Lineen calls on Scottish public
Glasgow Warriors head coach Sean Lineen has called for a rousing team performance, whilst also issuing a rallying call to the Scottish public ahead of the first leg of the Greaves Sports 1872 Cup at Firhill on Sunday.
Glasgow play host to Edinburgh a day after Boxing Day and many are expecting a terrific Magners League tussle between two of Scotland’s top professional outfits.
Speaking from the Greaves Sports store on Gordon Street in Glasgow’s city centre, Lineen said: “These games are huge and I would urge as many people as possible to come along and enjoy a great game of rugby between the Magners League’s top two sides.
“We’re not usually at home for the first leg, but that gives us no real advantage, it’s what we make of it.
“There are some terrific match-ups all over the field, but it’s not about individuals, but about how we work as a team.”
Lineen has made just one change to the side that faced Gloucester in the Heineken Cup at Kingsholm last weekend.
Thom Evans returns from a knee injury and replaces Dave McCall on the wing, swapping back to his preferred left side, with Canadian international DTH van der Merwe filling the No.14 shirt.
After defeating Bath at Murrayfield in Heineken Cup action last week, Edinburgh head coach Rob Moffat has made three changes to Edinburgh’s starting line-up for Sunday.
Moffat has chosen to retain the same backs division, with stalwart Chris Paterson captaining the side in the absence of injured scrumhalf Mike Blair (ankle), but he has reintroduced Scotland internationalists Allan Jacobsen and Scott MacLeod into Edinburgh’s front-five, whilst young openside Roddy Grant reclaims his place in the pack.
“Scott MacLeod was rested last week in order to help to him to recover from a slight injury, but Craig Hamilton came in and did well,” said Moffat.
“We will soon have four quality second rows challenging for two positions because Jim Hamilton’s return is imminent.”
With Edinburgh narrowly behind current Magners League leaders Glasgow on points’ difference, Moffat has urged his players to not only win in the West, but to also entertain the nation’s rugby fans.
“We want to win every match and we will go into this one against Glasgow at Firhill with a positive mindset,” he said.
“Winning is our main priority, but, in front of what is expected to be a big crowd at Firhill and with lots of TV viewers watching, we want to be able to entertain people as well.
“Glasgow are going well at the moment and they have a proud record at Firhill, so we know just how difficult the match is going to be, but we’ll be ready for the challenge.”
Meanwhile, vice-captain Allister Hogg is scheduled to undergo surgery to repair a hip injury at Spire Murrayfield Hospital on Wednesday and is expected to be out for a few months.
Stand-off David Blair is still ruled out after injuring his ankle at Bath, whilst club captain Simon Cross is still out with a knee injury along with Andrew Easson (knee), Ryan Grant (ankle) and Simon Webster (hamstring).
The teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 DTH van der Merwe, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Thom Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Richie Vernon, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Alastair Kellock (captain), 3 Moray Low, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Jon Welsh.
Replacements – from: Fergus Thomson, Kevin Tkachuk, Dan Turner, Johnnie Beattie, Mark McMillan, Colin Gregor, Colin Shaw, Hefin O’Hare, Rob Dewey.
Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson (captain), 14 John Houston, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Scott Newlands, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Alan MacDonald, 5 Scott MacLeod, 4 Steve Turnbull, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: TBC.
Date: Sunday, December 27
Venue: Firhill Arena
Kick-off: 15.05
Referee: Neil Paterson
Assistant referees: Iain Heard, Alan Forrest
Television match official: Jim Yuille
