Fagerson to make 50th appearance for Glasgow

Matt Fagerson will make his 50th Glasgow Warriors appearance in his side’s meeting with Scarlets at Scotstoun tomorrow night, as the 21-year-old lines up at number eight in a team showing three changes from last weekend’s defeat in Bloemfontein.

Head Coach Dave Rennie has elected to make two alterations to the back-line that kicked off against the Toyota Cheetahs, with Ruaridh Jackson promoted to the starting XV after coming off the bench in South Africa.

The club centurion is joined by Rory Hughes and Kyle Steyn in the back-three, the wing duo having been selected to start for a second successive week.

Stafford McDowall also comes into the back division, partnering Huw Jones in midfield to make his first start of the campaign, whilst an unchanged half-back combination sees Nick Frisby and Brandon Thomson continue at nine and ten respectively.

The final change to the starting XV comes in the pack, as Kiran McDonald comes into the second-row to partner Tim Swinson.

An unchanged front-row sees Oli Kebble and D’arcy Rae continue either side of Grant Stewart, whilst Rob Harley and captain Callum Gibbins flank Matt Fagerson in the back-row.

After both making their competitive debuts for the Warriors in South Africa last weekend, Johnny Matthews and Jamie Dobie are in line to make a first competitive appearance at Scotstoun from
the replacements’ bench.

Tom Gordon also comes into the squad to take the 19 jersey, whilst Glenn Bryce and Paddy Kelly join the replacements for the club’s first home outing of the new season.

The remainder of the matchday 23 is unchanged, with Alex Allan, Adam Nicol and Chris Fusaro all having come off the bench in South Africa.

Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Dave Rennie paid tribute to Fagerson ahead of his landmark appearance, as well as highlighting the reaction he expects from his side tomorrow night.

“The most impressive thing for me is the number of games that Matt has started in his 50 caps,” said Rennie.

“It’s a phenomenal achievement for him to reach 50 caps at the age of 21, but to have 40 of those as starts is incredible. He’s a player we rate really highly and those figures highlight the respect we have for him.

“He offers a real point of difference with his explosive ball-carrying. It’ll be a proud day for him and his family.

“The reaction [this week] has been exactly what we expect from the players. It was a disappointing defeat to a Cheetahs side that played very well, but we were miles off it.

“We had a pretty brutal review and then the players have responded well in training. We’re expecting another tough test this weekend, though, against a very good Scarlets side.”

Glasgow Warriors team to play the Scarlets in the Guinness PRO14, Scotstoun Stadium, Friday 4 October, kick-off 7.35pm, live on Premier Sports 1. You can follow the game in the Live Match Centre at glasgowwarriors.org. Glasgow Warriors appearances
in brackets:

1. Oli Kebble (33)
2. Grant Stewart (25)
3. D’arcy Rae (62)
4. Kiran McDonald (17)
5. Tim Swinson (128)
6. Rob Harley (213)
7. Callum Gibbins (C) (35)
8. Matt Fagerson (49)

9. Nick Frisby (14)
10. Brandon Thomson (21)
11. Rory Hughes (47)
12. Stafford McDowall (13)
13. Huw Jones (21)
14. Kyle Steyn (11)
15. Ruaridh Jackson (152)

Replacements

16. Johnny Matthews (1)
17. Alex Allan (91)
18. Adam Nicol (10)
19. Tom Gordon (6)
20. Chris Fusaro (165)
21. Jamie Dobie (1)
22. Paddy Kelly (6)
23. Glenn Bryce (20)

Not available due to injury: Andrew Davidson (head), Bruce Flockhart (shoulder), Nick Grigg (knee), Lee Jones (hamstring), Ali Price (foot) and Jale Vakaloloma (shoulder).