Lions stat is credit to Franco Smith as key Glasgow Warriors players return

Huw Jones plays for the first time since the Six Nations after recovering from an ankle injury and Scott Cummings starts at blindside flanker after 20 minutes off the bench against the Bulls last time out.

The game in Treviso comes a week too soon for a third Lion, Sione Tuipulotu, while the fourth, Zander Fagerson, continues his rehab.

Thursday was a momentous day at Scotstoun as the Glasgow squad gathered to hear Andy Farrell’s selections and Smith admitted it was emotional.

“It's the first time I've coached a team that the Lions get picked from and I’m really proud of them,” he said. “I think one or two boys may be unlucky to not be there, but you never know going forward.”

Leinster were the only club to supply more players to the Lions than Glasgow, for which Smith deserves huge credit, but he was typically eager to share the plaudits.

“There's a lot of hands that have contributed,” he said. “I appreciate the compliment. I think the whole environment in the last three years allowed players to develop to an international level.

“We've got a lot of internationals and these four guys that will go on to play for the Lions will probably make room for another four to be picked by Scotland. This is an environment that creates national players and players that can perform at international level. That's a compliment to our current structure and our rugby programme.”

Smith sees no reason why the Jones and Tuipulotu centre partnership can’t work in the Lions Test team.

“Look, they're a proven pair, aren’t they? They've shown that for both club and country consistently, not just on and off. It wouldn't surprise me. I can't put words in anybody's mouth, but if they both recover their form and they play well in the next five weeks, I definitely think they must be main contenders to play the Test matches.”

Murphy Walker is on the bench for Glasgow and is set to make his first appearance since playing for Scotland against Uruguay on last summer’s tour.

Benetton v Glasgow Warriors (URC rd 17, Stadio Monigo, Treviso, Saturday, 5.15pm BST)

Benetton: Rhyno Smith; Ignacio Mendy, Tommaso Menoncello, Ignacio Brex, Paolo Odogwu; Jacob Umaga, Alessandro Garbisi; Thomas Gallo, Siua Maile, Simone Ferrari, Scott Scrafton, Federico Ruzza (capt), Riccardo Favretto, Manuel Zuliani, Lorenzo Cannone. Replacements: Agustin Creevy, Mirco Spagnolo, Giosuè Zilocchi, Niccolò Cannone, Sebastian Negri, Nicolò Casilio, Leonardo Marin, Malakai Fekitoa.

Glasgow Warriors: Ollie Smith; Jamie Dobie, Huw Jones, Stafford McDowall, Kyle Steyn (capt); Tom Jordan, George Horne; Jamie Bhatti, Johnny Matthews, Fin Richardson, Max Williamson, Alex Samuel, Scott Cummings, Rory Darge, Sione Vailanu. Replacements: Gregor Hiddleston, Nathan McBeth, Murphy Walker, JP du Preez, Euan Ferrie, Ben Afshar, Adam Hastings, Kyle Rowe.

Referee: Craig Evans (WRU).