Glasgow Warriors coach Gregor Townsend has named Hugh Blake at centre for tonight’s PRO12 match-up with Munster at Thomond Park in what will be his first competitive start for the club.
Townsend saw enough in Blake’s performances in recent run-outs at centre to persuade him that the flanker has the attributes to perform there, hoping that he can again combine with Fraser Lyle as he did to good effect against Connacht.
Townsend said: “He’s played there the last two games - against Connacht, when he was covering centre and had to go there a little earlier than we planned, and when we played the British Army in a friendly last week he played half an hour there - so it was always an possibility if we picked up injuries in the back-line, which we have with Peter Murchie and Glenn Bryce out.
“Sam Johnson, who has been out injured after a shoulder operation, still needs a little bit of rehab work but we expect him to be fit for our next game.
“Hugh is a very good rugby player, he’s a good ball player. Obviously his preferred position is flanker, but he showed when he played sevens for Scotland at the end of the season that he could handle himself in wide channels and make good decisions on the ball.
“There’s a lot of players that are able to act like a back in certain situations, and obviously there are a lot of backs that need to act like forwards, so we realise that with the backs that are unavailable to us just now, that we have to look at innovative ways to get our best players on the field.
“He’s working hard to make sure he does a good job at 13.”
Tight-head prop D’Arcy Rae will also make his first competitive start for the Warriors, with the captaincy going to Rob Harley.
Inevitably, thoughts prior to the match have drifted back to last season’s PRO12 final, when Townsend's side famously defeated tonight’s opponents 31-13.
He is under no illusions though that this encounter will be an altogether different affair.
“We know this is going to be a very difficult game,” he said.
“We were delighted to be able to manage to beat Connacht, and we were very pleased with a lot of aspects of our play.
“We’ll have to be accurate in attack for 80 minutes, we’ll have to defend very well, and we’ll have to be really physical whenever we get the opportunity.
“Munster are a strong team, very physical, and they pride themselves on getting the set-piece spot on and taking the game to the opposition and it’s a great challenge for us over at Lomond Park.
“You can never predict how a game will go, and it’s two different teams than what played in May.
“I’m sure Munster learned just as much from that game about how to play us as we’ve learned about them, but we’re very happy with the squad we’re taking over there and the way we’ve progressed in the last couple of weeks in training and in the British Army game.
“We believe we’re more than up to the challenge on Friday night.”
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