Stormers beware: Here comes the 'real' Glasgow Warriors
The gloves are off when Glasgow Warriors arrive at the Cape Town stadium on Saturday for a top-of-the-table United Rugby Championship face-off with the Stormers.
The Warriors will take their ‘A-team’ out of cotton wool and restore several of their senior players, including captain Kyle Steyn.
Flyhalf Adam Hastings is another back in contention after sitting out the Lions match due to a head injury.
Assistant coach Scott Forrest revealed that their South African coach, Franco Smith, has delayed naming their team in order to give several other key players the best chance to prove their fitness.
The United Rugby Championship leaders are reeling after their Champions Cup defeat against Toulon was followed by a humbling 12-54 loss to the Lions in Johannesburg at Ellis Park last week.
The Warriors have a chance to reassert their authority in the race to secure home play-offs; however, when they visit second-placed Stormers, who suffered a frustrating loss of their own at home to Connacht last weekend.
Glasgow, the league leaders, are four points clear of the Stormers.
Forrest revealed that they will give George Horne, Scott Cummings and Matt Fagerson as much time as possible to be ‘fit for selection’.
“Obviously, we rotated quite heavily last weekend for the [12-54 loss to the] Lions and then the plan was always to then change back,” said Forrest.
“In terms of boys that are injured, George Horne, Scott Cummings and Matt Fagerson are still not 100 percent but we’re going to give them as much time as possible.
“Anyone that can be involved is going to be good for us, so we’ve held off naming the team just to give these players as much time as possible to be fit and available.”
Steyn struggled with an injury he suffered while playing for Scotland in the Six Nations, but returned for their Champions Cup games in Europe.
However, he was ‘rested’ last week.
“Last week was a good time for him to reset,” Forrest told an online media scrum, adding: “He [Steyn] will come back in this weekend.”
(WATCH as Glasgow Warriors assistant coach Scott Forrest previews his team’s top-of-the-table URC face-off with the Stormers.…..)
Despite their underwhelming performance in Johannesburg, they are still top of the log.
“That type of motivation [staying top], takes care of itself,” the assistant coach said.
“We’ve played a lot against the Stormers over the last couple of years, we know exactly what we’re up against, a very physical team with a lot of flair in their backline.
“These are the games that in some ways are quite easy for the players to get motivated for because it’s the ones everyone wants to play in.”
Not being at altitude is another benefit to the Scottish team.
Forrest admitted they have looked at all the permutations in the last three rounds, with a single-minded goal of finishing at the top of the standings and getting home ground advantage in the play-offs.
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“The team that wins the most collisions has a pretty good chance of winning the game,” he told @JanDKrugby.
“That cuts across every aspect of the game. The same applies to them.
“We need to front up physically.”
Despite Glasgow having won their last five meetings with the Stormers, Saturday’s hosts, the Stormers, have never lost against a Scottish side at the Cape Town Stadium in the URC.
“I think Leinster [currently third] are coming to form at the right time and they’ll probably look at their run-in and feel that they’ve got an opportunity [to finish top].
“But I think the difference for ourselves and Stormers, and certainly the conversation that we are having, is that right now it’s in our hands. It’s within our gift to finish the top of the log.”
A former Scotland Sevens captain, Forrest officially joined the Warriors coaching team this season, after being involved with the Glasgow Warriors academy during the 2024/25 campaign.
Born in Rutherglen and a former student at the University of Strathclyde, the 40-year-old served as coach for Great Britain’s women’s Sevens squad at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, having previously held the same position for the Scotland Women’s Sevens squad.
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