GLASGOW Warriors have rested most of their star names for tonight’s match against Zebre, but one player who starts tonight could soon join the likes of Stuart Hogg and Finn Russell in that category if he keeps up his progress. That, at least, was the prediction by Gregor Townsend about Matt Fagerson, who begins a match for the Warriors for just the second time.
To date, the 18-year-old has been overshadowed by his older brother Zander, who at the age of just 21 has already established himself as the first-choice tighthead prop for both Glasgow and Scotland. Matt’s best position has yet to be established - he is at No 8 tonight, but played at 7 for Scotland Under-20s this season. But the crucial thing, according to Townsend, is that whatever number of jersey he wears in future, it could be at the highest level of the game.
“He’s a player with real potential,” Townsend said yesterday. “He played very well for the Under 20s this year at 7, but he did a lot of ball-carrying. He’s someone we have high hopes for in the future.
“He’s 18. Just now he’s an excellent ball-carrier and to have that at 7 is a bonus. If he grows more he could develop into someone who could play No 8 at the highest level.
“We believe any player coming into our system can play for Scotland, but he’s obviously playing at professional level as an 18-year-old and he’s playing very well for the 20s. So if he carries on working hard he can obviously achieve a lot in the game. He has a great role model in his brother.”
Last week’s loss to Munster effectively ended Glasgow’s hopes of reaching the play-offs - a severe disappointment for Townsend in his last campaign before moving to take charge of Scotland. One reason for that, he believes, is that the competition has been tougher this season, with several teams upping their game. But he also accepted that there had been a couple of close matches where his own side had failed to deliver.
“We’ve lost a couple of games that we were in a position to win against rivals for the top four places. Ulster and Munster were games we were leading going into the last ten minutes but have lost.
“I think the level of competition this year has been higher than in previous years. You see that in Leinster and Munster in the semi-finals of the Champions Cup: they’re quality teams.
“Ospreys have had a great season. Ulster are always good. Scarlets have come through this season.
“That’s made it tougher, but we’ve obviously not played as well as we would have liked. We lost ground on our rivals in the Test windows. Partly we didn’t play as well as we wanted to, but also the opponents we had in those windows were tougher than normal. That’s just a fact of life that you have to deal with.”
Italian international winger Leonardo Sarto is back to face his old club after six months out following shoulder surgery, while centre Sam Johnson also returns from injury. Replacement hooker Cammy Fenton could come on to make his first appearance at Scotstoun, while Sean Lamont will also be looking for a run off the bench in what would be one of his last outings before retiring.
Zebre, who are only ahead of compatriots Treviso in the league table but have won their last two games, have also rested most of their big names for this match. But Forward Jacopo Sarto, Leonardo’s brother, is on the bench poised to make his own return from injury, as is full-back Kurt Baker.
Townsend’s own selection for the game reflects the fact that the Warriors’ race for a top-four place is now all but arithmetically lost. In fact, even if they win tonight, results elsewhere could finally set the seal on it.
A bonus-point victory would put Glasgow on 57 points with two games still to play, giving them a possible maximum of 67 points after those matches against Leinster and Edinburgh. But both fourth-placed Scarlets and fifth-placed Ulster are already on 63, so would be guaranteed to finish ahead of the Warriors if they have bonus-point wins away to the Dragons and Munster respectively tomorrow.
Leaders Leinster, who have 74 points, will become the first team to secure their place in the play-offs if they beat Connacht with a bonus point tomorrow, no matter what the other results are.
Glasgow Warriors (v Zebre at Scotstoun tonight, 7.35pm): P Murchie; L Sarto, N Grigg, S Johnson, R Hughes; P Horne, H Pyrgos: A Allan, P MacArthur, D Rae, G Peterson, S Cummings, R Harley, C Fusaro, M Fagerson. Substitutes: C Fenton, J Bhatti, S Puafisi, B Alainu’uese, L Wynne, M Smith, G Horne, S Lamont.
Zebre: G Palazzani; K van Zyl, G Bisegni, T Castello, M Bellini; S Bordoli, C Engelbrecht; B Postiglioni, O Fabiani, G Roan, G Koegelenberg, V Bernabo, M Mbanda, J Meyer, F Ruzza. Substitutes: S Tobias, A de Marchi, P Ceccarelli, D Minnie, J Sarto, M Violi, K Baker, M Pratichetti.
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