Johnson and Seymour return for Cardiff trip

Sam Johnson will play his first game of the season this Sunday, starting against Cardiff Blues in the Heineken Champions Cup.

The centre, who was injured in the Warriors’ pre-season game against Northampton Saints, comes straight into the starting XV fresh from being named in Gregor Townsend’s Scotland squad for the 2018 Autumn Tests.

Johnson is joined in midfield by Huw Jones, and they both start outside of the same half-back pairing that played against Saracens at Scotsotun last Sunday.

DTH van der Merwe and Lee Jones start on the wings again and Tommy Seymour returns to the staring XV at full-back.

Dave Rennie has named an unchanged starting forward pack following their physical display against the English Champions.

On the bench, Scott Cummings returns to the matchday squad to cover the second-row and Niko Matawalu will look to add his spark to the game when he comes on.

Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Dave Rennie said: “Sam (Johnson) was excellent for us last year and has worked hard to recover from an injury he picked up in pre-season.

“He’s got a really good skillset and communicates well and he’s excited to get back out there.

“We were happy with our physicality and the effort we saw against Saracens and we’ll need to be just as aggressive against Cardiff who picked up a good win in France in Round 1.”

Glasgow Warriors team to play Cardiff Blues in the Heineken Champions Cup at Cardiff Arms Park, Sunday 21 October, kick off 3.15pm – live on BT Sport 3. You can follow the game on Twitter @GlasgowWarriors. Glasgow Warriors appearances in brackets:

1. Oli Kebble (15)
2. Fraser Brown (81)
3. D’Arcy Rae (46)
4. Rob Harley (190)
5. Jonny Gray (92)
6. Ryan Wilson (145) (CC)
7. Callum Gibbins (21) (CC)
8. Matt Fagerson (31)

9. Ali Price (62)
10. Adam Hastings (16)
11. DTH can der Merwe (106)
12. Sam Johnson (40)
13. Huw Jones (12)
14. Lee Jones (79)
15. Tommy Seymour (119)

Replacements

16. George Turner (26)
17. Alex Allan (80)
18. Petrus du Plessis (1)
19. Scott Cummings (42)
20. Chris Fusaro (148)
21. George Horne (26)
22. Pete Horne (144)
23. Niko Matawalu (96)

Not available due to injury: Alex Dunbar (head), Zander Fagerson (ankle), Siua Halanukanuka (foot), Stuart Hogg (ankle), Kiran McDonald (hand) and Tim Swinson (lower limb).