Benetton Treviso v Glasgow Warriors, 2 April

                   
Benetton Treviso v Glasgow Warriors
At Stadio Monigo
5.30pm local time (4.30pm UK & Ireland)

Live on Rai Sport & BBC Alba

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU, 133rd competition game)
Assistant Referees: Claudio Blessano, Gregorio Piran (both FIR)
Citing Commissioner: Stefano Marrama (FIR)
TMO: Stefano Penne (FIR)

A. Head to Head

11 Played 11
2 Wins 9
9 Losses 2
0 Draws 0
143 Points 269

B. Form

27/11/15: Glasgow Warriors 13 - 6 Benetton Treviso

31/10/14: Glasgow Warriors 17 - 9 Benetton Treviso

05/10/14: Benetton Treviso 23 - 40 Glasgow Warriors

C. Teams

Benetton Treviso 

[tbc]

Glasgow Warriors

15. Stuart Hogg
14. Taqele Naiyaravoro
13. Mark Bennett
12. Peter Horne
11. Sean Lamont
10. Finn Russell
9. Henry Pyrgos

1. Gordon Reid
2. Fraser Brown
3. Sila Puafisi
4. Tim Swinson
5. Jonny Gray
6. Josh Strauss
7. Simone Favaro
8. Adam Ashe

16. James Malcolm
17. Jerry Yanuyanutawa
18. D'arcy Rae
19. Leone Nakarawa
20. Tyrone Holmes
21. Grayson Hart
22. Glenn Bryce
23. Lee Jones

Nice Nige on the whistle Thought we only got the Irish triumverate of idiocy - Clancy, Conway and Lacey ?

Always nice to have Nige. He's the best ref in the Northern Hemisphere, if not the world.

Treviso were tough to beat at Scotstoun earlier this season but now Glasgow have their full squad. Expecting Glasgow to come away from Italy with 10 points (Zebre next week).

Nige's reffing will help Glasgow, who will want a free flowing open game to get 5 points in the league and rack up some favourable points difference.

They (Treviso) were pretty stuffy to wear down in October (13 -9) but they were leading after 40. I am genuinely glad Nige is officiating as he and Ben (?) Whitehouse are the only 2 refs in the Pro 12 who are anything like competent or above it in NN's case. Huge squad of 35 going out. All the big names too plus our new props Frith and Justice - trips off the tongue that one tbh A few young guys going too so presume for the experience rather than actual game time.

Glasgow have found a bit of oomph and are on the up. I have no doubt Treviso will turn up and make things difficult as there's a good team in there somewhere, but on paper this should be a five pointer for the soon to be two time champs.

Think its 5 points and hope for no injuries for Glasgow.

6 day turn around to the Zebre game, guessing thats why its such a big squad, I think that the plan will be to use one XV for Treviso and a lot of changes 6 days later v Zebre.

W's squad here :-
Backs

Mark Bennett, Glenn Bryce, Alex Dunbar, Grayson Hart, Stuart Hogg, Peter Horne, Lee Jones, Sean Lamont, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Ali Price, Henry Pyrgos, Finn Russell, Tommy Seymour and Duncan Weir

Forwards

Adam Ashe, Fraser Brown, Zander Fagerson, Simone Favaro, Jarrod Firth, Jonny Gray, Robert Harley, Tyrone Holmes, Pat MacArthur, James Malcolm, Shalva Mamukashvili, Leone Nakarawa, Greg Peterson, Sila Puafisi, D'arcy Rae, Gordon Reid, Djustice Sears-Duru, Josh Strauss, Tim Swinson, Ryan Wilson and Jerry Yanuyanutawa

With that squad, I expect to see pretty much two different XV's each week, with a different core of experienced players for both games.

If I was a betting man, and willing to put Bru's knackers on the chopping block, I think Glasgow will retain their crown this year. Much work to do in order to get to the play-offs, but in a WC season where the quality has been generally quite poor, I think Glasgow are coming onto their game at just the right time.

I doubt Glasgow will retain their crown - it would need a virtually flawless performance from now on - one slip up and its all over and I don't see them being flawless.

TJ wrote:I doubt Glasgow will retain their crown - it would need a virtually flawless performance from now on - one slip up and its all over and I don't see them being flawless.

Undoubtedly tough, TJ. However, they don’t have to be flawless in every game. If they pick up BP wins against the Italian teams, then they can lose to Scarlets or Connacht and still do enough to qualify.

I look around the Pro 12 and out with Connacht, who have had a great season, I don't see a standout team; like the Leinster or Munster teams of old. If Glasgow get in amongst the playoff places, I don't see why they can't win: They have the majority of their key players fit, they have the whole squad together for virtually the first time this season, they have a relatively favorable run-in with Zebre home and away and, crucially, they have a scrum which seems to be holding it's own at Pro 12 level after some very poor displays at the start of the season.

An outside bet, but not a wild one.

Hope you're right EST

EST wrote:

TJ wrote:I doubt Glasgow will retain their crown - it would need a virtually flawless performance from now on - one slip up and its all over and I don't see them being flawless.

Undoubtedly tough, TJ.  However, they don’t have to be flawless in every game.  If they pick up BP wins against the Italian teams, then they can lose to Scarlets or Connacht and still do enough to qualify.

I look around the Pro 12 and out with Connacht, who have had a great season, I don't see a standout team; like the Leinster or Munster teams of old.  If Glasgow get in amongst the playoff places, I don't see why they can't win: They have the majority of their key players fit, they have the whole squad together for virtually the first time this season, they have a relatively favorable run-in with Zebre home and away and, crucially, they have a scrum which seems to be holding it's own at Pro 12 level after some very poor displays at the start of the season.

An outside bet, but not a wild one.

For me Leinster are favorite for the title, they gave Connacht a hell of a fright last week while still missing a lot of players. We all know they are Glasgow bogey side come knock out rugby, they will no doubt be the team to beat, imo. I expect Connacht to take a step back as their squad gets more and more stretched and they have still the Challenge Cup. Scarlets can click any time, but are not consistent enough, i would say.

VinceWLB wrote:

EST wrote:

TJ wrote:I doubt Glasgow will retain their crown - it would need a virtually flawless performance from now on - one slip up and its all over and I don't see them being flawless.

Undoubtedly tough, TJ.  However, they don’t have to be flawless in every game.  If they pick up BP wins against the Italian teams, then they can lose to Scarlets or Connacht and still do enough to qualify.

I look around the Pro 12 and out with Connacht, who have had a great season, I don't see a standout team; like the Leinster or Munster teams of old.  If Glasgow get in amongst the playoff places, I don't see why they can't win: They have the majority of their key players fit, they have the whole squad together for virtually the first time this season, they have a relatively favorable run-in with Zebre home and away and, crucially, they have a scrum which seems to be holding it's own at Pro 12 level after some very poor displays at the start of the season.

An outside bet, but not a wild one.

For me Leinster are favorite for the title, they gave Connacht a hell of a fright last week while still missing a lot of players. We all know they are Glasgow bogey side come knock out rugby, they will no doubt be the team to beat, imo. I expect Connacht to take a step back as their squad gets more and more stretched and they have still the Challenge Cup. Scarlets can click any time, but are not consistent enough, i would say.

Leinster I would concede are probably favourites, especially as they get key players back in the pack. Still, no reason for GW to fear them. It will be intersting to see if Connacht can carry on this run of form, I have a feeling they might just tail off a bit as other teams get the big guns back.

It's exceptionally difficult to tell how the season will end for us - after the ignominious start I am just delighted that it's still in our hands whether or not we make the playoffs.

I think it's a fair comment that this was always going to be a massively sporadic season with the RWC and 6 Nations disrupting the team enormously. I don't see how the usual rules apply. It is clear that despite only 2 wins, the Scotland team left the 6 Nations with the wind behind them and if we can maintain that momentum to the end of the season, we genuinely will be in with a shout and none of the other top 4 will be confident of beating us in a semi-final.

The issue that I have is that Leinster and Connacht have had far more settled squads than ours and have got into a habit of winning this season. It's that winning mindset that Glasgow needs to re-discover and fast. They stand every chance of doing it with the first choice XXIII remaining healthy. They just need to focus and remember what got them to the same stage last season. That Ulster game was the first team this season when they looked like champions.

Glasgow need not fear any team in the sense that they have won at the Sportsground, the RDS and Parky Scarletys in recent years. However, home advantage can never, ever be underestimated.

I think that we have it in us to either finish third but lose to Leinster in Dublin or finish fourth, put away Connacht in Galway but then fall on our arse in Dublin in the final.

George Carlin wrote:
I think that we have it in us to either finish third but lose to Leinster in Dublin or finish fourth, put away Connacht in Galway but then fall on our arse in Dublin in the final.

The final is in Murrayfield so more of a home game for Glasgow.

Glasgow I favour to make the playoffs hugely and all they need is 4 wins from 5 whilst being favourites for all of them (hugely in 3). No one else has such an easy run in. Really the question is, whom between the Scarlets, Munster and Ulster is the last team in (knock on wood)?

Hazel Sapling wrote:

George Carlin wrote:
I think that we have it in us to either finish third but lose to Leinster in Dublin or finish fourth, put away Connacht in Galway but then fall on our arse in Dublin in the final.

The final is in Murrayfield so more of a home game for Glasgow.

Glasgow I favour to make the playoffs hugely and all they need is 4 wins from 5 whilst being favourites for all of them (hugely in 3). No one else has such an easy run in. Really the question is, whom between the Scarlets, Munster and Ulster is the last team in (knock on wood)?

Glasgow have a poor record at Murrayfield though.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Hazel Sapling wrote:

George Carlin wrote:
I think that we have it in us to either finish third but lose to Leinster in Dublin or finish fourth, put away Connacht in Galway but then fall on our arse in Dublin in the final.

The final is in Murrayfield so more of a home game for Glasgow.

Glasgow I favour to make the playoffs hugely and all they need is 4 wins from 5 whilst being favourites for all of them (hugely in 3). No one else has such an easy run in. Really the question is, whom between the Scarlets, Munster and Ulster is the last team in (knock on wood)?

Glasgow have a poor record at Murrayfield though.

Thank god we'll only be playing those losers Leinster and not against the mighty Mike Coman and Sam Beard.

Hazel Sapling wrote:

George Carlin wrote:
I think that we have it in us to either finish third but lose to Leinster in Dublin or finish fourth, put away Connacht in Galway but then fall on our arse in Dublin in the final.

The final is in Murrayfield so more of a home game for Glasgow.

Glasgow I favour to make the playoffs hugely and all they need is 4 wins from 5 whilst being favourites for all of them (hugely in 3). No one else has such an easy run in. Really the question is, whom between the Scarlets, Munster and Ulster is the last team in (knock on wood)?

Splutter FFS !!!!!! What have you heard ?

Getting a bit ahead of ourselves guys. Some massive hurdles to cross before we can think about finals. We have got to get out of Italy with at least two wins then there is the small matter of getting a win in Wales or Ireland , and the way Scarlets and Connacht have been playing that'll be a huge task. With luck we will get to the play offs and I remember, oh so well, how narrowly we squeaked past Ulster even with home advantage! All this "finals"chat is making me very uncomfortable. The topic is Treviso- lets just stick with that in the meantime.

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Hazel Sapling wrote:

George Carlin wrote:
I think that we have it in us to either finish third but lose to Leinster in Dublin or finish fourth, put away Connacht in Galway but then fall on our arse in Dublin in the final.

The final is in Murrayfield so more of a home game for Glasgow.

Glasgow I favour to make the playoffs hugely and all they need is 4 wins from 5 whilst being favourites for all of them (hugely in 3). No one else has such an easy run in. Really the question is, whom between the Scarlets, Munster and Ulster is the last team in (knock on wood)?

Glasgow have a poor record at Murrayfield though.

Thank god we'll only be playing those losers Leinster and not against the mighty Mike Coman and Sam Beard.

Don't worry. We've got Leinster away after the Zebre game. The leadership of Mike Coman will make them re-think their careers as rugby players. They'll be broken men by the time you play them on our hallowed turf.

Anyway - how's the new life in-house? You've been quiet recently.

I am shocked that the last couple of games have been so close on the scoreboard.

LondonTiger wrote:I am shocked that the last couple of games have been so close on the scoreboard.

The most recent game was played in absolutely appalling weather (even in Glasgow terms!) and Treviso were well up for it. Glasgow were lucky to scrape the win from memory!

Fair enough about focusing on the opponent. The team I would like against Treviso.

1) Reid
2) Brown
3) Fagerson
4) Peterson
5) Gray
6) Harley
7) Favaro
8) Strauss
9) Pyrgos
10) Weir
11) Big T
12) Horne
13) Bennett
14) Jones
15) Bryce

16) MacArthur, 17) Djustice, 18) Rae/Firth, 19) Swinson, 20) Ashe/Wilson, 21) Hart, 22) Dunbar, 23) Lamont

Give Hogg, Seymour, Naka and Russell a break so they don't play 3 weeks (or more) running into the key Scarlets match and they come in next week to get the reps against Zebre (who are okay at home).

I like the idea of having Horne act as a playmaker to support Weir. MacArthur helps the young front rower's coming off the bench when the match should be won. Don't mind having Swinson start instead of Peterson. Need a ball carrier on the bench with Naka not around to help Strauss and Gray so one of Ashe or Wilson. Favaro will be up for this; he gets the nod ahead of Holmes. Pyrgos to start but want Price to bench one of the games. Experimental backline and still talented enough to go and get 4 tries.

It is also random enough to suit Toonie. I feel I covered most bases there!

These games are ideal for a big flat track bully like Big T. I'd use him for both of these games.

fES,
agree Bit T starts and Lee Jones can come off the bench after 60-70.  He, Jones, is in good form right now.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Hazel Sapling wrote:

George Carlin wrote:
I think that we have it in us to either finish third but lose to Leinster in Dublin or finish fourth, put away Connacht in Galway but then fall on our arse in Dublin in the final.

The final is in Murrayfield so more of a home game for Glasgow.

Glasgow I favour to make the playoffs hugely and all they need is 4 wins from 5 whilst being favourites for all of them (hugely in 3). No one else has such an easy run in. Really the question is, whom between the Scarlets, Munster and Ulster is the last team in (knock on wood)?

Glasgow have a poor record at Murrayfield though.

Thank god we'll only be playing those losers Leinster and not against the mighty Mike Coman and Sam Beard.

Don't worry. We've got Leinster away after the Zebre game. The leadership of Mike Coman will make them re-think their careers as rugby players. They'll be broken men by the time you play them on our hallowed turf.

Anyway - how's the new life in-house? You've been quiet recently.

Kind of you to ask. I start my new life as a general counsel on Sunday (our equivalent of 'Monday') and I'll level with you, a bit of peepee came out just there when I wrote that. 

I was supposed to have 6 weeks off between jobs where I would reinvigorate my life, lose a bit of weight, read some of the books I wanted to read and get my technical skills thoroughly up to scratch. 

In reality, just doing the move from Abu Dhabi to Dubai kicked the shyte out of everyone in the family, I probably gained weight with the stress and then my wife got frantically busy at work so as we didn't have a nanny until last week, I spent the past 6 weeks sifting through boxes, doing the school and nursery runs and stopping my 4 year old and 2 year old from killing each other*. I am therefore badly underprepared for the largest move of my professional life. 

Wait. Was that one of those questions where I'm supposed to answer 'fine'? 

*Youngfellers like Bru and GLove should not worry that there is terminology and circumstances here you just won't understand. Yet.

Good to know GC

As a diversion for you here is Simone Favaro's Facebook response to that FIR idiot Gavazzi's comments as reported in the Sunday Times :-


It's been a couple of days by the news that suppose I’d said “Poopie” to the place that is giving me joy and satisfaction in my professional and personal life, and that is teaching me a lot. A culture devoted to work, with wonderful landscapes that until before coming to Glasgow, i saw only through the best pics of Instragram. Here in Glasgow i'm feeling great, climatic exchange and hard weather was diluted by the Scottish humor, and I would recommend to any of my friends an experience like mine. Everything i'm living since when i arrived in Glasgow makes me proud, and i do not regret my past, because was able to take to Scotland a bit of Italian mood, which apparently, fits perfectly with the local lifestyle smile emoticon.
This is my only thought about Scotland and I wanted to share it with you because i'm not used (and above all do not like) let people talk in my place, especially if they distort the facts. I consider myself an honest and transparent person, i always share what I feel with you all, through my Facebook and Twitter profile. I am proud of my Venetian origins and i love so much my country. I am even proud and grateful to Glasgow because it's true that here the sun is rarely seen, but thanks to you i've seen the light after a long period of darkness. Now it’s time to think about the next match against Treviso, in Italy, where i will play against my former team and I will hug my family again after nine month. Obviously I really hope to see you all for the third time, to laugh and joke together as every time.
-Simone-

Look forward to seeing a fully charged up Simone  ( that's pretty frightening for the opposition) cut down the Treviso 10 and 12

Simone Favaro is well on the way to becoming one of the legendary Warriors.

The interaction between him and the fans in the Scout Hut last week was very telling. He was awkward, self conscious about his limited English and desperate to impress upon the faithful that he loves the club, the city and them. The fans were awkward, extremely self-conscious about their limited grasp of English as a tool for communication and desperate to impress upon Simone that the club, the city and the fans all love him.

"Why should we be afraid? We are Glasgow. We are Warriors. We should fear no-one."

Everyone who was in the Scout Hut knows he meant that fibre of his being. If he gets on the field against an Italian side he will want to destroy them single handedly just to prove a point .

As Turnstile Tim was in many ways a mincing embodiment of Luvvieness so Simone is now Rab C Nesbit in a number 7 jersey.

My club insider tells me that the 35 flying out today are to be joined by some others next week . It looks like Rory Hughes could make it after the Gala 7s and Sam Johnson after concussion protocols.

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:My club insider tells me that the 35 flying out today are to be joined by some others next week . It looks like Rory Hughes could make it after the Gala 7s and Sam Johnson after concussion protocols.

Rory Hughes off to play 7s in HK, so I doubt that he will go

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Hazel Sapling wrote:

George Carlin wrote:
I think that we have it in us to either finish third but lose to Leinster in Dublin or finish fourth, put away Connacht in Galway but then fall on our arse in Dublin in the final.

The final is in Murrayfield so more of a home game for Glasgow.

Glasgow I favour to make the playoffs hugely and all they need is 4 wins from 5 whilst being favourites for all of them (hugely in 3). No one else has such an easy run in. Really the question is, whom between the Scarlets, Munster and Ulster is the last team in (knock on wood)?

Glasgow have a poor record at Murrayfield though.

Thank god we'll only be playing those losers Leinster and not against the mighty Mike Coman and Sam Beard.

Don't worry. We've got Leinster away after the Zebre game. The leadership of Mike Coman will make them re-think their careers as rugby players. They'll be broken men by the time you play them on our hallowed turf.

Anyway - how's the new life in-house? You've been quiet recently.

Kind of you to ask. I start my new life as a general counsel on Sunday (our equivalent of 'Monday') and I'll level with you, a bit of peepee came out just there when I wrote that. 

I was supposed to have 6 weeks off between jobs where I would reinvigorate my life, lose a bit of weight, read some of the books I wanted to read and get my technical skills thoroughly up to scratch. 

In reality, just doing the move from Abu Dhabi to Dubai kicked the shyte out of everyone in the family, I probably gained weight with the stress and then my wife got frantically busy at work so as we didn't have a nanny until last week, I spent the past 6 weeks sifting through boxes, doing the school and nursery runs and stopping my 4 year old and 2 year old from killing each other*. I am therefore badly underprepared for the largest move of my professional life. 

Wait. Was that one of those questions where I'm supposed to answer 'fine'? 

*Youngfellers like Bru and GLove should not worry that there is terminology and circumstances here you just won't understand. Yet.

Well best of luck on Sunday! I took the same step two years ago and have never looked back. There are some wonderful benefits:

- no timesheets
- being able to attend conferences and law firm entertainment without having to suck up to people (or indeed speak to anyone at all)
- the fact that no-one in the building knows as much as you do about what it is you do, and people internally seem to have a genuine respect/fear of lawyers
- unleashing unrealistic deadlines on your former colleagues, making them work late on Friday and then leaving them with your out of office whilst you merrily head home for the weekend
- (in my case) not having a Blackberry. When I leave the office and head down Queen Street on my way home, that it is. No more work until I'm back in the office. No evening calls, weekend calls, reacting to the little red light flashing away day and night. Bliss.

Enjoy, and best of luck.

Blimmey, Toonie has not held back on selection at all for this game. That is a very strong looking side that really aught to do some serious damage to the Italians. He has clearly realised that five points are needed from all of these games and that all of his first line players need to spend a bit more time playing with each other again.

i like what I see!

15. Stuart Hogg
14. Taqele Naiyaravoro
13. Mark Bennett
12. Peter Horne
11. Sean Lamont
10. Finn Russell
9. Henry Pyrgos

1. Gordon Reid
2. Fraser Brown
3. Sila Puafisi
4. Tim Swinson
5. Jonny Gray
6. Josh Strauss
7. Simone Favaro
8. Adam Ashe

Replacements

16. James Malcolm
17. Jerry Yanuyanutawa
18. D'arcy Rae
19. Leone Nakarawa
20. Tyrone Holmes
21. Grayson Hart
22. Glenn Bryce
23. Lee Jones

Not available due to injury: Alex Allan (concussion), Mike Blair (concussion), Kevin Bryce (shoulder), Rory Clegg (quad), James Eddie (shoulder), Chris Fusaro (concussion), Ryan Grant (arm), Pat MacArthur (glut / hamstring), Peter Murchie (concussion), Fergus Scott (shoulder), Richie Vernon (shoulder) and Ryan Wilson (ankle).

Yep - that's a pretty brutal XV from Toonie. I like that back row as well.

Can't see past a Glasgow 5 pointer here.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Hazel Sapling wrote:

George Carlin wrote:
I think that we have it in us to either finish third but lose to Leinster in Dublin or finish fourth, put away Connacht in Galway but then fall on our arse in Dublin in the final.

The final is in Murrayfield so more of a home game for Glasgow.

Glasgow I favour to make the playoffs hugely and all they need is 4 wins from 5 whilst being favourites for all of them (hugely in 3). No one else has such an easy run in. Really the question is, whom between the Scarlets, Munster and Ulster is the last team in (knock on wood)?

Glasgow have a poor record at Murrayfield though.

Thank god we'll only be playing those losers Leinster and not against the mighty Mike Coman and Sam Beard.

Don't worry. We've got Leinster away after the Zebre game. The leadership of Mike Coman will make them re-think their careers as rugby players. They'll be broken men by the time you play them on our hallowed turf.

Anyway - how's the new life in-house? You've been quiet recently.

Kind of you to ask. I start my new life as a general counsel on Sunday (our equivalent of 'Monday') and I'll level with you, a bit of peepee came out just there when I wrote that. 

I was supposed to have 6 weeks off between jobs where I would reinvigorate my life, lose a bit of weight, read some of the books I wanted to read and get my technical skills thoroughly up to scratch. 

In reality, just doing the move from Abu Dhabi to Dubai kicked the shyte out of everyone in the family, I probably gained weight with the stress and then my wife got frantically busy at work so as we didn't have a nanny until last week, I spent the past 6 weeks sifting through boxes, doing the school and nursery runs and stopping my 4 year old and 2 year old from killing each other*. I am therefore badly underprepared for the largest move of my professional life. 

Wait. Was that one of those questions where I'm supposed to answer 'fine'? 

*Youngfellers like Bru and GLove should not worry that there is terminology and circumstances here you just won't understand. Yet.

Well best of luck on Sunday! I took the same step two years ago and have never looked back. There are some wonderful benefits:

- no timesheets
- being able to attend conferences and law firm entertainment without having to suck up to people (or indeed speak to anyone at all)
- the fact that no-one in the building knows as much as you do about what it is you do, and people internally seem to have a genuine respect/fear of lawyers
- unleashing unrealistic deadlines on your former colleagues, making them work late on Friday and then leaving them with your out of office whilst you merrily head home for the weekend
- (in my case) not having a Blackberry. When I leave the office and head down Queen Street on my way home, that it is. No more work until I'm back in the office. No evening calls, weekend calls, reacting to the little red light flashing away day and night. Bliss.

Enjoy, and best of luck.

Cheers young man. That helped and I certainly hope that's the way the lifestyle pans out.  

Toonie seems to have been on the liqueur chocolates because that's a ludicrously strong side. Will Hogg ever actually get a rest?

I think Hoggy may well get next week off, it was Tommy S turn this week, he could come back at FB for the second leg or Glen Byrce could fill in there. Either will do very nicely. I expect he will get pulled fairly early on in this game as well if all is going to plan. There are some decent options on the bench as well as the starting line up!

Did Glasgow really need to take 35 players?

Will be a nice relaxing spring jaunt to Italy for some!

RDW_Scotland wrote:Did Glasgow really need to take 35 players?

Will be a nice relaxing spring jaunt to Italy for some!

And what is wrong with that. exactly how I see my own trip out there going. Nice and relaxing with 10 points in the bag hopefully!

Am unbelievably jealous of anyone here getting to go to these matches. Both fabulous places to be.

You can fly directly to Milan airport in about 5 hours from here and from here it's just an hour in the car to Bellagio and Varenna. We did it once and now try to do it every October.

I get mistaken for Clooney all the time whilst in Como. I mean, obviously.

Big Nige has had to pull out of this game with illness. Haven't seen who is replacement is yet, but I'm sure Clownshoes will be more than happy to fill in...

BigGee wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Did Glasgow really need to take 35 players?

Will be a nice relaxing spring jaunt to Italy for some!

And what is wrong with that. exactly how I see my own trip out there going. Nice and relaxing with 10 points in the bag hopefully!

I think Justice and the Pukekohe kid will be there to have some quality/intensive training and might get on for part of next week's game.

I see Schiz and Gee offering gentle encouragement from the sidelines to any players who think it's a jaunt.

Should we be worried that the 35 players may never return from Italy? I mean Lake Como vs East Kilbride....

I imagine Schiz having the motivational characteristics of Begbie.

Looking forward to this game. Think Treviso will have had a rocket after that Cardiff game (they just gave up in the last 10 minutes) but Glasgow have brought an intimidating line up.
- Don't like Strauss at 6, but with Naka not on (would have preferred him to have a break altogether but if we need a try or two with 20 minutes to go....) I guess Toonie wanted an additional ball carrier to start in the pack
- Would have preferred Fagerson start to keep his development going and happy with Rae on the bench.
- Hoggy needs to be rested at least 1 of these 2 games and would have preferred this one

Think Glasgow will do it 38-18 without it looking close after half an hour.

Begbie is an effete dilettante drinker of dandelion and burdock cordial when placed alongside the Schizoid one. Usually placed alongside him in an identity parade.

jimbopip wrote:Begbie is an effete dilettante drinker of dandelion and burdock cordial when placed alongside the Schizoid one. Usually placed alongside him in an identity parade.

Stop. You're making me thirsty.

Jonny Gray scores for an early try!

Does anyone have a magic link for me? Usual sites aren't obliging. Having to survive on Twitter updates and my imagination.

It's on BBC alba if you're in the UK.

EWT Spoons wrote:It's on BBC alba if you're in the UK.

Thanks, but I'm in Brazil.