RETURNING DUO SHARPEN THE WARRIORS’ ATTACK

NIKO MATAWALU and Tommy Seymour will add to the power and potency of the Glasgow Warriors backline as they prepare to make their first appearances of the season against Cardiff tonight. The Fijian scrum-half, who has only just returned to Scotstoun, takes his place on the bench, while Seymour will start his first game since the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand. Although Scotland winger Seymour didn’t make the Test team, he did finish the tour as their top try-scorer with three touchdowns for the midweek side and will bring an extra edge to the Warriors’ attack in the Welsh capital. He had been rested for Glasgow’s opening Guinness Pro14 wins over Connacht away and against the Ospreys at home, with head coach Dave Rennie originally planning to start Seymour on the bench at Cardiff Arms Park until injuries put paid to that plan. ‘Lelia Masaga was to start on the wing but he pulled up yesterday with a bit of tightness in the calf and is out of the game,’ said Rennie. ‘My initial idea was to give Tommy 30 minutes to get a taste of things down in Cardiff prior to playing Munster next week. ‘But now with Lelia being injured he has an opportunity to start. Obviously, he hasn’t had a lot of rugby in the last few weeks, but he has been training and he has really impressed. So I’m looking forward to seeing him out there.’ Matawalu, meanwhile, comes into the selection reckoning at least a month ahead of schedule. It had been thought the Fijian would take at least four weeks to get back to match fitness. But he has trained well and with wingers Masaga and Rory Hughes both out through injury, he has been brought on to the bench as cover for the two starting widemen Seymour and Lee Jones. ‘The ideal scenario was that we would bring Niko back in after a month,’ said Rennie. ‘But we have put a lot of time into getting him ready and he is on the bench. ‘We have a fair few injuries out wide with Lelia and Rory Hughes last week. Leo Sarto is out and Robbie Nairn is still coming back from concussion. Niko gets his opportunity a little bit earlier than we thought but he is ready to go.’