Glasgow Warriors v Cardiff Blues: Guinness PRO12 preview
Last Updated: 09/04/15 1:53pm
PRO12 leaders Glasgow host strugglers Cardiff Blues hoping to tighten their grip on top spot on Friday evening.
Gregor Townsend’s side have had almost two weeks to prepare for the clash since their 34-34 draw at Leinster in their most recent outing, whereas the Blues suffered European disappointment last weekend as they exited the European Challenge Cup at the quarter-final stage, losing 25-21 to the Dragons.
The Warriors make seven changes to the starting XV with Peter Murchie coming in for the injured Stuart Hogg at full-back.
Finn Russell is back after an ankle injury to start at fly-half meaning Peter Horne switches to No 12, while scrum-half Henry Pyrgos replaces Niko Matawau
There remaining changes come in the pack with Jerry Yanuyanutawa, Dougie Hall and Mike Cusack all coming in to the front row and Scotland international Adam Ashe brought in for Josh Strauss at No 8.
Gordon Reid, Jon Welsh and Duncan Weir are all back from injury to take their places on the bench, while Leone Nakarawa is also included among the replacements having completed his suspension.
Lee Jones could also feature, after returning from Sevens duty with Scotland in Hong Kong and Tokyo.
The Blues hand Garyn Smith a full debut, the centre one of eight changes to the starting line-up. Gareth Anscombe moves from fly-half to full-back with Gareth Davies in at 10 alongside scrum-half Tavis Knoyle.
Sam Hobbs, Kristian Dacey and Adam Jones form a new front row combination and Macauley Cook joins Sam Warburton and Josh Navidi in the back row.
Coach Paul Jones is confident his side can bounce back from defeat at the Dragons and that the pressure is off for them.
"We won last year at Glasgow in Europe and we've got absolutely nothing to lose," he told the club’s official website.
"We want to play to a game plan, execute it well and perform to the best of our ability. To do justice to the league we have to do that.”
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Richie Vernon, 12 Peter Horne, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Henry Pyrgos; 1 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 2 Dougie Hall, 3 Mike Cusack, 4 Tim Swinson, 5 Al Kellock (c), 6 Rob Harley, 7 Chris Fusaro, 8 Adam Ashe.
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Leone Nakarawa, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Ali Price, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Lee Jones.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Tom Isaacs, 12 Garyn Smith, 11 Dan Fish, 10 Gareth Davies, 9 Tavis Knoyle; 1 Sam Hobbs, 2 Kristian Dacey, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 5 Lou Reed, 6 Macauley Cook, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 8 Josh Navidi.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Taufa'ao Filise, 19 Josh Turnbull, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Simon Humberstone, 23 Richard Smith.
