Glasgow Warriors v Scarlets Saturday 1st December

Glasgow Warriors v Scarlets
Saturday 1st December
Scotstoun Stadium
Glasgow

KO 17.15

Live on Premier Sports


Good sounding match this one, despite both sides being short of their international players, both have been playing pretty well, with Ulster and Cradiff being on the wrong ends of a kicking last weekend.

Scarlets definitely got the better of the warriors last season, winning both their end of season games, home and away and making the play off finals at the Warriors expense, so a bit of revenge may well be on the menu for the Warriors this weekend.

The Glasgow side, you would assume, won't be to far away from the one that played last weekend. Price, Hastings and Jones H, have been spotted on holiday in Dubai this week, so you can be pretty sure they won't be playing and DR did say that he would be resting the bulk of the internationalists to freshen them up for the euro games to come after this one. You would imagine that Wayne Pevic will be adopting a similar strategy for his Welsh boys.

So my guess at the Glasgow team is along the lines of this:

1. Kebble - assuming he is fit again, Bhatti in if not
2. Turner
3. Rae
4. Harley
5. Swinson - probably time for a start after coming off bench last weekend
6. Ashe
7. Gibbins
8. Fagerson
9. Horne G - been with Scotland but did not play that much
10. Thompson
11. DTH
12. McDowell
13. Grigg
14. Niko
15. Jacko

Subs:

Bhatti /I would assume Bryce again if not
Stewart
Du Plesis/Nicol
McDonald - who played well last week
Smith
Fisbee
Kelly
Nairn

Some of the Scotland players who were away with the squad but did not get to play much, may or may not play. They will all need and get a week off, as have the rest of the squad at some stage, but hard to know when, with all these big games coming up. George Horne and Matt Fagerson come into that category and he may feel that DTH needs a rest as well having played three games for Canada during the international window as well. This is a very winnable game and would put down a good marker for Glasgow this season, so he will not want to go into this game undercooked and with a team any weaker than it has to be.

Ali Price is sunning himself in Dubai just now with Huw Jones and Hastings so they certainly won't be involved!

Original post corrected, it should of course be Horne G at SH

There are just to many Horne's!

Assume Gee meant Horne G at 9 rather than Horne P unless he’s Toony in disguise!

Ali Price should be with the squad, he still looks half the player he was and the fact he’s lost the Glasgow starting 9 and the backup Scotland 9 to his former understudy should be a boot up the arse.

As BigToony said above, another possibly winnable game against another good side but one Glasgow should be winning if they want to make the final.

Apart from the two howlers in messing up the tries, Price did not actually play so badly last week.

His delayed pass to put Niko away for his first try was sublime and it was his quick tap penalty in the 22 when all the Cardiff players were walking backwards that enable us to go coast to coast and let Gibbins score. He is making some mistakes, but still seems to have the confidence to do that sort of stuff.

BigGee wrote: Wayne Pevic

Pivac

BigGee wrote:Original post corrected, it should of course be Horne G at SH

There are just to many Horne's!

Are you on the Hornes of a dilemma? Or is it a dilemma of thee Hornes?

RDW_Scotland wrote:Ali Price is sunning himself in Dubai just now with Huw Jones and Hastings so they certainly won't be involved!

What now? At the 7s?

TIM Swinson will make his first start of the season tomorrow in a Glasgow side that shows eight changes from the team that began last week’s win over Cardiff. Most of the Warriors who took part in the Autumn Internationals are rested, one exception being George Horne, who returns at scrum-half in place of Ali Price.

Brandon Thomson replaces Pete Horne at stand-off, while the other change in the back division sees Robbie Nairn come in for his second appearance instead of Tommy Seymour on the right wing. In the pack, Scott Cummings returns to partner Swinson in the second row, Alex Allan takes over at loosehead from Jamie Bhatti, and Matt Smith and captain Chris Fusaro are in the back row instead of Callum Gibbins and Matt Fagerson. One positional changes sees Adam Ashe move from blindside to No 8.

Swinson, who was injured during Scotland’s win over Argentina in June and subsequently needed leg surgery, was a substitute in the 40-15 victory over the Blues. Glasgow are nine points clear of Munster at the top of Conference A, while Scarlets are second in Conference B, 10 points adrift of Leinster.

Glasgow Warriors (v Scarlets at Scotstoun, Saturday 5.15pm, live on Premier Sports): Ruaridh Jackson; Robbie Nairn, Nick Grigg, Stafford McDowall, Niko Matawalu; Brandon Thomson, George Horne; Alex Allan, George Turner, D’Arcy Rae, Tim Swinson, Scott Cummings, Matt Smith, Chris Fusaro, Adam Ashe. Subs: Kevin Bryce, Oli Kebble, Siua Halanukonuka, Kiran McDonald, Tevita Tameilau, Nick Frisby, Paddy Kelly, Ratu Tagive.

Well it looks like DR really has deceided to give everyone who is likely to be playing in the euro games a rest as he puts out a much changed team for the game agaisnt the Scarlets.

This makes you realise that he is really targetting the Euro games this year, no danger of us being overdone for the two of them this time around. Depending on what kind of team Scarlets put out, it could leave us just a little bit light against them.

For all that, it is still not a bad looking team. The backline looks very dynamic and it is good to see Thompson and nairn get a start, hopefully they will take the chance to show us what they can do.

We look a bit less strong up front, but have got some good impact to come on from the bench. The Nuke is finally back and he and Kebble will be a decent couple of props to bring on later on. Tameilau will beef up the back row as well. Tagive will get a run from the bench as well, we have not seen him for a long time either.

Scarlets take on Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday evening looking to build on last week’s impressive performance over Ulster Rugby to further cement their second place position in the Guinness PRO14’s Conference B.



Head Coach Wayne Pivac can call on a number of his returning internationals for the clash against Conference A leaders at their Glasgow base.



Wales and British & Irish Lion centre Jonathan Davies returns to captain the side with club captain Ken Owens rested following the recent international campaign.



Davies, making his 148thappearance for the region on Saturday, will lead a strong side to the field at Scotstoun with the Scarlets keen to keep the winning momentum following on from last weekend’s bonus point victory over Ulster at Parc y Scarlets.



Scrum half Kieran Hardy retains his starting position with Rhys Patchell returning to outside half following the autumn series. Steff Evans returns to join Tom Prydie and Johnny McNicholl in the back three whilst New Zealander Kieron Fonotia partners captain Davies in midfield.



An all-international front row in Rob Evans, Ryan Elias and Werner Kruger gives the pack a solid footing wit Jake Ball joining Steve Cummins in the second row. Will Boyde moves across to the blindside in the backrow, Uzair Cassiem remains at number 8 with young Dan Davis coming in to the openside.



Looking ahead to the clash head coach Wayne Pivac said; “Glasgow have a really impressive record at home. They play an expansive game, they’ve got quality coaching and a lot of Scottish players.



“It all stacks up for an entertaining game. We’ve got a healthy respect for them and they’re flying in their conference. We’ve got a massive challenge ahead of us.”



Scarlets team to take on Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium, Saturday 1stDecember, kick-off 17:15;



15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Jonathan Davies , 12 Kieron Fonotia, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Kieran Hardy, 1 Rob Evans, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Werner Kruger, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Steve Cummins, 6 Will Boyde, 7 Dan Davis, 8 Uzair Cassiem



Replacements; 16 Dafydd Hughes, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Tom Phillips, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Paul Asquith, 23 Clayton Blommetjies

Scarlets don't really look like they are holding back to many players. Looks a very strong team on paper, a lot of them played in the AIs.

Looks like it is going to be a tough old game for the Warriors, I would not like to call it.

Looks like SHC has become 3rd choice 9 for Scarlets now too - he's been on the bench the last few weeks.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Looks like SHC has become 3rd choice 9 for Scarlets now too - he's been on the bench the last few weeks.

Not sure about that, him & Hardy are very close but Hardy is being given a little run in the team following impressive performances off the bench in the last few matches.

Fair enough - I'm certainly not following Scarlets closely but just noticed he's been benched a lot throughout the AIs.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Fair enough - I'm certainly not following Scarlets closely but just noticed he's been benched a lot throughout the AIs.

But he (SHC) has started 2 out of our last 3 matches?

Oh dear - that's a very strong Scarlets side and a very green Glasgow one. No Gibbons either.

I go from being wildly pessimistic to being only mildly so because the reserves played so well during the AIs.

I would settle for us getting a LBP here. That backline certainly is capable of scoring 4 tries at home.

I understand why Rennie has to play this squad at this time, however. You can't have everything and I am tired of seeing Glasgow tank in Europe because the players have been flogged to death.

Oakdene wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Fair enough - I'm certainly not following Scarlets closely but just noticed he's been benched a lot throughout the AIs.

But he (SHC) has started 2 out of our last 3 matches?

You can prove anything with stats!

George Carlin wrote:Oh dear - that's a very strong Scarlets side and a very green Glasgow one. No Gibbons either.

I go from being wildly pessimistic to being only mildly so because the reserves played so well during the AIs.

I would settle for us getting a LBP here. That backline certainly is capable of scoring 4 tries at home.

I understand why Rennie has to play this squad at this time, however. You can't have everything and I am tired of seeing Glasgow tank in Europe because the players have been flogged to death.

Yes GC, the Renniessance continues apace and DR seems intent on not repeating last season's mistakes. Our Conference is looking very much like a two horse race with us a couple of lengths ahead of Munster. DR seems to have decided that as long as we're beating the teams in our half of the Pro 14 then all is well in the world. This has two benefits; the wider squad players are getting lots of opportunities to shine (and quite a few are stepping up) and the regular first team starters are not being flogged to death. We can lose this and we'll still be top of our conference, so it's not that important as long as we keep ahead of Munster. However, the double header with Lyon is crucial to our season and a fully fit, and fresh, squad for that game is of utmost importance.


That said, from 9-15 that is an exciting line up. Let's hope they get some ball to play with.

With two euro games and then two derby games coming up, this was the game he had to take the chance on with the youngsters. It is not a game we have to win, though it would still be nice and not completely impossible either. Some of these guys, who have not played so much, will certainly be pushing their credentials for more game time. The competition this is generating for places can only be a good thing.

A few players, who still have not had a proper rest week, such as George Horne, will no doubt get it over the next few weeks. He did not actually get that much game time in the AIs, so should still be pretty fresh.

It will be an interesting game to watch and see how it pans out.

Considering the amount of players being rested (internationals and guys like Gibbons and Harley who've played a huge amount already this season) that really is a pretty good side. Whether it'll be enough to beat the Scarlets, who have put out a very strong team indeed, we'll see, but it's a team that should be competitive, and that's a great sign seeing how many guys aren't there. It does show that Rennie seems to be taking on board the lesson from last season not to flog players, and there's definitely a suggestion that he's targeting the next two European games as crucial.

From an individual viewpoint, it's good to see the Nuke back on the bench, with Swinson and McDonald continuing to play their way back from long-term injuries. Also keen to see how Smith gets on. Last year he was seen as a great prospect, but seems to have fallen down the pecking order this season.

Good game this, both sides look very evenly matched

Red for Alex Allen, hard to argue with it unfortunately

Glasgow just need to calm down. It is still 3-3 and we look like we are chasing the game

What did he do?

Try Thompson

Man in the bin for Scarlets now as well

Losing Allen has galvanised us

RDW_Scotland wrote:What did he do?

Shoulder to head in a tackle, just went a little high, nothing malicious

You wouldn't tell Glasgow were the ones with the red!

In a way, Allen going off has not hurt us so badly, Oli Kebble is eating the Scarlets TH for dinner. That is his second penalty

Niko Niko!

How was that play on from Horne's pass??

What a half of rugby

What great character by Glasgow, no intention of going into our shells

Just saw the red - if that was Owen Farrell I'm sure it wouldn't  have even been a penalty! Definite red though.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Just saw the red - if that was Owen Farrell I'm sure it wouldn't  have even been a penalty! Definite red though.

No, you can't really argue with it unfortunately. Farrell certainly has lived a charmed life!

What a try

Glasgow are just going to play from anywhere

Incredible stuff Glasgow!!

What is going on

Unbeleivable stuff

Alas looks forward

Forward pass

How disappointing, it deserved a try

Incredible play.

That’s a shame. Was some excellent handling but that was forward.

Still want the weedge to win

Glasgow playing really smart as well as all the fancy stuff, that is the second penalty we have milked

Here comes SHC, I am sure he will turn things around!

How are 7 men destroying 8 in the scrums

Right call to kick, we don't need a BP here

Just a shame he's a rubbish kicker!

RDW_Scotland wrote:How are 7 men destroying 8 in the scrums

The sooner Oli Keeble becomes SQ the better, he has been imense

Swinson was KO'd there

If the first one was red, so was that!

First point of contact looks to be the head