SCOTT CUMMINGS will make his 100th Glasgow Warriors appearance in tomorrow [Saturday] night’s European Challenge Cup round of 16 clash against Dragons at Scotstoun, as one of only three members of the home pack to be retained after last weekend’s impressive URC win at Munster.
Richie Gray returns from a rib injury to partner Cummings in the engine-room,while Jack Dempsey joins Rory Darge and Sione Vailanu in the back-row after being rested following their Six Nations last week. The Fagerson brothers (Zander and Matt) and Fraser Brown are rested.
Behind the scrum, George Horne comes in for Ali Price at No 9, Domingo Miotti retains the No 10 jersey after an impressive showing at Thomond Park, while Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones resume their international centre partnership – with both being named in the Six Nations team-of-the-championship this week – at the expense of Sam Johnson and Stafford McDowall.
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Club captain Kyle Steyn returns on the wing, with Cole Forbes and Ollie Smith retaining their places in an otherwise unchanged back three.
Two further returning Scotland internationals in the shape of George Turner and Simon Berghan have been named on the bench, with Ryan Wilson also set for his first outing since injuring his knee in December.
“While we are pleased to have earned our win against Munster, we also know that there are still areas in our game in which we can improve,” said head coach Franco Smith. “The squad has trained hard and trained well this week, and we’re prepared for the test that the Dragons will bring tomorrow.
“Playing in front of our home supporters means a lot to this squad, and we’re fully focused and ready for tomorrow’s match.”
Glasgow Warriors (v Dragons at Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday @ 5.30pm UK time): O Smith; K Steyn©, H Jones, S Tuipulotu, C Forbes; D Miotti, G Horne; A Dell, J Matthews, L Sordoni, S Cummings, R Gray, R Darge, S Vailanu, J Dempsey. Substitutes: G Turner, N McBeth, S Berghan, J du Preez, L Bean, R Wilson, J Dobie, T Jordan.
Dragons: J Williams; R Dyer, S Hughes, M Clark, J Rosser; W Reed, R Williams©; A Seiuli, B Roberts, C Coleman, B Carter, G Nott, R Moriarty, T Basham, A Wainwright. Substitutes: E Dee, R Jones, L Brown, H Taylor, S Lonsdale, B Fry, L Jones, I Davies,
Unavailable for selection: Sebastian Cancelliere (knee), Facundo Cordero (hamstring), Thomas Gordon (hip), Sintu Manjezi (knee), Jack Mann (head), Josh McKay (foot), Enrique Pieretto (chest), Ross Thompson (foot).
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Good looking team , should be a win for Glasgow. It might be the style of the win that is the portent for further progress in the competition. Good to see R Gray back he has been a surprisingly good signing for us. A visit next round from Racing might be interesting.
Dragons used to be one of our real bogey teams…. Looking forward to that being well and truly squashed on Saturday – but… being complacent is dangerous – Dragons have on paper a particularly strong back row in Basham, Wainwright, and Moriarty, with Dyer always a threat on the wing – but if we build a score by taking points when on offer there will be only one outcome. 😁
Good to see rotation. Great team even with lots of talent being rested. Great opportunity to put a marker down at home.
I think the Dragons are in for a hard time.
Thats a nice way of putting it.
I think we will hammer them. Give them a right battering physically and leave them mentally scarred. Can’t be to long until Wales goes down to 3 teams.