GLASGOW Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend must do without almost an entire team of players because of Scotland duty when PRO12 action resumes this evening, but that lengthy list of absentees is at least partially offset by the return to the Warriors’ ranks of some experienced internationals.
Townsend has to do without 14 of his players who are absent on Scotland duty - nine will start against Georgia at Rugby Park tomorrow, with another five on the bench - not to mention Italian forward Simone Favaro, who will captain his country for the first time in their match against Tonga tomorrow. But the future Scotland boss still has a lot of experience to call on for the match against Ospreys, especially in the back row.
Chris Fusaro is in the Warriors starting line-up for the first time since April after recovering from a knee injury, while Townsend also welcomes Josh Strauss back - the big No 8, who will captain the Warriors, has been a part of the Scotland squad over the past fortnight but was unable to play against Australia or Argentina. Gordon Reid and Tim Swinson also come back from international duty in the front and second rows respectively, while Ryan Grant is on the bench.
“Welcoming Chris Fusaro and Ryan Grant back after injury is a real boost,” Townsend said, “They have both worked very hard to get back to full fitness and their inclusion will lift the side for what is going to be a huge challenge against Ospreys.” The Warriors are fourth in the table, equal on points with third-placed Ospreys, who have nine players away on Wales duty. “Going away to Glasgow is never an easy ask,” Ospreys coach Steve Tandy said. “They have been one of the most consistent teams in the PRO12 over the last three or four years and their success has been built on an impressive home record. We've come up short there ourselves recently, so we know what we are walking into on Friday night.
“With the table being so tight right the way from top down to the Blues in seventh, we know that there can be plenty of movement in the table on one weekend. We go there in third place, which looks pretty good off the back of a positive start to the season, at home in particular, but that can change pretty quickly when you are away to one of your rivals in the play-off positions.”
Glasgow Warriors (v Ospreys at Scotstoun tonight, 7.35pm): P Murchie; S Lamont, N Grigg, S Johnson, L Jones; R Clegg, G Hart; G Reid, C Flynn, D Rae, T Swinson, B Alainu’uese, L Wynne, C Fusaro, J Strauss. Substitutes: P MacArthur, R Grant, A Nicol, R McAlpine, L Haupeakui, G Horne, P Kelly, J Bulumakau.
Ospreys: D Evans; D Howells, K Fonotia, A Beck, T Graham; J Matavesi, T Habberfield; P James, S Parry, M Fia, L Ashley, R Thornton, O Cracknell, S Underhill, D Baker. Substitutes: S Otten, G Thomas, R Jones, A Beard, R McCusker, B Leonard, L Price, T O’Flaherty.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here