Euro alert as Rennie rings the changes
Glasgow warriors head coach Dave Rennie isn’t the type to let his players rest on their laurels.
worried they would let the Heineken Champions Cup victory over lyon go to their heads, the Kiwi has made eight changes for the return match at scotstoun to guard against complacency.
Indeed, he has shaken things up for the sold-out clash at lunchtime today to the extent that three of his top performers from the game in France are surprisingly axed completely from the match-day 23. out go back-row forward adam ashe, who scored two tries in a man-of-the-match display, scrum-half george Horne, who also touched down, and centre Nick grigg, who was outstanding for the full 80 minutes.
Their replacements are fellow scotland internationals Ryan wilson, ali Price and Huw Jones.
The only enforced change out of the eight is george Turner. He takes over from hooker Fraser Brown, who is out for between eight and ten weeks after a knee operation. Rennie, asked whether he had made so many changes to guard against complacency after last week’s 42-22 bonus-point win, replied: ‘That’s the reason. If you put the same squad out as last week, maybe deep down the guys would think it was going to be a little bit easier than it is.
‘we’ve made a number of changes, which we don’t think weakens us at all.’
The head coach acknowledged that ashe had played superbly in the victory in lyon, but felt he had taken so much out of himself he needed to be rested. although missing this week, the 25-year-old is expected to feature in the Pro14 away derby match against Edinburgh at Murrayfield a week today.
‘adam had a brilliant game last week but we are conscious of the fact he has played a fair bit in the last few weeks and is pretty battered,’ added Rennie. ‘we were really rapt with the way he played in lyon.
‘That is why he was chosen last week, but we have made changes because it will give us a bit of an edge.
‘with eight changes, that means we have eight guys who are determined to make a bit of a statement.
‘we have also brought guys on to the bench who were not part of the mix last week, either.
‘we don’t think there is a lot between a number of our players, so this creates competition for spots and we believe that will be healthy for us this week.’
as for not picking grigg at all and dropping his centre partner in France, Peter Horne, to the bench Rennie said: ‘we don’t want to churn out the same team week after week. There is a lot of rugby still to be played. Huw Jones and stafford McDowall come in to start in the centre for this game.
‘Nick grigg gets a rest as he has played a lot over the last five or six weeks. we have Peter Horne on the bench and he can cover 10 and midfield.
‘we are very happy with what stafford has put on the park recently and he signed a pro contract with us this week.
‘He has a very good skill set with regards to distribution and kicking.
‘He has a massive work ethic and is a big guy, but it is his composure more than anything that has impressed us most.
‘This is a big game for him, his European debut, but he has good players around him.
‘Centre is a position where we have Peter Horne, Huw Jones, Nick grigg, stafford McDowall and alex Dunbar.
‘He (Dunbar) had a bit of club footy last week for ayr and just tweaked his shoulder.
‘He came off after about 60 minutes, so we didn’t consider him for this game.
‘It is a very competitive spot and a bit of a juggling act when it comes to selection.’
Following their five-try home
defeat to glasgow last weekend, lyon are out of the running to qualify for the Champions Cup knockout stage.
Knowing they have nothing to play for takes the pressure off the French side — and that worries Rennie.
‘lyon have nothing to lose,’ he said. ‘They can come here and express themselves. That makes them potentially dangerous, so we’re keen to put out a strong side and make sure we’ve got plenty of edge about us.’
Meanwhile, glasgow warriors prop oli Kebble has signed a one-year contract extension that will keep him at the club until at least 2020.
The south african-born loosehead joined in 2017 from the stormers, having played 47 times for Cape Town’s super Rugby side.
GLASGOW: Hogg; Seymour, Jones, McDowall, Matawalu; Hastings, Price; Kebble, Turner, Halanukonuka, Swinson, Gray, Wilson, Gibbins, Fagerson.
Replacements: Stewart, Bhatti, Du Plessis, Harley, Fusaro, Frisby, Peter Horne, Nairn.
LYON: Buttin; Mignot, Barassi, Regard, Palisson; Doussain, McLeod; Chaume, Lacombe, Kaabeche, Oosthuizen, Roodt, Goujon, Sobela, Fourie.
Replacements: Maurouard, Buckle, Yameogo, van der Merwe, Fearns, Wulf, Seguret, Delord.