Glasgow Warriors give debut to hooker in terrestrial TV clash with Exeter Chiefs

Gregor Hiddleston, right, pictured alongside Angus Fraser and Allan Dell will make his Glasgow Warriors debut against Exeter Chiefs in the Investec Champions Cup. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

Glasgow Warriors were hammered 42-0 and 52-17 by Exeter Chiefs on their last two visits to Sandy Park but a lot of water has flowed under the bridge for both clubs since those games in December 2020 and January 2022.

The sides meet again in Devon on Saturday lunchtime in a Investec Champions Cup tie that will be beamed into living rooms across the UK by ITV. With such high profile exposure Glasgow will want to do themselves justice against the side which won this competition in 2020 and have reached the quarter-finals, last 16 and semi-finals in the three subsequent seasons.

It’s a highly impressive European pedigree but the Chiefs have undergone a major revamp in recent times, saying farewell to a host of experienced star players such as Stuart Hogg, Jonny Hill and the Simmonds brothers. The rebuild has been impressive under the redoubtable Rob Baxter, even if they did stumble in the league against Northampton Saints last weekend, their first home defeat for 15 months.

Glasgow have toughened up since those two hammerings and seem a far more durable and dangerous outfit under Franco Smith.

“You guys will have seen the progress here in the last year,” Smith said. “Exeter were the champions of this competition three or four years ago, they know what it is, they’ve got players who have played here before and have left a legacy for the new players who came in. Definitely this year they’ve given themselves a chance to go all the way again. They’re a hard-working team with really good ethics, similar to what we have here.”

Glasgow nearly went all the way last season in the Challenge Cup but lost in the final to Toulon. It was a highly impressive first campaign under Smith and the reward was a shot at the top-tier Champions Cup. They lost their group opener at home to Northampton but impressed in beating Bayonne in France and find themselves in third place in Pool 3 at the midway point.

Smith, as ever, has mixed things up in terms of selection and gives a professional debut to the 21-year-old hooker Gregor Hiddleston. Johnny Matthews has an ankle injury and George Turner has been named on the bench, opening the door for Hiddlestone who came through the ranks at his local club, Dumfries Saints, before going on to pay for GHA and Stirling Wolves whom he helped win the FOSROC Super Series final.

“I hope he brings a lot, to be honest,” said Smith. “We’re really excited. He would have had his chance earlier but unfortunately got injured in training a couple of months ago when he had been picked to play. He’s been really good in all aspects of the game. He played well in the Super Series and has been really impressive in the last two seasons. He’s been working hard and knocking at the door. We have Johnny Matthews and George Turner who I would think will be in the Scotland fray, and we’ve seen Gus Fraser quite a bit who also excites us. But if we do lose both the guys we’re going to need depth in that role so it’s important for Gregor to be blooded. But that’s not the main reason. He’s really shown his capability and I’m excited about his future.”

Glasgow also welcome back Matt Fagerson from a facial injury and have selected the experienced Duncan Weir at stand-off.

Exeter Chiefs v Glasgow Warriors (Investec Champions Cup Pool 3, Sandy Park, Saturday, 1pm. TV: live on ITV, STV and TNT Sports)

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Tommy Wyatt; 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Rory O’Loughlin, 11 Ben Hammersley; 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Tom Cairns; 1 Alec Hepburn, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 3 Ehren Painter, 4 Rusi Tuima, 5 Lewis Pearson, 6 Ethan Roots, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 8 Greg Fisilau. Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Nika Abuladze, 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19 Matt Postlethwaite, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Zack Wimbush.

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay; 14 Huw Jones, 13 Sione Tuipulotu (c), 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Rowe; 10 Duncan Weir, 9 George Horne; 1 Oli Kebble, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Scott Cummings, 5 Alex Samuel, 6 Ally Miller, 7 Matt Fagerson, 8 Henco Venter. Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Richie Gray, 20 Max Williamson, 21 Euan Ferrie, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Tom Jordan.

Referee: Pierre Brousset (France).