Brown to captain Warriors against Edinburgh

Fraser Brown has been named Glasgow Warriors captain for tomorrow’s sold-out game against neighbours Edinburgh, as Dave Rennie makes just one change to his starting XV.

Glasgow defeated reigning Champions Leinster at the RDS in their last outing and Head Coach Rennie has rewarded the team that won in Dublin, with the one change enforced by an injury to Chris Fusaro.

Glasgow know that a win against the capital side will guarantee them top spot in Conference A and a home semi-final in the Guinness PRO14 Final Series.

Tom Gordon replaces Fusaro in the back-row, the 22-year-old making his first home start for the club. He started the PRO14 win against Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park in February and this will be his fourth appearance in a Warriors shirt, fresh from signing a new two-year deal this week.

On the bench, club co-captain Ryan Wilson is selected for the first time since getting injured playing for Scotland back in February.

Since injuring his hamstring in the opening minutes at the RDS, Chris Fusaro has now successfully undergone surgery and will not feature for the club again this season. Tim Swinson has undergone ankle surgery and will also be unavailable for the remaining games of this campaign.

Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Dave Rennie said: “Ever since we dropped to second in the conference behind Munster back in January we’ve been under pressure and we’ve not lost a game since then.

“To win titles you have to be able to perform under pressure and we’ve shown in recent weeks, especially in the last two rounds against Ulster here and Leinster in Dublin, that we can rise to those occasions and actually thrive when there is a lot at stake.

“We’ve got ourselves in a good spot and we know if we win tomorrow night we won’t have to leave Glasgow again this season.”

Glasgow Warriors team to play Edinburgh in the Guinness PRO14, Scotstoun Stadium, Saturday 27 April, kick-off 7.35pm, live on Premier Sports 1. You can follow the game on Twitter @GlasgowWarriors. Glasgow Warriors appearances in brackets:

1. Jamie Bhatti (44)
2. Fraser Brown (C) (87)
3. Zander Fagerson (78)
4. Scott Cummings (55)
5. Jonny Gray (101)
6. Rob Harley (209)
7. Tom Gordon (3)
8. Matt Fagerson (45)

9. Ali Price (74)
10. Adam Hastings (28)
11. Niko Matawalu (114)
12. Sam Johnson (49)
13. Kyle Steyn (7)
14. Tommy Seymour (129)
15. Stuart Hogg (118)

Replacements

16. Grant Stewart (22)
17. Alex Allan (89)
18. D’Arcy Rae (60)
19. Tevita Tameilau (5)
20. Ryan Wilson (151)
21. George Horne (39)
22. Pete Horne (156)
23. Rory Hughes (45)

Unavailable players: Adam Ashe (head), Bruce Flockhart (shoulder), Chris Fusaro (hamstring), Callum Gibbins (head), Nick Grigg (ankle), Siua Halanukonuka (shoulder), Lee Jones (knee), Oli Kebble (back), Tim Swinson (ankle) George Turner (head) and DTH van der Merwe (shoulder).