HORNE BLOWER
GlaSgoW Warriors head coach Dave Rennie insisted he will pick his starting XV on form after springing a surprise by selecting ‘electric’ george Horne to start at scrum-half for tomorrow’s 1872 Cup clash with Edinburgh.
Established Scotland stars ali Price and Henry Pyrgos have both been left out to accommodate Horne as glasgow play their final league game before the guinness Pro14 play-offs.
Describing Horne as glasgow’s ‘best performing nine’ of the season, he is confident the 22-year-old can turn in a performance that can secure him a place on the Scotland summer tour to Canada, USa and argentina.
The selection of Horne, younger brother of glasgow centre Peter, will put a rocket up Pyrgos, who is at least on the bench and Price, who doesn’t even make the squad.
Rennie denied it is a risk starting the youngster, who has scored nine tries in nine Pro14 league games this season but who has missed the last few weeks after playing for the Scotland Sevens team at the Commonwealth games in australia.
The Warriors head coach believes Pyrgos and Price may be more experienced but they don’t have the cutting edge that Horne has shown this season.
Playing alongside Finn Russell at ten, Rennie expects the pair to take the game to Edinburgh from the first whistle.
‘We have always said we would pick on form, so george has been rewarded,’ said the Warriors head coach.
‘He has been our best performing nine over the course of the season.
‘His speed around the track, his ability to get to the ball quickly, his ability to get more than one touch in any attacking move and his desire to be constantly involved suits the way we will want to play.
‘He is just electric. He’s been fantastic for us and deserves his opportunity to play in such a big game.
‘on the technical side of things, Mike Blair has done a lot of work with him. From a conditioning
point of view, he is in great shape. He is a good kid, keen to learn and prepared to work hard.
‘He has come back from the Commonwealth games invigorated and ready to go against Edinburgh.’
Rennie clearly believes Horne has shown enough this season to be called up by gregor Townsend for Scotland’s summer tour.
‘Whether he goes is probably a question for gregor but remember we are starting him ahead of two pretty experienced half-backs,’ added the Kiwi.
Price has had a dramatic dip in form after starting the season as both Scotland and glasgow’s first-choice scrum-half but Rennie insists the 24-year-old can bounce back.
‘look, scrum-half is a competitive position for us,’ said the Warriors head coach. ‘ali is a good man, he’s working hard on his game and he’s had a really good training week so far this week, so he’s continuing to put pressure on us for selection. ‘But george has been excellent and I’ve been really wrapped with how Henry has gone in the last five or six weeks, so he gets the role of backing up george against Edinburgh.’
Capital head coach Richard Cockerill, meanwhile, seemed a little shocked by Horne’s selection but didn’t think glasgow would be weakened by his inclusion.
‘Horne, is he starting?,’ asked Cockerill, with a look of surprise on his face.
‘look they’ll pick who they want to pick, I don’t really mind. We’ll pick our best team and just crack on.’
Cockerill continued his mind games in the build-up to the match, reiterating his claim that glasgow were under pressure to get on a winning run with the play-offs just round the corner.
‘glasgow are genuine contenders to win the title, so the expectation is more on them,’ said Cockerill.
‘They have the better players and a bigger budget. It is as simple as that. The pressure is on them to get back on form.
‘Their form has not been great, however, we have lost our bottle a little bit as well in a couple of big games against Cardiff and Ulster.
‘We are not genuine contenders to win the title. To have that expectation, you are only going to lead yourself to a disappointing place.
‘If we are good enough to get into the play-offs, that will be a good experience for us.
‘look, we are not even in the top 20 teams in Europe because we don’t play in the European Champions Cup competition, so this part is learning for us.
‘glasgow have no doubt more X factor than us but the sum of our parts are strong.
‘We are not entering the jamboree of “let’s all run around and chuck the ball away and see what happens” against glasgow. We will play like we play.
‘our set-piece and breakdown work has to be strong. That has got us to a good place this year and we need to make sure that continues.’
Rennie has no fears as ‘best performing nine’ set to start cup decider