Glasgow v Bulls: Josh McKay to make first Warriors appearance of the season

FRANCO SMITH has handed captaincy of the Glasgow Warriors team to face the Bulls at Scotstoun tomorrow night to centre Sione Tuipulotu, in the absence of club skipper Kyle Steyn who has a hamstring issue, and last week’s stand-in Ali Price who drops to the bench.

George Horne is promoted back into the starting XV for Warriors in place of Price at scrum-half, while Josh McKay makes his first appearance for the club this season since recovering from injury at full-back. Cole Forbes swaps the No 15 for No 11 jersey and Rufus McLean drops out of the match-day squad.

Up front, fit again Matt Fagerson comes in at No 8 as a straight swap for Jack Dempsey who has a rib injury, while the rest of the starting pack is unchanged form the one which lined-up against the Ospreys last weekend.

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On the bench, Lucio Sordoni – who put pen to paper on a two-year contract with the club earlier this week – replaces Simon Berghan as the cover at tight-head.

“We know we welcome a formidable unbeaten Bulls side to Scotstoun tomorrow,” said head coach Smith. “We will need to take our chances and be more clinical against what will be a of big South African side.

“Sione [Tuipulotu] has been a stand out player for us in the opening rounds and plays a key part in our leadership team in training and on game days. He’s passionate about this club and is fully deserving of the honour of leading the team out on Saturday night.

“The Bulls are another opportunity to take a step forward in our journey and everyone at the club is looking forward to welcoming them to Scotstoun tomorrow night.”

Glasgow Warriors (v Bulls at Scotstoun Stadium, Saturday 7.35pm): J McKay; S Cancelliere, S Tuipulotu (captain), S Johnson, C Forbes; T Jordan, G Horne ; J Bhatti, F Brown, Z Fagerson, S Cummings, R Gray,  G Brown, T Gordon, M Fagerson. Substitutes: G Turner, O Kebble, L Sordoni, JP du Preez, S Manjezi, R Wilson, A Price, D Miotti.

Bulls: K Arenas; C Hendricks, L Maple, D Kriel, S Gans; C Smith, Z Burger; G Steenkamp, J Wessels, F Klopper, W Sttenkamp, R Nortje, M Coetzee (captain), M van Staden, E Louw. Substitutes: D Du Plessis, S Matanzima, M Smith, J Swanepoel, R Luwig, E Papier, M Steyn, W Simelane.

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