Glasgow Warriors announce team to play Aironi

The game, whick kicks off at 7.35pm tomorrow night, is the first part of a vital home double header, which also sees Cardiff Blues visit Scotland’s number one city next Friday.

With a number of the club’s Scotland contingent on a recovery week, Lineen’s starting line-up for the game shows four changes from that which ran out at the Liberty Stadium.

In the backs, Tommy Seymour comes in on the wing in place of Colin Shaw, who sustained a jaw injury in the Ospreys game after scoring a crucial try. Stand-off Duncan Weir (pictured), meanwhile, gets the chance to regain pole position in the RaboDirect PRO12 points scorer table – he currently trails Ospreys’ Dan Biggar by four.

The two switches in the pack see Nick Campbell step in for Al Kellock in the boiler house, while Mike Cusack makes a welcome return in the front row. The tight-head prop, an integral part of the Warriors pack, hasn’t featured for the club since injuring an ankle in the New Year’s Day derby win over Edinburgh Rugby.

Having claimed a victory on the road at Ospreys in their last outing, the Warriors currently occupy the last of the four play-off positions as they prepare for the final five regular season games.

Sean Lineen’s men won the first clash with Aironi 18-6 in Viadana last November, while reigning European champions Leinster are the only team to take points off them at Firhill in the RaboDirect PRO12 since last September.

Overall, the Warriors have lost only one of their last 13 matches in the competition, but a cautionary tale is provided by the memory of the 15-13 loss they suffered in their previous home tussle with an Italian side, Benetton Treviso.

Lineen said: “The players and staff are fully focussed on the task in hand and absolutely determined to finish the season in the strongest possible fashion, starting with what will be another hugely tough game against Aironi. They’re coming off a great result against Munster, which underlines what a genuine threat they are.”

The Aironi game holds extra significance for three other front-rowers. Hooker Dougie Hall will captain Glasgow for the first time, Ryan Grant notches up his 50th RaboDirect PRO12 appearance, and Moray Low returns to the fray for the first time since sustaining a knee injury against Scarlets in January.

GLASGOW WARRIORS TEAM TO PLAY AIRONI IN THE RABODIRECT PRO12 AT FIRHILL ON FRIDAY 23 MARCH

(KICK-OFF 7.35PM, LIVE ON BBC ALBA)

15 Peter Murchie

14 Tommy Seymour

13 Alex Dunbar

12 Federico Aramburu

11 David Lemi

10 Duncan Weir

9 Henry Pyrgos

1 Ryan Grant

2 Dougie Hall (CAPTAIN)

3 Mike Cusack

4 Nick Campbell

5 Tom Ryder

6 Calum Forrester

7 Chris Fusaro

8 Ryan Wilson

SUBSTITUTES

16 Pat MacArthur

17 Gordon Reid

18 Moray Low

19 Rob Verbakel

20 Johnnie Beattie

21 Murray McConnell

22 Scott Wight

23 Troy Nathan

Not considered for selection due to injury: Rob Dewey (shoulder), Ed Kalman (neck), Rory Lamont (leg), Colin Shaw (jaw), Fergus Thomson (shoulder), DTH van der Merwe (shoulder)