Glasgow Warriors | Glasgow team for second leg of 1872 Cup
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December 29, 2023

Glasgow team for second leg of 1872 Cup

Posted by Editor on December 29, 2023 11:49 AM | No comments | Print | E-mail author

Tom Jordan starts at stand-off
Franco Smith has named his Glasgow team to take on Edinburgh at Murrayfield on Saturday (ko 3.00pm).

There are three alterations from last weekend's win Glasgow defending a 12-point advantage in the aggregate score of the double-header, having earned a 22-10 win at Scotstoun.

Johnny Matthews is the only change to the front-row that faced off against the men from the capital last weekend, the top try-scorer in the URC packing down between Scotland colleagues Jamie Bhatti and Zander Fagerson.

The second-row is unchanged, meaning that Scott Cummings and Richie Gray continue their partnership in the engine room at the home of Scottish rugby.

Tom Gordon comes into the back-row to replace the injured Sione Vailanu, with Ally Miller - try-scorer in both of the club's last two fixtures - shifting to number eight in a trio completed by Rory Darge at openside.

George Horne continues at scrum-half after a composed display last weekend, whilst Tom Jordan is the only alteration to the back-line as he comes into the starting lineup at fly-half.

Stafford McDowall lines up alongside Sione Tuipulotu in the midfield, the latter once again leading out the Warriors against their opponents from the east.

Josh McKay continues at full-back after a Player of the Match-winning performance at Scotstoun last Friday, the flyer joined by Huw Jones and Kyle Rowe - scorer of the opening try last time out - in an unchanged back-three.

The replacements see George Turner and Ross Thompson both rotate to the bench after starting last time out, the latter having made his first league start in over a year under the Scotstoun floodlights.

Nathan McBeth and Oli Kebble join Turner as the front-row cover, whilst Greg Peterson is set to make his final appearance for the club before departing for San Diego Legion in the New Year.

Max Williamson and Henco Venter retain their places amongst the replacements in a six-two split of forwards and backs, with Ben Afshar joining Thompson as the cover for the back division.

Speaking following selection, Head Coach Smith told glasgowwarriors.org: "We are expecting another tough encounter tomorrow afternoon - while it is a big privilege for our players to play at Murrayfield, we expect Edinburgh to come out hard as they look to rectify their missed opportunities at Scotstoun last weekend as we know they still believe they can win this tie.

"We have prepared well for this challenge and will look to be the best version of ourselves tomorrow, as we keep working hard to make each other better.

"We know that we will have a strong travelling support inside Murrayfield tomorrow and we want to put on a performance to finish the calendar year on a high."

Glasgow Warriors

15 Josh McKay

14 Huw Jones
13 Sione Tuipulotu (Captain)
12 Stafford McDowall
11 Kyle Rowe

10 Tom Jordan
9 George Horne

1 Jamie Bhatti
2 Johnny Matthews
3 Zander Fagerson
4 Scott Cummings
5 Richie Gray
6 Tom Gordon
7 Rory Darge
8 Ally Miller

Substitutes

16 George Turner
17 Nathan McBeth
18 Oli Kebble
19 Greg Peterson
20 Max Williamson
21 Henco Venter
22 Ben Afshar
23 Ross Thompson

Unavailable for selection: Fraser Brown (knee), Gregor Brown (knee), Sebastian Cancelliere (neck), Jack Dempsey (face), Jamie Dobie (ankle), Matt Fagerson (face), Sintu Manjezi (foot), Enrique Pieretto (knee), JP du Preez (knee), Ollie Smith (knee), Lucio Sordoni (shoulder), Kyle Steyn (ankle), Sione Vailanu (knee), Murphy Walker (knee)