Three changes for 1872 Cup decider

• 29 Dec 2023

A Glasgow Warriors team showing three alterations from last weekend’s victory over Edinburgh will run out at Scottish Gas Murrayfield tomorrow afternoon, as they look to end the calendar year on a high against their cross-country rivals.

Franco Smith’s men travel east defending a 12-point advantage in the aggregate score of the double-header, having earned a 22-10 win in front of the Warrior Nation at Scotstoun last Friday night.

Johnny Matthews is the only change to the front-row that faced off against the men from the capital last weekend, the top try-scorer in the BKT United Rugby Championship packing down between Scotland colleagues Jamie Bhatti and Zander Fagerson.

The second-row is unchanged, meaning that Scott Cummings and Richie Gray continue their partnership in the engine room at the home of Scottish rugby.

Thomas Gordon comes into the back-row to replace the injured Sione Vailanu, with Ally Miller – try-scorer in both of the club’s last two fixtures – shifting to number eight in a trio completed by Rory Darge at openside.

George Horne continues at scrum-half after a composed display last weekend, whilst Tom Jordan is the only alteration to the back-line as he comes into the starting lineup at fly-half.

Stafford McDowall lines up alongside Sione Tuipulotu in the midfield, the latter once again leading out the Warriors against their opponents from the east.

Josh McKay continues at full-back after a Player of the Match-winning performance at Scotstoun last Friday, the flyer joined by Huw Jones and Kyle Rowe – scorer of the opening try last time out – in an unchanged back-three.

The replacements see George Turner and Ross Thompson both rotate to the bench after starting last time out, the latter having made his first league start in over a year under the Scotstoun floodlights.

Nathan McBeth and Oli Kebble join Turner as the front-row cover, whilst Greg Peterson is set to make his final appearance for the club before departing for San Diego Legion in the New Year.

Max Williamson and Henco Venter retain their places amongst the replacements in a six-two split of forwards and backs, with Ben Afshar joining Thompson as the cover for the back division.

Speaking following selection, Head Coach Smith told glasgowwarriors.org: “We are expecting another tough encounter tomorrow afternoon – while it is a big privilege for our players to play at Murrayfield, we expect Edinburgh to come out hard as they look to rectify their missed opportunities at Scotstoun last weekend as we know they still believe they can win this tie.

“We have prepared well for this challenge and will look to be the best version of ourselves tomorrow, as we keep working hard to make each other better.

“We know that we will have a strong travelling support inside Murrayfield tomorrow and we want to put on a performance to finish the calendar year on a high.”

Glasgow Warriors team to face Edinburgh at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, Saturday 30 December, kick-off 3pm. You can watch the match live on Viaplay Sports, or follow all the action in our Live Match Centre at glasgowwarriors.org.

1 Jamie Bhatti (96)
2 Johnny Matthews (59)
3 Zander Fagerson (136)
4 Scott Cummings (113)
5 Richie Gray (109)
6 Thomas Gordon (69)
7 Rory Darge (39)
8 Ally Miller (21)

9 George Horne (105)
10 Tom Jordan (34)
11 Kyle Rowe (8)
12 Stafford McDowall (66)
13 Sione Tuipulotu (C) (43)
14 Huw Jones (64)
15 Josh McKay (35)

Replacements

16 George Turner (96)
17 Nathan McBeth (30)
18 Oli Kebble (93)
19 Greg Peterson (42)
20 Max Williamson (5)
21 Henco Venter (6)
22 Ben Afshar (4)
23 Ross Thompson (43)

Unavailable for selection: Fraser Brown (knee), Gregor Brown (knee), Sebastian Cancelliere (neck), Jack Dempsey (face), Jamie Dobie (ankle), Matt Fagerson (face), Sintu Manjezi (foot), Enrique Pieretto (knee), JP du Preez (knee), Ollie Smith (knee), Lucio Sordoni (shoulder), Kyle Steyn (ankle), Sione Vailanu (knee), Murphy Walker (knee).