With 51 fully-fit players to choose from there were always going to be disappointed players when the Glasgow Warriors team was named for tonight’s semi-final but it is the quality, as well as the quantity of the absentees that speaks to the scale of the right kind of selection dilemma that faced the management team.
Among the backs in particular there is no room for three players – Ali Price, Alex Dunbar and Huw Jones – who began this season in the Scotland international team, all of them part of the team that came close to making history against the All Blacks.
The emergence of George Horne explains Price’s absence, while Kiwi coach Dave Rennie has preferred two more men raised in the antipodes to Dunbar, Scotland’s backs defence leader and Jones, who has brought a new dimension to the national team’s midfield strike power, in New Zealand-born and bred fellow Scotland cap Nick Grigg and Australian Sam Johnson.
“It’s about form,” he explained. “In our opinion, Nick and Sam have been our best midfielders throughout the year. Sam is really good with ball in hand, he’s got great feet and he’s a punishing defender and a good communicator. He’s had a great season. Nick is quick and dynamic in attack. He’s a good chop defender.
“There’s not a lot between all these guys. We’re fortunate we’ve got really good depth in midfield but we felt, based on the opposition, that they’re our best fit. We’ve picked the best team possible based on who we are playing. It’s tough and it’s to the credit of the guys left out that they’ve taken the disappointment well, have worked really hard and helped the other guys prepare.”
Similarly in the pack there is no room for the reliable Rob Harley who this season set a new appearance record for Glasgow, but has been unable to fend off the challenge made to his starting place by a teenager who, like Horne, is the younger brother of one of his longer established team-mates.
Matt Fagerson’s performances this season have already seen him gain an early promotion, since he is missing the Under-20 World Championship this summer to tour the Americas with the senior national squad and Rennie said the youngster’s ability to get the team on the front foot has become invaluable.
“Matt’s been excellent,” said the coach. “He gets a start because of his ability to create go-forward. He’s got really good footwork, he’s powerful… not a massive man, but very powerful and can be destructive defensively, so we just felt that was the best combination with him and Ryan [Wilson] together at six and eight. Matt’s 19, so he’s got a hell of a future.
“He’s not massive, but you look at (Sam) Simmonds playing for Exeter and England and he’s not a huge man either.
“A difference Matt brings is how explosive he is, his footwork and his ability to get in behind defences. He’s got a really good fend, so we need guys who can carry and get us in behind the gain-line..”
Curiously, the team shows just three changes to the one that was well beaten by the Scarlets a month ago, but Rennie believes the knockout nature of this encounter will ensure that this is a very different encounter.
“Attitude is everything,” Rennie insisted.
“We came up short that day. I thought we played really poorly post-tackle and we knew that would be important as they have so many guys who are good at stealing pill. They did a good job that day I denying us possession, but we were a little bit lacklustre, so everyone has to be on it.
“It’s a no-tomorrow scenario if we don’t get it right. We’ve prepared well and the attitude has been great. I would expect a far better performance.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here