IN his first week in hands-on charge at Glasgow Warriors, Dave Rennie, the new head coach, has made no bones about the fact that, while he has had plenty of chances to watch the club's core players, he does need to catch up on the fringe youngsters.
So he has wasted no time in challenging them by naming a side with an average age of just 22 to launch the club's season with today's warm-up match against Northampton Saints at Bridgehaugh, Stirling.
There are two making their club debuts in the starting XV – and another five on the bench – though in the case of Adam Hastings, who gets the first chance to show he can understudy Finn Russell at fly half, the famous family name means he is scarcely an unknown.
Gavin Hastings' son moved north from Bath in the summer and must be anxious to show he is the answer to a problem the club have had for the last couple of seasons. With Russell an automatic choice for Scotland and Peter Horne next in line, they have struggled to find anybody with match-winning qualities to do the job when they are unavailable.
“We’re treating this game like a trial," Rennie observed. "It’s a chance for the younger guys to make a bit of a statement.
"These boys have been working really hard for the last couple of months, so it’s a good opportunity for them. We did a fitness test on Monday and 17 of the boys recorded personal bests, so I can’t speak highly enough of how hard everyone has worked.
"Northampton will ask some serious questions of us, but that’s what we need."
The side is captained by Adam Ashe, one of only two in the starting side to have played more than 30 matches for the club, but there is a smattering of experience around with Greg Peterson, the USA international, in the second row and Leonardo Sarto, the Italy Test player, in the back three where he partners Robbie Nairn, the other debutant, on the wing.
Rennie always knew that the Glasgow players from Scotland's summer tour would not be available for this match and he also has to plan ahead for starting the season without the likes of Stuart Hogg, Jonny Gray and Fraser Brown, who are all injured, while Tommy Seymour is only just back after being allowed a break after the British & Irish Lion tour and probably won't play until mid or late September.
All that makes it one of those games where individual performances will count for more than the eventual result against the English Premiership side who are heading north with a 31-man squad that includes most of their big names.
Glasgow Warriors: R Hughes; L Sarto, P Kelly, S Johnson, R Nairn; A Hastings, G Horne; J Bhatti, J Malcolm, D Rae, G Peterson, S Cummings, M Fagerson, M Smith, A Ashe (C). Replacements: A Allan, G Stewart, A Nicol, B Alainu’uese, K McDonald, G Stokes, H Burr, C Fusaro, L Wynne, C Shiel, S McDowell, L Jones, R Beattie.
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