Glasgow Warriors have today named the side that will seek to claim a place in the RaboDirect PRO12 Final by beating Leinster at the RDS on Saturday night (kick-off 7.35pm, live on BBC ALBA).
Ahead of the semi-final against the reigning European champions, the Warriors coaching team have made five changes to the XV that claimed a 24-3 win over Connacht in the club’s last ever match at Firhill six days ago.
There is one switch in the backline, where Chris Cusiter (pictured) replaces Henry Pyrgos at scrum-half.
The other changes come in the front five, Ryan Grant, Pat MacArthur, and Mike Cusack forming an all-new front row and captain Al Kellock restored to the boiler house.
Head coach Sean Lineen told www.glasgowwarriors.org: “We’ve picked 23 men who we firmly believe have it in them to achieve a special result for Glasgow Warriors.
“Once again, we’re expecting the intensity and pace of the game to be Test level, and that’s where the combined efforts of the starting XV and a strong bench can really come into their own.
“It’s especially the case for the six front row guys that they’ll all have a significant role to play, and we’re in the fortunate position of having half a dozen lads who are performing to a high level, never mind the likes of Gordon Reid, Finlay Gillies and Ed Kalman who have also shown up well.
“Al Kellock and Chris Cusiter give us experience, leadership and class, but again we’re delighted to have Tom Ryder and Henry Pyrgos ready and waiting to bring their influence to bear from the bench.
“The same goes for our other substitutes, Johnnie Beattie, Ruaridh Jackson and Peter Murchie, who have all made their own contribution to our season and who we’re backing to deliver more tomorrow.
“The players have trained really well all week – there’s an obvious hunger and determination there which stands us in good stead. We’re all well aware of just how tough a match this is going to be, but we’re focussing on ourselves and what we have to do to win.
“We’ve shown character, ability and tenacity to get ourselves into the semi-finals. The challenge now is to bring out those qualities in even bigger quantities to beat the best team in Europe.”
Glasgow Warriors are delighted to confirm that we’ll be running a Fan Zone in Dublin for supporters attending Saturday’s RaboDirect PRO12 semi-final against Leinster at the RDS.
The Fan Zone will be located at the Ballsbridge Hotel on Pembroke Road, around a 10 minute walk from the stadium (www.ballsbridgehotel.com).
We’ll be running the Fan Zone from 3pm and it will be based in the Dubliner Pub at the hotel. The Carvery will be open, serving beef stew, chicken curry and beef or ham rolls.
Raglans Restaurant will be open, serving a Barfood Menu with steaks, burgers etc.
For those unable to make the trip, we’ve arranged a special screening of BBC ALBA’s live coverage at Waxy O’Connor’s on West George Street.
Three big screens in the city centre bar will be showing the game, snacks will be available at half-time, and Warriors players will be in attendance to take in the action with you.
Under-18s can attend the screening, provide they are accompanied by an over-18.
GLASGOW WARRIORS TEAM TO PLAY LEINSTER IN THE RABODIRECT PRO12 SEMI-FINAL AT THE RDS ON SATURDAY 12 MAY (KICK-OFF 7.35pm, LIVE ON BBC ALBA)
15 Stuart Hogg
14 Federico Aramburu
13 Alex Dunbar
12 Graeme Morrison
11 DTH van der Merwe
10 Duncan Weir
9 Chris Cusiter
1 Ryan Grant
2 Pat MacArthur
3 Mike Cusack
4 Richie Gray
5 Al Kellock (CAPTAIN)
6 Rob Harley
7 Chris Fusaro
8 John Barclay
SUBSTITUTES
16 Dougie Hall
17 Jon Welsh
18 Moray Low
19 Tom Ryder
20 Henry Pyrgos
21 Johnnie Beattie
22 Ruaridh Jackson
23 Peter Murchie

This article was posted on 11-May-2012, 07:43 by Hugh Barrow.