The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Nakarawa in line to start for Warriors
Fijian back to help Scotstoun club’s bid to reach Heineken Champions Cup last eight
It’ll be a long weekend for Glasgow Warriors as they wait to see whether they can squeeze into the last eight of the Heineken Champions Cup, but fans travelling to Sale will have the joy of seeing Leone Nakarawa in a Warriors shirt again.
The Fijian will make his first start since returning to Scotstoun at one of the clubs who courted him when he was fired by Racing 92, but in the back row as Dave Rennie goes for an attacking formation knowing they need four tries and the win at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Nakarawa has not played since the Rugby World Cup but has hit the ground running on his return to Glasgow and is in the team barely a week and a half after arriving.
“He has looked good, he has been very good at picking up instructions and he was even close for last week,” said Rennie.
“We will have an indication of where his lungs are at during the game, but he’s picked everything up quickly.
“He’s been loving it, you can see in training how much he is enjoying it.
“We don’t expect him to perform like a champion first out, we just want him to work hard, do his job and his natural ability will mean there should be a bit of ball coming out of his hands.”
Injury to Matt Fagerson and suspension to Callum Gibbins forced a change in the back row and Tom Gordon, newly included in the Scotland squad, will get a start.
“I think he’s international calibre, an impressive athlete, very explosive and powerful, a dominant tackler, and he has a bit of a nose for stealing ball posttackle,” Rennie said of Gordon.
“We are rapt for him and he gives us a genuine ball-carrying option this week.”
Sale have picked a side less than full strength, with Faf de Klerk not playing along with the rest of Steve Diamond’s
South African contingent, although the Curry brothers are in the back row.
“They sent a young squad away last week to La Rochelle and rested a lot of the big boys, and they have Exeter in the league next week,” said Rennie.
“Our assumption was that they would play a strong line-up in preparation for that game to get combinations going and because they are at home. We still expect them to go full throttle.
“We are aware of what we need to do but we are not really talking about having to score four tries.
“We have just got to go out and apply pressure and let the scoreboard take care of itself.
“It is also going to depend on other results, we will be cheering for a lot of French clubs this weekend.”
Glasgow team: Glenn Bryce; DTH van der Merwe, Huw Jones, Sam Johnson, Kyle Steyn; Adam Hastings, Ali Price; Aki Seuili, Fraser Brown, Zander Fagerson; Scott Cummings, Jonny Gray; Leone Nakarawa, Tom Gordon, Ryan Wilson (capt).
Replacements: George Turner, Oli Kebble, Adam Nicol, Rob Harley, Chris Fusaro, George Horne, Pete Horne, Niko Matawalu.