BRUCE FLOCKHART makes the starting line-up for Glasgow Warriors for the first time in tonight’s match with Cardiff Blues, with head coach Dave Rennie making four changes from the team which was defeated by Scarlets last weekend.
Also coming into the starting fifteen are Adam Nicol and Alex Allan in the front row, coming into the team in place of Oli Kebble and D’arcy Rae respectively, while Scotland internationalist Nick Grigg returns in midfield.
22-year-old Flockhart will line up at blindside flanker and having made four appearances last season as a replacement, has been awarded his first start. He may be somewhat inexperienced but Rennie is confident he can bring a number of positives to the team.
“Bruce is very good defensively,” he said.
“He’s a big, powerful man so we’re looking forward to seeing him play.
“He played a lot less last season than we wanted but this is a great opportunity for him now and it’s a great chance for him to get a foot in the door.”
Warriors have had a disappointing start to the season, losing their opening two games of the Guinness Pro14. A heavy defeat to the Cheetahs was then followed by a much tighter defeat to Scarlets and while a win is certainly what last season’s runners-up are looking for against Cardiff, Rennie is not hitting the panic button just yet.
“We were really poor against Cheetahs but then we did more than enough to win last week (against Scarlets),” he said.
“We made errors though - in an eight minute spell, we conceded three tries. But I thought we played pretty well in the first 40 minutes and the last 20 minutes so we just need to build on that.
“We’re not panicking – we’ve prepared really well for this game, this has been our best week. We know Cardiff will bring a good side here so it’s important that we perform to our ability.”
Edinburgh defeated Cardiff last weekend but with the two Scottish sides playing significantly different styles, Rennie is not looking along the M8 for too many tactical tips.
“We play a very different game to Edinburgh,” he said.
“We want to play at a tempo that’s not challenging defensively. We played Cardiff four times last year so we’ve a good understanding of what to expect. You have to apply pressure for long periods of time.
We want to have a good balance to our game and we just need to play for the full 80 minutes.”
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