Brown brought in to add muscle to Glasgow pack
GLASGOW WARRIORS head coach Danny Wilson has turned to 20-year-old Gregor Brown to bolster his team’s back-row physicality in this afternoon’s United Rugby Championship play-off quarter-final clash against Leinster in Dublin.
The youngster will be making only his fifth appearance and his second start for the club, having spent 13 months between March last year and the start of May out of action with a serious injury.
The selection of the 6ft
3in and 17 stone Brown at openside flanker, with Tom Gordon dropping to the bench, is the only change to the starting XV after Glasgow’s defeat against Edinburgh in their last outing a fortnight ago, while the bench is boosted by the return of fit-again Scotland internationals Fraser Brown and George Horne.
“Gregor brings a physical presence that I think we will need in Leinster,” said Wilson. “He can play six and seven and has had some really good games for us. He has returned from a long injury to come off the bench a few times and now he is ready to start.
“He has played more rugby for us at six, but that has been mainly down to the likes of Rory Darge and others who have been playing a lot at seven,” Wilson added. “He came on against Edinburgh at seven in the last game so he has had a bit of rugby there.
“It is also about making sure we have got the physicality that we will need early in this game, then we also have Tom, who can bring a real impact off the bench if the game becomes a bit more broken.
“At the moment we have a number of injuries, people who aren’t available to us,” replied Wilson, when asked if he had been tempted to make more changes following the team’s poor performance against Edinburgh. “Plus, we have a number of experienced players coming back on the bench. Fraser Brown has been injured since the Bulls game at the end of April and he will bring
leadership and experience off the bench. Likewise, George Horne has been out since the Munster game in February but has trained really well recently and played a Super6 game so brings that experience.”
Few outside the squad will regard Glasgow as having a credible chance of winning this match, but Wilson insisted that his team will approach this game with plenty of belief in their ability to cause an upset.
“In the last game of last season we beat Leinster at Scotstoun, and in recent times Glasgow have gone to Leinster and won against strong teams,” he pointed out. “Leinster are obviously a very good side – they finished top of the log for a reason – but I’ve told the boys that there was only three wins difference between us and Leinster in the league. They had 13 wins to our 10, and the were beaten again on the weekend [by La Rochelle in the Heineken
Cup Final]. That gives us confidence that they are not a side that are unbeaten,” Wilson reasoned. “There is a whole host of reasons why I think we can go there and win.
“There is no bigger challenge than going to Leinster as underdogs. We have a free shot to have a real crack in a game where maybe not a lot of people give us a huge chance.”
Leinster have made seven changes to the team which started last week’s Heineken Cup Final. Talismanic standoff Johnny Sexton picked up an ankle injury in that match and is not involved this week, hooker Ronan Kelleher has a shoulder injury, while powerhouse winger James Lowe, who has been carrying a knee niggle recently, is rested.
Meanwhile, there is some heavy artillery to come off the home bench, including three British and Irish Lions in prop Cian Healy, back-row Jack Conan and centre Robbie
Henshaw. “What we’ve seen is how they’ve become a marker for a lot of us in this league by developing almost two different sides who can still go out and perform,” acknowledged Wilson.
“The team that beat Munster two weeks ago was almost unrecognisable from the team that played in a European final against La Rochelle last week, so that shows the depth that they’ve created and the aim for us has to be able to do that.
“This Leinster team has a fair amount of those quality names in the starting XV and others loaded onto the bench. That tells you that there are maybe a few boys who they want to bring on to make a late impact in the game.”
Glasgow Warriors (v Leinster at RDS Arena, today, 3.15pm): O Smith; J McKay, S Tuipulotu, S Johnson, R McLean; R Thompson, A Price; J Bhatti, G Turner, Z Fagerson, R Harley, R Gray, R Wilson (captain), G Brown, J Dempsey. Substitutes F Brown, O Kebble, S Berghan, L Bean, K McDonald,
T Gordon, G Horne, D Miotti.
Leinster J O’Brien; J Armour, G Ringrose, C Frawley, R O’Loughlin; R Byrne, J Gibson-Park; A Porter. D Sheehan, R Furlong, J McCarthy, J Ryan, R Baird, J van der Flier, C Doris.
S Cronin, C Healy, M Ala’alatoa, R Molony, J Conan, L McGrath, H Byrne, R Henshaw.
It is also about making sure we have got the physicality that we will need early in this game