A GRAY DAY AS BROTHERS GO HEAD TO HEAD
BROTHERS Richie and Jonny Gray play against each other professionally for the first time today and Glasgow’s Champions Cup pool hopes could depend on the outcome.
Richie, now 32, came back to the Warriors last year after seven seasons in France – just as 27-year-old Jonny left Scotstoun for Exeter.
Both play in the second row, so will go head to head as the teams clash in the second round of pool games.
Jonny has outshone his brother over the last couple of years but Glasgow coach Danny Wilson still has a massive amount of faith in his man – and reckons his game has kicked on since he returned to Scotland.
He said: “I didn’t actually know that they haven’t played against each other before, so it’s quite an interesting twist to the game, isn’t it?
“They’re different players – they’re not identical in the way they go about the game.
“First and foremost, Richie is an outstanding line-out forward, both sides of the ball.
“He’s a source of line-out turnover, his kick-off work is excellent and he hits 25 to 30 rucks effectively per game – he’s got better at that since coming back to us.
“He also brings a wealth of experience. He leads by example.”
The Warriors need a win to get their campaign back on track after only picking up a losing bonus point at La Rochelle last week. Wilson has made just one change to the side that began the 20-13 defeat, with Jamie Bhatti starting in the front row instead of Oli Kebble.
Captain Ryan Wilson and winger Rufus McLean are unavailable for Covid reasons.
Gray is joined in Exeter’s line-up by fellow ex-Warrior Stuart Hogg and their Scotland teammate Sam Skinner.
The Chiefs hammered Glasgow 42-0 at Sandy Park a year ago in the same competition but the Warriors got a 31-31 draw the last time they were at home to Exeter in January 2020.
This will be the sixth time the teams have met in the past five seasons and Jonny Gray expects a difficult afternoon.
He said: “Both teams know each other very well and there are great players on both sides.
“It will be weird going back for the first time but we’ve talked already about preparing well because it’s going to be a tough game.”
GLASGOW: McKay, Steyn, Tuipulotu, Johnson, Forbes, Thompson, Price, Bhatti, Turner, Z Fagerson, Cummings, Gray, M Fagerson, Darge, Dempsey. Subs: Matthews, Kebble, Pieretto, McDonald, Harley, Gordon, Horne, Weir.