Venue: Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
Kick-off: 19:35
Referee: Mike Adamson
Following the turgid display at BT Murrayfield last weekend, Danny Wilson has made four changes for the return fixture that has been re-scheduled from Round 9 after Glasgow had to call off with a number of players Covid isolating.
Young backs Ross Thompson (standoff) and Rufus McLean (wing) will make their first starts for Edinburgh’s visit to Scotstoun as perhaps an early sign that Glasgow need to start bringing forward their young talents sooner rather than later given the fairly obvious gaps in their squad.
Oli Kebble’s return to full fitness sees the newly-minted Scotland prop come into the lineup at loose-head, joining George Turner and Zander Fagerson in the front row where there will be another tussle for the purists against a strong Edinburgh scrum that will be bolstered in behind by the return of lock Grant Gilchrist from the groin injury that has kept him out since October.
Up against Gilchrist, Richie Gray will be looking to continue his mini resurgence – aka playing in two games back to back – with more lineout dominance this week.
Huw Jones, who was one of the few attacking sparks in the uninspiring fixture last weekend continues at full back outside of Nick Grigg. Just think, if only Glasgow had any other options at outside centre?
Mind you, the Warriors other fullback, Glenn Bryce, is off to LA to play Major League Rugby (in the same team as Adam Ashe and DTH) so Glasgow’s search for a replacement to (the irreplaceable) Stuart Hogg, who left in 2019, continues.
Edinburgh look like they have too much up front if it does deteriorate into another game of endless scrums and box-kicking, so Glasgow’s best route to success may be to try and find some inspiration out wide in the manner of their golden years.
One thing that may give the home side some comfort is the absence of both Duhan Van Der Merwe (knee injury) and Darcy Graham (personal reasons), but which means we’re once again relying on an out of position Jones or one of the youngsters for something that passes as entertainment.
Glasgow Warriors: Huw Jones, Lee Jones, Nick Grigg, Robbie Fergusson, Rufus McLean, Ross Thompson, Ali Price; Oli Kebble, George Turner, Zander Fagerson, Richie Gray, Scott Cummings, Ryan Wilson (CAPT), Tom Gordon, Matt Fagerson.
Replacements: Johnny Matthews, Aki Seiuli, Enrique Pieretto, Lewis Bean, TJ Ioane, Jamie Dobie, Brandon Thomson, Glenn Bryce.
Glasgow unavailable for selection: Alex Allan, Fraser Brown, Rob Harley, Adam Hastings, George Horne, Pete Horne, Sam Johnson, Sean Kennedy, Kiran McDonald, Niko Matawalu, Leone Nakarawa, Tommy Seymour, Kyle Steyn
Edinburgh: Blair Kinghorn, Eroni Sau, Mark Bennett, Chris Dean, Jack Blain, Jaco van der Walt, Nic Groom, Rory Sutherland, Stuart McInally (CO-CAPT), Simon Berghan, Andrew Davidson, Grant Gilchrist (CO-CAPT), Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Viliame Mata.
Replacements: David Cherry, Pierre Schoeman, WP Nel, Jamie Hodgson, Magnus Bradbury, Henry Pyrgos, Nathan Chamberlain, James Johnstone.
UPDATE: This game was cancelled due to a frozen pitch.