Ruthless Lineen drops Macfadyen as Glasgow face might of Munster
DAVID FERGUSON

SEAN Lineen has wielded the axe after two opening league defeats and disappointing performances from the team he hoped would signal a bright new era for Glasgow rugby.

The Warriors let a 20-0 lead slip to lose 24-23 to the Dragons at Hughenden in their first game and were well beaten 31-7 last week at Llanelli. Lineen, who took over as head coach towards the end of last season, has reacted by dropping four players, including Scotland caps Donnie Macfadyen, Sam Pinder and Graeme Morrison, for tonight's visit of Munster.

Supporters heading to Hughenden will no doubt recall that Glasgow achieved a rare double against the European champions last season, turning in a rousing performance to win 32-10 at Hughenden and beating Munster during the Six Nations, 26-20 in Limerick.

The Irishmen have strengthened their team this week with the inclusion of internationals Anthony Foley, the powerful No8, lock Mick O'Driscoll and Anthony Horgan, the winger, and Alan Quinlan on the bench. Ian Dowling also returns after missing the game against the Borders through injury.

The Munster pack represent a formidable challenge with Argentinian Federico Puciariello and Frankie Sheahan, the Ireland hooker, in the front row and O'Driscoll and Welsh veteran Chris Wyatt in the boiler-house, but the Scots are at home and, aided by hard pros Justin Va'a and Andy Newman, have young forwards who believe they have what it takes to play international rugby.

They have put themselves under pressure with their opening performances, however, and need another Munster show to impress the new coach and avoid the warm pre-season optimism turning distinctly cold.

Lineen admitted: "We weren't happy with last week and we need to freshen things up a bit. There are a number of players pushing for places and on top of that, there are still guys who are coming back from injury so I really want to give these players a chance.

"It's a long season and we have a lot of competition within the squad, especially in the centre and in the back-row where there are a lot of youngsters coming through. I'm looking forward to see how this line-up blends."

The dropping of Macfadyen out of the match 22, with John Barclay stepping in and the more versatile Stevie Swindall on the bench, is the most controversial and, perhaps, most striking example of Lineen's intent to eradicate the comfort zone which has built up around Glasgow in recent seasons.

A supremely dedicated, hard-working individual, Macfadyen was rewarded by Lineen for his return from a soul-destroying 15 months in rehab, following a serious knee injury, with the captaincy late last season.

However, the coach opted for a new skipper this term in Alastair Kellock, the former Edinburgh lock. There does not seem to be any animosity involving Macfadyen, but he was widely considered to have played poorly in both of Glasgow's last two games.

Insisting that "the [back-row] combination didn't work as well as we would have liked" against the Scarlets, the coach said that a key turning point was when Macfadyen was sin-binned, the hosts scoring three tries during the ten minutes Glasgow were short-handed. Lineen, it seems, is ensuring his players know that no player, no matter how well-respected, is irreplaceable.

Colin Shaw drops to the bench, allowing Hefin O'Hare to return on the right wing, which pushes Thom Evans to the left. Sean Marsden, the former Bristol player signed in the summer, makes his debut at outside centre in place of Morrison and Graeme Beveridge takes over from Pinder. Glasgow will need the new faces to gel quickly tonight if they are to win.

Glasgow (v Munster at Hughenden, 7.30pm): F Leonelli; H O'Hare, S Marsden, A Henderson, T Evans; D Parks, G Beveridge; J Va'a, F Thomson, E Murray, A Newman, A Kellock, A Wilson, J Beattie, J Barclay. Subs: E Milligan, K Tkachuk, D Turner, S Swindall, S Pinder, C Gregor, C Shaw.

Munster: S Payne; I Dowling, J Kelly, J Downey, A Horgan; J Manning, T O'Leary; D Hurley, F Sheahan, F Pucciariello, M O'Driscoll, C Wyatt, J O'Sullivan, A Foley (capt), T McGann. Subs: A Kyriacou, T Ryan, D Ryan, A Quinlan, B O'Meara, E Hickey, M Lawlor.

This article was posted on 15-Sep-2006, 07:03 by Hugh Barrow.