Right, let’s get the bad news out of the way first of all.
“Leone Nakarawa injured his knee, it looks like an MCL so he’ll be out for a few weeks,” reported the Glasgow Warriors coach Dave Rennie on the sore one that has forced the influential, industrious and inventive Fijian on to the sidelines.
If you’re well versed in the various cogs, pulleys and pistons that are housed in the knee area you’ll probably know that wear and tear on the medial collateral ligament is one of the more common ailments and not as crippling as other injuries in that particular part of the anatomy.
It’s still a scunner, though. “Generally you can get them back and going inside six weeks, so that’s the plan,” added Rennie of Nakarawa’s enforced period of rest and recuperation.
And now the good news. Despite Nakarawa’s absence, Rennie has still assembled a sturdy side that packs plenty of punch for tonight’s mighty PRO14 test against table-topping Leinster.
D’Arcy Rae has returned from Scotland duties to make his first appearance for the Warriors since they played Leinster at Scotstoun in November and is one of five players coming back to club from country in a squad featuring 15 internationalists.
Huw Jones is also back in a Warriors shirt having been dropped from the Scotland side which won in Italy last weekend.
“Our players are always enthusiastic when they come back in,” Rennie said of the returning players.
“Huw’s no different. He got hold of me immediately when he knew he wasn’t going to be with Scotland last week and he was desperate to play.
“It’s good to welcome back a few of the international boys. Kyle (Steyn), George Turner and Tom Gordon are all back, and they’re jumping out of their skin to play. We also got Matt Fagerson and George Horne back. We’ve got a very experienced group.”
Of course, trying to get anything from Leinster these days is a task akin to raiding Fort Knox with a bent soup spoon.
The invincible Irishmen have won 12 out of 12 in the PRO14 campaign and are on an 18-game winning streak in all competitions.
The Warriors certainly can’t compete with that kind of rampaging run but a trio of successive five-point wins recently has given them plenty to be chipper about.
🆕 Here is your Glasgow Warriors side to take on @leinsterrugby at the RDS tomorrow night live on Premier Sports 2, brought to you by @MackenzieConstr
— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) February 27, 2020
⚔️🛡️
The Warriors lost 23-10 to Leinster in November but, against a formidable foe, Rennie is quietly confident his troops can give the reigning PRO14 champions a run for their money.
“They’re 18 out of 18, it’s phenomenal, isn’t it?,” he said with admiration. “The quality in depth that they have is unreal. They’ve got a few back from the national team as well but we are one side that can go over there and put them under pressure.
“Obviously it (November’s defeat) was a disappointing result for us. we played pretty well for a big chunk of that game, but you’ve got to be clinical against Leinster.
“We scored a couple of tries early, we left a couple out there, and they scored twice within a couple of minutes. And then strangled us out of the game in the second half, as they can do. But I think we’re playing a lot better footy now - and we’re going to have to play well at Leinster.”
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