Zebre - on 1st April 2022 - Rory Darge has only seen 13 minutes of game time at Scotstoun. The home fans will be delighted to have him back. The returning Oli Kebble and Gregor Brown (4 months since their last action at Scotstoun) will be similarly welcome as the season moves towards its climax.
Warrior to Watch:
The last time these two sides met, Johnny Matthews nabbed the first ever hat-trick by a hooker in the pro era for Glasgow. In a game that saw the Warriors' maul dominate, Johnny actually wasn't far away from another adding another couple of scores to his treble. Even in a position that has gone try crazy in recent years, his stats stand out from his peers at Glasgow:
George Turner - 1 try for every 6.8 appearances
Fraser Brown - 1 try for every 6.1 appearances
Johnny Matthews - 1 try for every 3.0 appearances
Johnny has developed his work at the breakdown and has already come up with some huge turnovers this season. He is particularly adept at working in the red zone with the defence under pressure. Steals in these positions to deny a scoring opportunity are almost as good as a try scored, so the Warriors' relevant Liverpudlian is certainly making a positive contribution to keeping the scoreboard in the club's favour.
Glasgow at home to Zebre in the PRO12/PRO14/URC era:
- 9 wins
- 8 Try BPs
- 44 points out of a possible 45 (98%)
Previous match-up v Zebre at Scotstoun:
Officials:
Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU, 29th league game)
AR1: Jonny Perriam (SRU)
AR2: Sam O'Neill (SRU)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)
Mr Busby's regular season record for 2022/23:
Matches - 11
Average penalty count - 23.6 per game
Home side penalties conceded percentage - 43.4%
Average card count - 1.1 per game
Penalties per card - 21.7
This will be the third time this season that Mr Busby has taken charge of a Warriors game - the home win v Cardiff and away loss to the Sharks were the other encounters. The Irish whistler has one of the lowest rates in the league for the proportion of penalties awarded against home sides. On a more negative note, he has dished out 3 red cards in his last 2 matches...
Additional ref stats from:
https://www.cardiffrfcfans.com/analysis/referee_heads.php?countryID=3