'Bright' future for Scotland with kids set for Glasgow Warriors game-time - and why key man didn't travel
Franco Smith has opted to give a host of younger players some key minutes against the Lions in Johannesburg.
Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith has named a 23-man squad with a mix of young and experienced players for this weekend’s United Rugby Championship match against the Lions.
20-year old duo Seb Stephen and Fergus Watson earn places in the starting XV at hooker and winger respectively, while fellow recent academy graduates Dylan Cockburn and Ryan Burke take up spots amongst the replacements. Burke could make his Warriors’ debut from the bench alongside 22-year old scrum half Jack Oliver, who is in from the start.
It’s a chance for these emerging talents to go out and impress in what is set to be a difficult set of URC matches, first this weekend at Ellis Park and then against the Stormers in Cape Town.
‘Scotland must be excited’ says Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith as young player set for more minutes
“I think we all must be really proud of the young generation coming through,” said Smith. “Scotland must be excited. The way these boys have worked to get the opportunity to be signed as pros is already a massive step forward. They know the way. They know what to do.
“I know how to introduce them, I believe the result of the game must never be on the young player's shoulder. Other boys must be able to step up for them.
“There's some important ingredients from my side to make sure that when a player does come in, that he progresses and he doesn't feel that he's going to lose confidence for the performance or a lack of performance. I think the future looks bright.”
Of course, the inclusion of these player has also been a necessity for Warriors due to their extensive injury list: Gregor Brown, Alex Craig, Scott Cummings, Jamie Dobie, George Horne, Charlie Savala, Tavi Tuipulotu and Max Williamson all remain unavailable for the Lions’ match.
Rory Darge did not travel to South Africa, with his partner due to give birth, and Matt Fagerson has also been added to the injured list with a hamstring issue. However, Smith did confirm that both Horne and Cummings have travelled with the team and are currently “50/50” to feature against the Stormers next weekend.
“He [Fagerson] had a tight hamstring going into last week's game,” said Smith. “We've managed him this week. There are seven games still left and if you are involved in every one of them then that’s hat's a lot of rugby still to be played.”
McDowall and Jones to form centre partnership as Tuipulotu drops to replacements for Lions match
Another surprise selection in the line-up came with Sione Tuipulotu dropping to the replacements. Stafford McDowall starts at inside-centre with Huw Jones back in the squad in the 13 jersey.
“Stafford's been playing well and Huw wants to play well,” added Smith. “I'm really excited about the combination. It is important for Sione as well to be managed, he's played three on the trot now. Huw's going to take up that baton for a bit so it is fantastic to have that quality of player.
“It is important to make sure that we progress regardless of who's out on the pitch. T he most important thing for me is to get the right ingredients into this team selection.
“Last year, I felt we got it wrong a little bit against Benetton at this time of the year. We had Lions names announced and we had not enough of this and too much of the other in the team selection recipe.”
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Fergus Watson, 10 Dan Lancaster, 9 Jack Oliver. 1 Rory Sutherland, 2 Seb Stephen, 3 Fin Richardson, 4 Jare Oguntibeju, 5 Alex Samuel, 6 Euan Ferrie, 7 Sione Vailanu, 8 Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Dylan Cockburn, 20 Ryan Burke, 21 Angus Fraser, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Sione Tuipulotu.
Fidelity SecureDrive Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Richard Kriel, 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg. 1 SJ Kotze, 2 PJ Botha, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 6 Siba Mahashe, 7 Ruan Venter, 8 Francke Horn.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Batho Hlekani, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Nico Steyn, 23 Kelly Mpeku
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.