Zander Fagerson gets Glasgow start against Leinster

Zander Fagerson will start for Warriors tonight after performing well off the bench. Picture: SNS

With injury sidelining Euan Murray and Rossouw de Klerk, the 19-year-old tighthead will make only his second start for Warriors at the RDS against Leinster tonight.

The Glasgow head coach singled out Fagerson’s outstanding form for the Scotland Under-20s recently as the key behind his start in Dublin. And Townsend also tipped the former Glasgow Hawks front-row as the fledgling professional at Scotstoun most likely to follow in the slipstream of Jonny Gray and Adam Ashe to full Scotland recognition.

With 34-year-old Murray’s hopes of landing a new contract at Scotstoun in doubt and Jon Welsh heading for the Aviva Premiership with Newcastle Falcons, there is little doubt that tonight’s performance will give Fagerson the chance to reaffirm his credentials as the coming tighthead for next season.

Townsend said: “Adam Ashe and Jonny Gray a year or two before Zander were not fazed about the next level and they really wanted to get there and take the game to the opposition, and this is a fantastic opportunity for him to taste that next level.

“So, yes, in that position [he is the best I’ve seen at that age]. Props do tend to mature late and come through and learn scrummaging but Zander is one of a few players who have come through with a real mental attitude of wanting to work hard and improve.

“But if you look at the 40 minutes Zander had against Zebre, when Rossouw got injured just before half time, he did really well. We also watched him closely with the Under-20s and he played twice for us in the Six Nations period because of what he did in the U20s and obviously he’s been progressing this year so I’m really excited about him playing.

“In terms of what he gives around the pitch he is exceptional, a massive ball carrier, very aggressive and an effective defender who really hits rucks, and his strength and maturity at scrum time is coming through now.

“You saw the U20s, and usually the scrum is where they struggle, but this year they had parity and were dominating and it shows how well Zander played. Looking back for Glasgow, against Ospreys Zander came on for the last two scrums and in one of them we won a penalty which helped us close out the game.”

Glasgow will welcome back nine of their Scotland internationals for this evening’s encounter, which is live on BBC2, but there was an injury scare in training when stand-off Finn Russell limped off with a turned ankle yesterday. “We’re hopeful he’ll be alright,” said Townsend.

The coach also revealed that surgery on Scotland centre Alex Dunbar’s anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) had gone well. He said: “The operation was successful, which is something we were concerned about. If there had been a lot of swelling or more work to do that would put the rehab back but there have been a lot of case studies of players coming back within that time frame [for the Rugby World Cup] and the medics should know in about six weeks, after the swelling has gone down, if it is possible for Alex to come back for the World Cup.”

Meanwhile, Glasgow’s Fijian scrum-half Niko Matawalu, who will leave for Bath in the summer, is determined to help plot Glasgow’s path to a historic first seasonal double over Leinster.

While Warriors claimed a 22-20 victory over the Dubliners in the opening game of the league season, they have won only once at the RDS, back on 17 September, 2011, by 23-19.

Matawalu said: “With the Scotland boys back this is a great chance to make history and do the double over Leinster.

“This year is very important for us and more so for the players who are leaving and also the management with Shade (Munro) leaving too. But I want to achieve something with Glasgow before I go and the target is to try and win all the games to reach the final and to win at the RDS would be a huge stepping stone towards that.

“But we also know that if we win tonight it could have the effect of knocking Leinster out of the tournament (Leinster are fifth in the Pro12 table and eight points adrift of leaders Glasgow), for me this is like a final in itself.”