NICK GRIGG goes straight into Glasgow’s starting line-up for tomorrow night’s PRO14 match against Munster after being released from the Scotland squad. Although there was no announcement that the centre had gone back to his club, it is understood that he will not be required by the national team for the Autumn Nations Cup final weekend, and that his place in Gregor Townsend’s squad has gone to Duncan Taylor of Saracens, who is on the bench against France today but was not part of the head coach’s original 35-man selection for the tournament.
Grigg is partnered in the Warriors midfield by former Sevens specialist Robbie Fergusson, whose outing against Ulster two weeks ago was his first full 15-a-side game for four years. Fergusson moves from 13 to 12 to accommodate Grigg, with Stafford McDowall dropping out through injury.
The one other change to the back division from the team that began the 40-15 defeat in Belfast is on the left wing, where Robbie Nairn is preferred to Niko Matawalu. The sole change to the pack is at lock, where on-loan Lewis Bean comes in for his first start in place of the injured Kiran McDonald. Richie Gray is well on the way top making a comeback from concussion, according to Wilson, but this game comes too early for him.
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“Munster are a good side and a tough challenge, but we know we have the players to be able to go out there and execute,” head coach Danny Wilson said. “It’s nice to welcome Nick back into the squad. Although he’ll be disappointed to have been released by Scotland, tomorrow is a chance for him to get game time and he’s keen to come out and make an impact in the midfield.
“Caleb [Korteweg] stepped up for us last weekend and he gets the chance to the same again tomorrow night. We’re at home this weekend and we want to put on a display our supporter would be proud of.”
Besides Gray, McDonald and McDowall, the other players unavailable due to injury are Jamie Dobie, Paddy Kelly, Leone Nakarawa, Adam Nicol and Kyle Steyn. Lee Jones is now fit again and could come into contention for next Sunday’s game against Cardiff. Counting the injured Adam Hastings, 11 others remain on Scotland duty.
Glasgow Warriors (v Munster at Scotstoun, Monday, 8.15pm): G Bryce; T Seymour, N Grigg, R Fergusson, R Nairn; P Horne, S Kennedy; A Seiuli, G Stewart, E Pieretto, L Bean, R Harley, R Wilson, T Gordon, T Ioane. Substitutes: J Matthews, A Allan, D Rae, H Bain, F Lokotui, C Korteweg, B Thomson, N Matawalu.
Munster: M Haley; C Nash, R Scannell, D de Allende, M Gallagher; B Healy, C Casey; J Cronin, K O’Byrne, S Archer; J Kleyn, W Holland (captain); F Wycherley, J O’Sullivan, G Coombes. Substitutes: R Marshall, J Wycherley, K Knox, J O’Donoghue, T O’Donnell, N McCarthy, J Hanrahan, D Goggin.
Referee: A Jones (Wales).
‘Season delay is an opportunity to change the focus of your training’
Good to have Grigg back but I’m sure he’ll be disappointed to have dropped out of the Scotland squad without seeing any action. Hopefully we will respond by playing with a point to prove…