FRANCO SMITH has made four changes to the Glasgow Warriors starting pack which came up well short during the first half of their URC season opener away to Benetton last weekend ahead of tomorrow night’s round two home clash against Cardiff.
In the front-row, Scotland internationals Zander Fagerson and Fraser Brown are brought into add some experience and dynamism, Scott Cummings replaces the concussed Lewis Bean in the second-row, and Rory Darge starts at open-side flanker with Matt Fagerson switching to blindside and Sintu Manjezi dropping to dropping to the bench.
There are no changes behind the scrum, although Argentinean playmaker Domingo Miotti takes over from Duncan Weir as one of only two back replacement on the bench.
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There’s also a potential debut in store for South African second-rower JP du Preez who is named on the bench after his summer arrival from Sale Sharks..
“It’s been almost six months since the squad have played in front of their home crowd and everyone has been fighting hard to earn the chance to run out at Scotstoun on Friday night,” said head coach Smith.
“Last weekend’s game was not how we wanted to start our season; however, it has given us valuable insight into what our players have taken away from pre-season and our new game plan.
“We have challenged the players to be brave this Friday, and begin writing our own story going forward.”
Glasgow Warriors (v Cardiff at Scotstoun Stadium, Friday 7.35pm): C Forbes; S Cancelliere, S Tuipulotu, S McDowall, K Steyn©; T Jordan, G Horne; J Bhatti, F Brown, Z Fagerson, S Cummings, R Gray, M Fagerson, R Darge, J Dempsey. Replacements: G Turner, O Kebble, L Sordino, J du Preez, S Manjezi, T Gordon, A Price, D Miotti.
Unavailable for selection: Lewis Bean (head), Allan Dell (calf), Jamie Dobie (hamstring), Huw Jones (back), Nathan McBeth (knee) Ally Miller (back), Enrique Pieretto (shoulder), Ollie Smith (back), Ross Thompson (back), Sione Vailanu (sickness).
Cardiff: M Morgan; A Summerhill, M Grady, M Llewellyn, J Adams; J Evans, T Williams; R Carré, K Dacey, D Lewis, J Turnbull©, S Davies, J Botham, T Young, J Ratti. Replacements: L Belcher, B Thyer, K Assiratti, M Screech, L Timani, L Williams, R Priestland, U Halaholo
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Re-juvenated Cardiff enjoyed an ominously strong outing vs Munster last week.