HAVING made a fine start to his time as Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie is getting more of a taste of what a long Scottish rugby winter will be like as he juggles injuries and the need for squad rotation ahead of today’s visit to the winless Cardiff Blues.
Glasgow make the trip without skipper Ryan Wilson and Rory Hughes, both of whom are carrying minor injuries, their fellow cap Ali Price, who is rested, Kiwi winger Lelia Masaga, who pulled up in training on Thursday and another of their imports Oli Kebble who has a serious toe problem that may rule him out for most of the rest of this year.
The absence of Hughes and Masaga has meant an accelerated return to action for Tommy Seymour, making his first appearance since touring New Zealand with the British & Irish Lions.
“Initially we were going to have Tommy come off the bench, with Leila Masaga starting, but Leila pulled up yesterday with a bit of tightness in the calf,” Rennie said.
“The idea was to give Tommy 30 minutes to get a taste of things prior to Munster next week but he now has an opportunity to start which will be good.
“Obviously, he hasn’t had a lot of footy 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.”
Rennie admitted that as he continues to examine his squad and seek to keep things fresh, there would have been changes in every department had it not been for a combination of injuries and a hint of sentiment which means that the same front five as has started the previous two matches will do so again.
“We were really keen to give Oli a start and he’s not in the mix now,” he explained.
“And Tim Swinson plays his hundredth so we were keen to start him in this game. So we’ll certainly share the load, and over the next two or three weeks we’ll make some rotation there, but I’ve been pretty happy with the way they’ve been going so far.”
Being able to keep that particular unit together should do no harm in terms of generating consistency through continuity and in the back-row the experienced Callum Gibbins had a chance to settle into the back-row last week alongside Adam Ashe, while teenager Matt Fagerson has done enough in his two appearances to be trusted to start.
Behind them Price’s place is taken by Scotland rival Henry Pyrgos while Rennie is aware that their under-study George Horne is going to be a vital player as the season develops.
A re-shuffled back line sees Lee Jones switch wings and Alex Dunbar, scorer of two of last week’s tries, get the chance to demonstrate his flexibility with a switch from outside to inside centre to accommodate Nick Grigg.
“You need versatility so it’s important to us that he can play both,” Rennie observed.
“He’s got himself in great nick, as you saw last week. He’s sharp, he’s quick, so we’re happy to use him in either position.”
There is meanwhile the prospect of an old favourite returning to action sooner than expected with Niko Matawalu recalled to the squad.
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