Glasgow are taking no chances in Treviso showdown

AFTER the disappointment of Glasgow Warriors’ performance in Munster last week, Gregor Townsend, the head coach, has resisted any temptation to gamble with tonight’s home clash against Benetton Treviso, wheeling out most of his big guns in a bid to cement the result.

The good news for him and Vern Cotter, the Scotland head coach, is that he is able to welcome both Tommy Seymour and Peter Horne back into the squad after injuries – Seymour makes the starting side and Horne is on the bench – though the big interest among supporters is likely to be just as much about seeing the two new signings who will probably make their debuts.

Both Langilangi Haupeakui and Brian Alainu’uese are named on the bench and Townsend made it clear he intends to give both a run at some stage in the game, having been impressed with what he has seen in training so far.

To play just six days after arriving in the country from New Zealand is asking a lot of Alainu’uese, but Townsend has few doubts. “Brian is 22 but looks like he has been playing at the highest level for the last 10 years,” he said.

“He fitted in so well on Monday. We were working on our attack shape and he picked it up very quickly.

“He is obviously impressive physically, 135kg [21st 4lb] but moves well. We looked around a lot for second row cover but he stood out. He had an option to go to France but thankfully we got in at the right time and Dave [Rennie, who will take over as Glasgow coach next season] helped us. We are pretty excited about getting a player of that quality.”

Haupeakui has been here longer and did travel to Ireland with the squad last weekend in case of late injuries but was not needed. “He is desperate to play,” said Townsend. “His main strengths are defensive, he is an excellent tackler, really good timing of the hit. He has an American football background, he’s only been playing rugby for two years.

“He played both sides of the ball in American football, offence and defence and is a good runner – explosive.”

S Hogg; T Seymour, M Bennett, A Dunbar, R Hughes; F Russell, H Pyrgos (C); A Allan, P MacArthur, S Puafisi, T Swinson, J Gray (C), J Strauss, S Favaro, R Wilson. C Flynn, D Sears-Duru, D Rae, B Alainu’uese, L Haupeakui, A Price, P Horne, L Jones.

Glasgow Warriors Replacements Benetton Treviso

J Hayward; D Odiete, T Iannone, A Sgarbi, A Pratichetti; I McKinley, T Tebaldi; N Quaglio, L Bigi, S Ferrari, F Gerosa, M Fuser, D Budd, A Zanni (C), A Steyn. D Giazzon, F Zani, T Pasquali, F Minto, M Barbini, E Gori, T Allan, A Esposito. D Wilkinson

Replacements Referee