Glasgow Warriors v Sale Sharks European Champions Cup Saturday 16th November 2019

Glasgow warriors v Sale Sharks
European Champions Cup
Scotstoun Stadium
Glasgow

Saturday 16th November
KO 13.00

Live on BT Sport


So the Euros are almost upon us and this year Glasgow get to kick off with a home game against the Sale Sharks, a team not renown for their European pedigree.

Still this is an altogether beefed up Sharks team this season (mainly South African beef) and even without some of their English and South African WC stars, they are undoubtedly serious opposition this time around. They have made a decent start in the Premiership, especially at home but don't seem to have mastered travelling away from home to the same extent, a trend that the Warriors hope will continue this weekend.

Glasgow will be pretty much full strength for this one, minus JG, who has been put on a longer rest period by the SRU and won't be back until after these games. The rest of the Scottish internationals, minus Ali Price, who is still injured should be available though. The better form of the last two games will be encouraging to the coaching staff and give them some optimism that Glasgow's season is getting back on track. I actually though we played really well for large periods of the game in Italy last week, before switching off once the points were in the bag. The pitch was a mudbath and yet we played with great accuracy. More of the same will be needed this week as well.

I am hoping for a team along these lines:

1. Keeble - got injured last week ands pulled early, but hopefully just a precaution.
2. Brown
3. Fagerson Z
4. McDonald
5. Cummings
6. Harley - rested last weekend, so suggests he will play either here or at BS
7. Gibbins - rested again, so sure to play
8. Fagerson M
9. Horne G
10. Hastings
11. DTH
12. Johnson
13. Jones H - this is the tricky one and you wonder if DR genuinely prefers Steyn, who has not been as effective this season
14. Tagive - taking his opportunities well
15. Seymour - our new FB elect it would seem

Subs:

Allen - I wonder if he might have gone for our new guy, but Allen has been playing well. Seiuli may come into equation if Keeble still crocked
Turner - could be Stewart who has been playing well
Rae - assuming Nuke is still injured
Wilson
Fusaro - if Harley starts then probably will have 2 backrow on bench and BBB can move into the row later
Dobie - He was rested last week as week and has played well enough to get his chance, can really keep the tempo up in the last 15 mins, unlike Frisby
Horne P - if fit, Jackson if not to provide FH cover
Steyn - or Jones if he selects the starting team the other way around

Sale have been a little hit and miss so far this season. Only missing Tom Curry and Faf from the WC I think, but have significant injuries in the backs. With the investment they have put into the side they have to be looking for a top 4 finish in the league but not too sure what kind of side they will put out for this.

LondonTiger wrote:Sale have been a little hit and miss so far this season. Only missing Tom Curry and Faf from the WC I think, but have significant injuries in the backs. With the investment they have put into the side they have to be looking for a top 4 finish in the league but not too sure what kind of side they will put out for this.

Those 2 are quite a miss to be fair!

Don't forget Mark Wilson as well, who will be guesting for them this season!

Oh yeah I forgot Wilson. Ben Curry has been doing a pretty good impression of Tom, but Faf is a massive miss for them.

If Sale are interested in this competition it's going to be a tough ask for Glasgow. Sale have an impressive squad even without the WC players.

One things for sure though - if Glasgow are going to progress they need to win this game.

RDW wrote:If Sale are interested in this competition it's going to be a tough ask for Glasgow. Sale have an impressive squad even without the WC players.

One things for sure though - if Glasgow are going to progress they need to win this game.

Sales tight five has still looked a little light weight so far this season. The arrival of Lood de Jager (maybe not in time for this) should make a huge difference.

LondonTiger wrote:

RDW wrote:If Sale are interested in this competition it's going to be a tough ask for Glasgow. Sale have an impressive squad even without the WC players.

One things for sure though - if Glasgow are going to progress they need to win this game.

Sales tight five has still looked a little light weight so far this season. The arrival of Lood de Jager (maybe not in time for this) should make a huge difference.

Lood is out. He dislocated his shoulder in the final so will be ou for around 6 months with an operation to come. Shoulder injuries can end a players career (especially forwards). Fingers crossed he gets through it.

tigertattie wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:

RDW wrote:If Sale are interested in this competition it's going to be a tough ask for Glasgow. Sale have an impressive squad even without the WC players.

One things for sure though - if Glasgow are going to progress they need to win this game.

Sales tight five has still looked a little light weight so far this season. The arrival of Lood de Jager (maybe not in time for this) should make a huge difference.

Lood is out. He dislocated his shoulder in the final so will be ou for around 6 months with an operation to come. Shoulder injuries can end a players career (especially forwards). Fingers crossed he gets through it.

Ah yeah, now you mention it I do remember him going off. Josh Beaumont went off with what looked like a season ending injury last weekend. Sale perhaps may look at Nakarawa.

LondonTiger wrote:

RDW wrote:If Sale are interested in this competition it's going to be a tough ask for Glasgow. Sale have an impressive squad even without the WC players.

One things for sure though - if Glasgow are going to progress they need to win this game.

Sales tight five has still looked a little light weight so far this season. The arrival of Lood de Jager (maybe not in time for this) should make a huge difference.

They're up against the Glasgow pack so that shouldn't be an issue!

RDW wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:

RDW wrote:If Sale are interested in this competition it's going to be a tough ask for Glasgow. Sale have an impressive squad even without the WC players.

One things for sure though - if Glasgow are going to progress they need to win this game.

Sales tight five has still looked a little light weight so far this season. The arrival of Lood de Jager (maybe not in time for this) should make a huge difference.

They're up against the Glasgow pack so that shouldn't be an issue!

Saucer of milk for table 4 please!

Excellent point Mr Flounder. Glasgow may even look to bring Ryan Wilson back into the team so that will make the pack even more powderpuff.

I'd probably go for

Allan
Brown
Fagerson
Cummings
Swinson
Wilson
Gibbins
Smith
Horne
Hastings
Matawalu
Johnson
Jones
Tagive - like BigG says, good run of form for him at moment.
Seymour

Subs - Stewart, Seiuli, Halanukonuka, McDonald, Fusaro, Dobbie, P Horne, DTH

bsando wrote:I'd probably go for

Allan
Brown
Fagerson
Cummings
Swinson
Wilson
Gibbins
Smith
Horne
Hastings
Matawalu
Johnson
Jones
Tagive - like BigG says, good run of form for him at moment.
Seymour

Subs - Stewart, Seiuli, Halanukonuka, McDonald, Fusaro, Dobbie, P Horne, DTH

A reasonable side bsando, but DR likes what he knows and knows who he likes. Kebble at loose head if he is anywhere near fit. Mind you the scrum looks better with Allan more often than not this season.
On the tight head side Ragnar will start but we haven't seen Halanukonuka yet so I suspect D'Arcy Rae will bench even though he is nwhere near the form he was in at the end of last season. I would also prefer Stewart at hooker on the bench. Turner was not too impressive last week.

McDonald is in better form than Swinson at the moment. Cummings should start if he wasn't concussed last week.

Batman and Spouse will most likely start, but Matt Smith hasn't been seen yet; will DR start him in such a big match? Matt F at 8 methinks, Fozzie or BBB to bench.

There is a suspicion that DR sees the centres as Furra Linee-Not A Pony OR Johnson-Seaman. Either one should be good enough.

DTH-Seymour-Sensible Fijian (MadMata on the bench)

So looking at the training photos that Glasgow released today, which sometimes gives a hint as to who might be playing that week, we had the following featuring

Huw Jones - I think most fans would like to see him start

Chris Fusaro - may well feature off the bench, especially if Rob Harley, an 80 minute player if ever there was one, starts.

Ali Price - Rumours were that he was recovering from his ankle injury quicker than expected, so we will hopefully see him coming off the bench at the 60 minute mark

1. Oli Kebble (37)
2. Fraser Brown (91)
3. Zander Fagerson (83)
4. Rob Harley (217)
5. Scott Cummings (58)
6. Ryan Wilson (155)
7. Callum Gibbins (C) (39)
8. Matt Fagerson (54)

9. George Horne (44)
10. Adam Hastings (34)
11. DTH van der Merwe (117)
12. Sam Johnson (53)
13. Nick Grigg (59)
14. Ratu Tagive (7)
15. Tommy Seymour (133)

Replacements

16. George Turner (36)
17. Alex Allan (96)
18. D’arcy Rae (67)
19. Tim Swinson (131)
20. Chris Fusaro (170)
21. Ali Price (77)
22. Pete Horne (160)
23. Kyle Steyn (15)

Not available due to injury: Siua Halanukonuka (calf), Lee Jones (calf), Sean Kennedy (foot), Grant Stewart (back) and Jale Vakaloloma (shoulder).

Did Rennie steal Townsend's tombola? Grigg starting!

Whatever Rennies been smoking, I want some!

no Huw Jones???

An "interesting" selection

Front row pretty much as expected, with Allan-Fitter-Rae after 60.

Good to see Cummings starting, and BBB continues to argue that when he retires the club will spontaneously combust: 217 appearances I'm sure I saw Glasgow once and he wasn't playing. It was at Firhill and they stuffed the Luvvies. Richie V loked like a very promising no8 that day.

Back row is exactly as predicted: still no Matt Smith can we start a petition?

Half backs as per ….but Aldi Price benches

Battleship Griggtempkin at 13, Seaman on the bench , Not A Pony not injured

Back three as expected.

Furra Linee covering 10/12. Seaman covering back three/13.

It's not the biggest pack we'll put out. Nor is it the most robust pair of centres. So, five points for us. Easy.

Good side but surprised to see Jones out again. Is he really not in form? Or does Rennie rate Grigg at 13 over him? If it continues like this in the new year I don't think anyone could blame him for wanting to leave. He seems a good sort too, not someone who would seek a lucrative contract elsewhere. Steyn and Grigg are good players but I can't see either contributing in the same way to Scotland as Jones has and hopefully will continue to.

Sale;

1. Harrison
2. Webber
3. Cooper-Wooley
4. Evans
5. Phillips
6. JL du Preez
7. B Curry
8. D du Preez
9. Papier
10. McGinty
11. Yarde
12. L James
13. Redpath
14. McGuigan
15. Hammersley

Bench - Van Der Merwe, Morozov, Oosthuizen, Posthelwaite, Ross, Cliff, R du Preez, Ashton.

Missing some significant players including Lood de Jager, Beaumont, Tom Curry, Faff de Klerk, Van Rensburg, Sam James. Ordinarily I'd expect de Jager and Beaumont to be the lock pairing and van Rensburg and Sam James to be the centre partnership. Faff and Curry were two of the stars at the RWC.

Have to say I am a little bit disappointed with the Glasgow team, I don't think either Grigg nor Swinson deserve to be in the squad. Jones and McDonald should feel pretty unlucky.

Hopefully DR knows more about selection than I do but you do wonder just what Jones has to do?

DR opening up a bit on his future and the Euro Cup. It does not sound like Nigel Owens will be on his xmas card list either!

You do get the feeling that he wants to make some kind of mark before he heads off back down under at the end of the season.



These are significant times for Dave Rennie, with a big game to win with Glasgow against Sale in the opening round of the Champions Cup on Saturday and a big decision to make on whether to formally apply for the vacant All Blacks job, with a deadline of Monday.
What we know about Rennie's situation is that he will stay with the Warriors until the end of the season when his contract ends. What we also know is that for family reasons he's minded to head home - or closer to home.
The Kiwi is currently favourite to succeed Michael Cheika as coach of the Wallabies but the All Blacks became another possibility when the NZRFU invited him to apply to become successor to Steve Hansen.
That was hardly a surprise. The union asked 26 coaches if they'd be interested in putting their hat in the ring. Warren Gatland was one of them, but he has declined. So that leaves 25. Of the long list there appears to be four clear frontrunners. Ian Foster, the assistant coach for the last eight years; Jamie Joseph, the celebrated coach of Japan; Scott Robertson, the impressive Crusaders man; and Rennie, who coached New Zealand to three Junior World Cups and coached the Chiefs to two Super Rugby titles.
Price returns as Glasgow take on Sale
Glasgow's Rennie confirms Australia interest
'World class' Brown signs new Glasgow deal
"We've spent the last six months trying to get a bit of clarity around our future and we're getting pretty close to making that decision," he says. "It'll be clearer in the next couple of weeks. I haven't applied for the New Zealand job. Applications close on Monday."
Is he still thinking about applying? "Yeah." Can he elaborate? "No," he laughs.
Wayne Smith, the vastly experienced and respected former All Black and assistant coach, talked up Rennie's chances the other day. It's a tough one to call.
"It's a massive sport in our country and it's a high-profile job and there's lots of high-quality candidates," he says. "I tend to keep away from it and don't read the coverage. Smithy [an old coaching mate of Rennie's] is a top man and, in my opinion, he's the best coach in the world and I'm sure if he made himself available he'd be the prime candidate."
Diminished Glasgow trying to adapt
The priority right now is Glasgow and their Champions Cup tie with Sale - a "must-win," says Rennie. This is his third, and final, attempt at Europe. In his first, he was drawn with Leinster, who went on to win it. In his second, Saracens, who also went on to win it. This time it's Sale, Stuart Hogg's Exeter and La Rochelle - a formidable line-up but without an established super-power who would be considered a banker to top the pool. This one is wide open.
Sale are lying a decent fourth in the Premiership, but they're coming to Glasgow under-strength. Rennie calls them "tough and innovative" but Faf de Klerk is not yet back in the loop after winning the World Cup and neither are Tom Curry and Mark Wilson, the English Sharks who played in the final. Sale's marquee recruit, the ferocious Springbok lock Lood de Jager, is injured.
The visitors might be diminished, but Glasgow are still trying to adapt to life post-Hogg, just as they were trying to adapt to life post-Finn Russell this time last year. "It's the way it is here," says Rennie. "Your best players are probably going to be targeted by bigger clubs. When you talk about trying to replace people like Finn and Hoggy with the same sort of quality, it costs a hell of a lot of money.
"Our focus has been on identifying others. I honestly think that Adam [Hastings] will get better and better and at full-back Tommy Seymour is enjoying the challenge, Glenn Bryce is a really good player and we have a couple of good ones in the academy. Ollie Smith and Rufus McLean have massive potential.
"Finn and Hoggy started out with the Warriors at a young age because coaches gave them a crack. Other guys will fill their shoes, but it might just take a couple of years."
Pro14 final 'a chance missed'
The last time we saw Glasgow in Europe was last season's quarter-final, a sobering 56-27 loss to Saracens that left Rennie briefly, but firmly, enraged at the slackness of his team. One of his players later said that he singled out certain individuals in the aftermath and called them imposters, something he denies saying.
"I'm not sure if if used the word 'imposters' but we were really disappointed because it was such a big game," he explains. "There were four quarter-finals that weekend. Three went to the wire and then there was us. But it was a catalyst for our season. We had to have a good look at our ourselves. We were playing really good footy going into the Pro14 final against Leinster and it was a chance missed, I reckon."
He didn't say much at the time but there was deep regret after that 18-15 defeat at Celtic Park, some of it to do with Nigel Owens and his interpretation of the scrum. "It was a debacle," recalls Rennie. "It was very frustrating how he refereed it. We didn't grizzle about it after the game because it was the last thing you wanted to be talking about.
"There were two things really. Hoggy got injured and that incident [Rob Kearney hit him in the air] was deemed a yellow card at the time but was later confirmed as a red card. Also, before the final, we sought clarity around the scrum. We felt that Leinster just walked left [illegally] and were getting rewarded for it, which is pretty common over here.
"We asked Nigel about it and he agreed and he said he was going to ref accordingly, but still he rewarded them for walking left. That was annoying, but outside of all of that we had opportunities to win the game and didn't take them, so we had to look at ourselves first."
'The Sale game is huge for us'

Rennie calls Glasgow scrum-half George Horne "an incredible player"
Wherever he's heading next - Australia or New Zealand - Rennie desperately wants to win something before he goes.
Even without Hogg, he believes Glasgow are in a good place with a pack that can compete with anybody and a speed of movement around the field that will trouble all-comers. "We're a very fit team and we want to bring brutality to the game because if we bring it then it'll give us quick ball and it'll give the opposition slow ball and that's where you want to be," Rennie says.
Now that Glasgow's game-breakers are disappearing out the door season-on-season, there's a new emphasis on the younger generation to come through, players such as George Horne, whose battle with Ali Price will be fascinating not just in a Glasgow contest but in a Scotland context, too.
Rennie calls the scrum-half a freak. "He's just an incredible rugby player," he says. "There are a lot of nines around the world who are really fit but haven't got the speed, or they're really fast but can't sustain it. George is a freak. He can play 80 minutes at high speed and so you know if that somebody makes a break then George is going to be on their inside shoulder. Ali is very strong on that as well. It's why George scores so many tries; he's always there. I thought he had a fantastic World Cup and was probably unlucky not to start that final game. He's a real point of difference for us."
Glasgow need Horne at his best and his forwards at their most ruthless on Saturday. The Champions Cup is cut-throat. The Warriors lost their first home game last season - against Saracens - and still managed to qualify for the knockouts, but that's a bit of a rarity. Seven other teams failed to win their opening home fixture last season and all seven missed out on the quarter-finals.
"The quality of this competition is phenomenal," says Rennie. "Europe is clearly the toughest club competition in the world, tougher than Super Rugby."
A win against Sale would set them up nicely for a trip to Hogg's Exeter next week. "We love Hoggy, but I think there might be a few high balls put up to him early in that game by boys who'll be looking to get one over on him," he smiles. "We'll deal with that later, but the Sale game is huge for us. We have to win."

Good turnover by Curry, been an atrocious old game so far

Glasgow playing well, great interplay

Hastings takes three points to get something from Glasgow dominance, should have been more though

Glasgow hard done by there - should have been a pen from the scrum on the line.

Another penalty to Glasgow, Sale infringing to try and slow Glasgow down, a bit to obvious that time

Hastings misses, we are not taking our chances atm

A Sale high tackle gives us another slot at goal

No mistake this time

6-0 Glasgow

Cam Redpath does not look ready for international rugby yet, whoever he chooses, perhaps not surprising considering he is 19

DTH waltzes over from a great pass from Johnson. DTH turns Yarde inside out

The real Sam Johnson seems to be playing today

Hastings kicks the goal

13-0 Glasgow

A bit more reflective of our dominance

A very good first half from Glasgow

13-0 and could have been more

Lovely try, great finish!

Very poor pass from Grigg

Great defensive pressure from Glasgow, Sale went 30m back then turned the ball over

Zander is having some day at TH and around the park, dominating both the LHs on the Sale team

Tommy Seymour knocks one on right in front of the posts, great opportunity for Sale

and they score a try

13-7 Glasgow

A different game now

Ali Price back on the pitch

Zander wins another scrum for Glasgow

13-7 Glasgow at FT

A pretty nervy finish but Glasgow fall over the line.

Sale definitely fought their way back into the game and I guess will be happy enough with the BP.

Glasgow will take the win and the momentum and move on to harder tests

Important win for Glasgow with plenty drama at the end! They'll be disappointed with the LBP for Sale though - they're going to be a lot stronger as the tournament goes on.

Maybe DR should have used the bench a bit more, Fagerson, Brown and both second rows played the whole 80 mins and we did seem to lose a bit in the last quarter.

I think we might see a few changes to the pack for next week, we will need a bit more bulk down in Exeter

Sale will feel they are still in the comp though and have good players tom come back in. This could be a group where every side takes points from each other. An away win may just edge someone through

RDW wrote:Important win for Glasgow with plenty drama at the end! They'll be disappointed with the LBP for Sale though - they're going to be a lot stronger as the tournament goes on.

Maybe we did well to play them first. We will see if they are still interested in the competition when we go to Manchester in January. Their double header with Exeter will probably decide that.

RDW wrote:Important win for Glasgow with plenty drama at the end! They'll be disappointed with the LBP for Sale though - they're going to be a lot stronger as the tournament goes on.

Only saw the second half.

Glasgow seemed to be controlling the game but not creating much. Pretty average attacking play and poor tactical kicking. Won the lineout and scrum battles, scrum battle was a lot tighter but lineout was horrendous from Sale. Glasgow defence was very good but they got away with a few offside calls (one from Kebble was not even close, assistants didn't help the ref). They'll be annoyed they let Sale get back into the game, they should have put it to bed.

Sale will be happy with a LBP considering the stardust they are missing. Away from home any points are good.

Execeterr may have done us a huge favour by thumping La Rochelle: if they lose at Sale next week they may well have thrown in the towel before our double header with them.
On the other hand if La Rochelle beat Sale then Sale are out, realistically, which improves our chances of qualifying.
A perfect weekend would see us win away and La Rochelle losing. Then Sale and Execeterr can swap wins while we win home and away.
If only...

I think that probably was a good result for us.

I can't see La Rochelle winning away now, so they could go into our double header zero from 2 and rapidly losing interest in the comp.

Exeter doing a double over Sale would be handy as well.

Not to confident about beating Exeter next weekend but it is not diastrous if we lose either, though a BP would be nice!