Toony doesn’t want to watch the fail of two cities
RUGBY GLASGOW v EDINBURGH Exiting Glasgow coach hopeful of cup success after thriller at Scotstoun
GREGOR TOWNSEND hopes to end his reign at Glasgow with the 1872 Cup – but wants to see Edinburgh stars play a blinder.
The sides go head to head at a soldout Scotstoun today and although the Warriors will go into battle as red-hot favourites the last thing Toony wants to happen is a Gunners capitulation.
Immediately after the final whistle he will take over from Vern Cotter as Scotland boss. And his first task will be to finalise his squad to face Italy, Australia and Fiji on the summer tour.
He will reveal his selection on Monday but insisted there are still places up for grabs.
Toony said: “I will be taking a close interest in both teams then I will watch it over again a couple of times – maybe not on Saturday night but probably Sunday afternoon.
“Obviously I have been focusing on Glasgow but I have also been keeping tabs on the Edinburgh guys.
“There are still some very tight decisions to be made and something might happen in this match that persuades me to go for a certain player instead of another.”
Matt Fagerson and Scott Cummings could emerge as late contenders after they were surprisingly included in the Warriors starting XV.
Townsend said: “They have done really well in the past few weeks. It will be interesting to see how Scott combines with Jonny Gray in the second row.
“It is comforting to know Tim Swinson can come off the bench and play either at lock or back row. The way Scott and Matt have worked just underlines what a bright future there is at the Warriors.
“They have earned this opportunity. What I have found as a coach is if you give someone opportunity, more often that not they grab that, no matter how old they are.”
Townsend also stressed more Scots can still become Lions in addition to Glasgow pair Stuart Hogg and Tommy Seymour.
He said: “Saracens have six players in the Lions squad and they will be playing another three games at least.
“The benefit for the Lions and for the Scotland tour is that after this weekend we have opportunities to refresh.
“That’s also not the case for people coming from Leinster and Munster Pro 12 semis and maybe a final ahead.”
Hogg makes his 100th appearance for Glasgow this evening, the youngest to reach the landmark.
And prop Zander Fagerson becomes the youngest to hit the 50 mark. Townsend said: “It is a fantastic achievement for both. On a different note it will be a farewell appearance for Gordy Reid, Sila Puafisi and Sean Lamont.
“We want to send them off on a high and I am sure all of the leavers will get a good reception from our fans.”
Gunners chief Duncan Hodge has recalled playmaker Duncan Weir to face his old team, operating alongside Sam Hidalgo-Clyne. And Scotland flanker John Hardie makes his first start since recovering from injury. Hodge said: “Glasgow are our biggest rivals and we need no more motivation than facing them on their home patch. “We’ve had a good week of preparation and we’ve got some confidence following our late win against Dragons last week. “Although we didn’t perform well on the whole we showed belief in our ability and a mental resilience to get the win. “It’s been a challenging season but we want to finish on a high while playing the open and exciting brand of rugby we’re capable of.”