Ed Kalman starts for Glasgow
Gregor Townsend has named his Glasgow Warriors team to face Leinster at the RDS on Saturday (ko 7.45pm).
There are six personnel changes and one positional switch to the team that defeated Cardiff Blues earlier this month.
Tommy Seymour, Robert Harley, Tom Ryder, Ed Kalman, Dougie Hall and Moray Low all come into the starting XV, while Jon Welsh, Pat MacArthur, Gordon Reid and Ryan Wilson drop to the bench. Byron McGuigan and Tim Swinson are not included in the 23-man squad.
Glasgow Warriors and Leinster are currently the form teams in the league, with the Warriors having dropped just one possible league point and Leinster only two in their last six games.
Warriors head coach, Gregor Townsend said: “We have been on a fantastic run of form lately, but Leinster will provide an extremely tough challenge for us and we’ll need to be at our best if we’re to come away with a positive result.
“It’s been good to have our full squad back together again after the Six Nations and training has been very competitive and sharp this week. We travel to Dublin having put ourselves in a good position in the league, but nothing is won until May and we still have a lot of work to do.”
Nikola Matawalu keeps the number nine jersey and Duncan Weir is given the nod at fly-half ahead of Ruaridh Jackson, after starting the last two of Scotland’s games against Ireland and France.
Peter Horne and Alex Dunbar continue their centre partnership, with Peter Murchie once again deployed at full-back.
Canadian winger DTH van der Merwe starts on the left wing, with Seymour replacing Byron McGuigan on the opposite side.
Moray Low and Ed Kalman make up the front row, with the experienced Hall coming in at hooker and captain Alastair Kellock starting alongside Tom Ryder in the second row.
Josh Strauss moves from flanker to number eight, in place of substitute Ryan Wilson, while John Barclay continues at openside and Robert Harley comes in at blindside.
It is a strong bench with Pat MacArthur, Gordon Reid, Jon Welsh, James Eddie, Ryan Wilson, Henry Pyrgos, Ruaridh Jackson and Sean Lamont all included.
It is an experienced Warriors squad to face Leinster, with 279 Scotland caps in the matchday 23.
Stuart Hogg and Sean Maitland both miss the game after picking up knocks with Scotland, but are expected to return within the next week or two. Chris Cusiter has had a setback and may require an operation on his shoulder and Finlay Gillies requires neck surgery, with them both expected to be out of action for a number of months.
Gregor Townsend said: “Leinster are the only team to still have a 100 percent home winning record in the league and that shows just how difficult our task will be this weekend. For the past few seasons they have been the best in Europe at playing with pace, ambition and aggression.
“We have picked a team which we believe is capable of winning the game but we have a number of players who are unlucky not to be involved. Those selected must grab the opportunity to play in such an important fixture with both hands. They have to make it very difficult for me to leave them out next week.
“We are disappointed that both Chris (Cusiter) and Finlay (Gillies) will be out beyond the end of the season. It’s been a really frustrating time for both players and we wish them a speedy recovery.
“The game on Saturday represents a marker of where we are this season and we are fully aware of the significance of getting a result in Dublin. We will give everything we have to secure a win.”
Glasgow Warriors

15 Peter Murchie
14 Tommy Seymour
13 Alex Dunbar
12 Peter Horne
11 DTH van der Merwe
10 Duncan Weir
9 Nikola Matawalu
1 Moray Low
2 Dougie Hall
3 Ed Kalman
4 Tom Ryder
5 Alastair Kellock
6 Robert Harley
7 John Barclay
8 Josh Strauss
Substitutes
16 Pat MacArthur
17 Gordon Reid
18 Jon Welsh
19 James Eddie
20 Ryan Wilson
21 Henry Pyrgos
22 Ruaridh Jackson
23 Sean Lamont

This article was posted on 21-Mar-2013, 13:03 by Hugh Barrow.