Horne brothers to start in Treviso

George and Pete Horne will link up at half-back for Glasgow Warriors in the club’s first match of 2020, as Dave Rennie’s men travel to Italy to take on Benetton tomorrow afternoon.

A starting
XV containing 10 alterations from the side that faced Edinburgh at BT
Murrayfield will take to the field in Treviso, where the Warriors will be looking
to return to winning ways in the Guinness PRO14.

An all-new
front-row sees George Turner pack down between Aki Seiuli and Adam Nicol, with
all three men having come off the bench last weekend.

Rob Harley
moves from the flank to the second-row, linking up with the returning Tim
Swinson in the engine room in a partnership containing 356 club appearances.

Ryan Wilson captains
the side from number eight, with the Scotland international flanked by Bruce
Flockhart and Tom Gordon at blindside and openside respectively.

A
try-scoring cameo on his 50^th appearance for the club sees George
Horne start at scrum-half, as elder brother Pete starts outside him in the number
10 jersey.

Nick Grigg
comes into the side at outside centre, joining Sam Johnson in the Warriors’
midfield.

Wing duo
Niko Matawalu and Kyle Steyn provide the width, with Ruaridh Jackson retaining
the full-back shirt to complete the starting XV.

Player/coach
Petrus du Plessis is in line to make his first appearance of the 2019/20 season
after being named amongst the replacements, joining Oli Kebble and Grant
Stewart as the front-row cover on the bench.

Andrew
Davidson returns to the squad for the first time since October, with Chris
Fusaro providing a wealth of experience as the back-row cover.

Huw Jones
rotates to the bench following his try-scoring performance last time out, as
Nick Frisby and Glenn Bryce come into the matchday 23 to complete the side.

Speaking following
his selection, Rennie said: “We’ve got a number of international boys who have
played a lot for us over the last few weeks, so we need to rest a few of those
guys ahead of Europe. It’s a great opportunity for a few guys to make a
statement.

“Tom
[Gordon] is a really good athlete and explosive with ball in hand, and he’s
been good for us on both sides of the ball. We’re excited to see how he goes.
Bruce [Flockhart] has had a few niggles, but he’s been very good the times he’s
got onto the pitch this year and we’re looking forward to seeing him go tomorrow.

“We’ve
played some good rugby over the past few weeks and defended well, but it’s all
about consistency for us. That’s going to be key – if we can hang on to the
ball we can put Benetton under pressure.”

Glasgow
Warriors team to play Benetton in the Guinness PRO14, Saturday 4 January,
kick-off 1pm (UK time), live on Premier Sports 2. You can follow the action in
the Live Match Centre on glasgowwarriors.org. Glasgow Warriors appearances in
brackets.

1. Aki
Seiuli (5)
2. George Turner (42)
3. Adam Nicol (15)
4. Rob Harley (224)
5. Tim Swinson (132)
6. Bruce Flockhart (6)
7. Tom Gordon (13)
8. Ryan Wilson (C) (162)

9. George
Horne (50)
10. Pete Horne (163)
11. Niko Matawalu (122)
12. Sam Johnson (59)
13. Nick Grigg (65)
14. Kyle Steyn (21)
15. Ruaridh Jackson (159)

Replacements

16. Grant
Stewart (29)
17. Oli Kebble (42)
18. Petrus du Plessis (6)
19. Andrew Davidson (5)
20. Chris Fusaro (173)
21. Nick Frisby (19)
22. Huw Jones (30)
23. Glenn Bryce (24)

Not
available due to injury: Siua Halanukonuka (calf), Sean Kennedy (shoulder), Kiran McDonald
(hip), Robbie Nairn (knee), D’arcy Rae (hand), Brandon Thomson (calf), Tommy
Seymour (head) and DTH van der Merwe (knee and wrist).