Gray to captain Warriors at BT Murrayfield

Dec 21 • General News, Guinness Pro14 • 1863 Views • Comments Off on Gray to captain Warriors at BT Murrayfield

Fresh from signing a new two-year contract this week, Jonny Gray will captain Glasgow Warriors as they face Edinburgh Rugby in the 1872 Cup at BT Murrayfield on Saturday – tickets are available from glasgowwarriors.org

Glasgow come into the game unbeaten in the Guinness PRO14 and 23-year-old Gray will lead the team out in the Capital, combing with Scott Cummings in the second-row.

Behind them Rob Harley returns from injury to start on the blindside flank. Matt Smith and Samu Vunisa are the other starting loose forwards.

In Bhatti, Brown and Fagerson it is an unchanged front-row. The half-backs too remain the same, Peter Horne starting outside of Ali Price.

Alex Dunbar and Huw Jones are the midfielders, re-creating their Scotland partnership, and behind them Lee Jones, Tommy Seymour and Ruaridh Jackson complete the starting XV.

On the bench Oli Kebble returns from injury to be involved for the first time since September and Niko Matawalu, another player to have signed a new contract this week, will cover the back-three.

Elsewhere, Brian Alainu’uese has successfully undergone surgery having aggravated an ongoing knee injury in training this week. The second-row is expected to be out for up to six weeks. Ryan Wilson will also be out for up to six weeks with an ankle injury sustained last weekend against Montpellier.

Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Dave Rennie said: “I’m looking forward to it. There’s a fair bit of rivalry there. Back home there are four other kiwi sides so you’ve got eight derbies a year. Everyone talks about the 1872 Cup games with the same kind of passion that we talked about the derbies back home.

“Boys will have friends amongst the opposition, but for 80 minutes you put that aside and go toe-to-toe. I suppose it’s a game that divides Scotland.

“I know the boys are really keen. We tend to have an edge around training every week regardless of who we’re playing, but this week is certainly more personal.”

Glasgow Warriors team to play Edinburgh Rugby in the first leg of the 1872 Cup, Guinness PRO14, live on BBC ALBA and Sky Sports, kick-off 5.15pm. You can also follow the action on Twitter @GlasgowWarriors. Glasgow Warriors appearances in brackets:

15. Ruaridh Jackson (126)

14. Tommy Seymour (109)

13. Huw Jones (1)

12. Alex Dunbar (105)

11. Lee Jones (65)

10. Peter Horne (128)

9. Ali Price (50)

1. Jamie Bhatti (18)

2. Fraser Brown (69)

3. Zander Fagerson (60)

4. Scott Cummings (30)

5. Jonny Gray (79) CAPTAIN

6. Robert Harley (170)

7. Matt Smith (10)

8. Samu Vunisa (4)

Replacements:

16. Pat MacArthur (163)

17. Oli Kebble (2)

18. Siua Halanukonuka (4)

19. Kiran McDonald (4)

20. Chris Fusaro (129)

21. Henry Pyrgos (135)

22. Finn Russell (72)

23. Niko Matawalu (84)

Not available due to injury: Adam Ashe (ankle), Brian Alainu’uise (knee), Callum Gibbins (achilles), Stuart Hogg (hip), Rory Hughes (shoulder), Sam Johnson (jaw), Paddy Kelly (achilles), Lelia Masaga (knee), Greg Peterson (ankle), Leo Sarto (shoulder), Tim Swinson (hand), Ratu Tagive (Achilles) and Ryan Wilson (ankle).