Glasgow test their squad depth

Thursday 27 September 2012

THE theory that strength in depth is a winning formula is to be tested to destruction by Glasgow tomorrow night when they field a side with 13 changes from the one that beat Connacht a week earlier.

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Stuart McAllister

It includes four players making their competitive debuts and another making his first start.

There is also space for two more club debutants on the bench, where the significant development is the return to action of Stuart Hogg, the Scotland full-back, after a lay-off from an injury that at one stage might have threatened his role in the November Tests.

Gregor Townsend, the head coach, was never going to accept that he will be fielding a virtual second string, maintaining that this is a selection designed to play in a way that will ensure victory. Nor did he accept that the selection represents any kind of gamble against Zebre, the Italian side at the foot of the RaboDirect Pro12 who are still hunting their first competitive win and are still experimenting.All the same, it is a XV without any of the players who toured with Scotland in the summer and in which no unit has played together before. There is experience there in the likes of Graeme Morrison and DTH van der Merwe in the backs, but also untested talent such as Sean Kennedy, the 21-year-old scrum-half playing his first professional game."These are players who are on form, who have been knocking on the door and will grab their opportunity," said Townsend. "We have to rest players during the season and this is a good opportunity."We know that we have to play between 40 and 50 players throughout the season and we have a squad of 51 now [including development players]. Announcing the Heineken Cup squad to the players the other day meant that 13 were not included. "Fifty-one is a number in my mind because that was also the number that Leinster used last year when they made two finals."He does find space to give an early run to Josh Strauss, the big South African who signed a fortnight ago and arrived only at the end of last week. Ofa Fainga'anuku, the Tonga prop, and Niko Matawalu, the Fijian scrum-half, who both also arrived last week, are on the bench and likely to get a run at some time.Elsewhere, Byron McGuigan and Fraser Thomson both get their first games in the backs, while Angus MacDonald, the former All Black flanker, is handed his first start after featuring off the bench in the last couple of matches.There is also a bit of a gamble when it comes to the captaincy. Townsend could have played safe and handed the reins to someone like Morrison, who has done the job before, but instead he has given the job to Chris Fusaro, the 23-year-old flanker, who certainly has the respect of his peers who made him the players' player of last season."We have built some momentum over the last couple of weeks," Fusaro observed. "There have been a lot of changes but that points to the fact that there is good strength in depth in our squad and the boys who are playing are aiming to continue that. "There is real excitement and we will be looking to bring a lot of energy to the game and play at a high tempo."It is not just at Glasgow that squad depth is being tested, with Edinburgh announcing yesterday that two locks, Steven Turnbull and Perry Parker, were injured and out for up to two months. That leaves them with only two fit specialists in the position, Grant Gilchrist and Sean Cox, with Robert McAlpine from the academy as back-up.TEAMSGLASGOW WARRIORS v zebre (RaboDirect PRO12, Scotstoun Stadium, tomorrow, 7.35) n Glasgow Warriors F Thomson; T Seymour, B McGuigan, G Morrison, DTH van der Merwe; R Jackson, S Kennedy; G Reid, F Gillies, M Cusack, T Ryder, T Swinson, A Macdonald, C Fusaro (capt), J StraussSubstitutes: D Hall, O Fainga'anuku, M Low, J Eddie, R Wilson, N Matawalu, P Horne, S Hoggn Zebre D Halangahu; L Sarto, M Pratichetti, G Garcia (capt), S Sinoti; L Orquera, A Chillon; M Aguero, D Giazzon, L Redolfini, Q Geldenhuys, M Van Vuren, F Cristiano, Mauro Bergamasco, A Van SchalkwykSubstitutes: A Manici, C Fazzari, A De Marchi, E Caffini, N Belardo, L Martinelli, P Buso, S Pace

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Glasgow test their squad depth

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