Stuart Hogg will start at outside centre for Glasgow Warriors, when they take on Edinburgh Rugby at Murrayfield on Boxing Day.

Hogg will partner Alex Dunbar in a new look midfield for the first leg of the 1872 Cup.

Sean Maitland will start at full-back, with Tommy Seymour keeping his place on the right wing and DTH van der Merwe returning on the opposite side.

Duncan Weir has been named at fly-half, with Chris Cusiter wearing the No. 9 shirt and captaining the side in the absence of Al Kellock.

In the pack Ryan Grant returns at loose-head, with Pat MacArthur and Jon Welsh continuing at hooker and tight-head respectively.

Tim Swinson will combine with Tom Ryder in the engine room and in the back-row Rob Harley returns on the blind-side, Tyrone Holmes continues at open-side and Ryan Wilson keeps his place at number 8.

Glasgow Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend said “Everyone connected with the club is looking forward to these back-to-back games with Edinburgh.

“After the disappointment of having our game postponed on Friday night the players are ready to return to action. A bonus of not playing at the weekend is that we've been able to cover a lot in training over the last couple of days.

“We have a lot of respect for Edinburgh – and they have secured some great results in recent weeks. They have quality players throughout their team and a game plan that they execute well. It should be a cracking match."



Glasgow Warriors team to play Edinburgh Rugby in the 1872 Cup, RaboDirect PRO12, Murrayfield Stadium, Thursday 26 December (kick-off 3.05pm):
15. Sean Maitland

14. Tommy Seymour

13. Stuart Hogg

12. Alex Dunbar

11. DTH van der Merwe

10. Duncan Weir

9. Chris Cusiter (Captain)



1. Ryan Grant

2. Pat MacArthur

3. Jon Welsh

4. Tim Swinson

5. Tom Ryder

6. Rob Harley

7. Tyrone Holmes

8. Ryan Wilson



16. Dougie Hall

17. Gordon Reid

18. Moray Low

19. Leone Nakarawa

20. Josh Strauss

21. Chris Fusaro

22. Henry Pyrgos

23. Ruaridh Jackson



Not available due to injury: Gabriel Ascarate (neck), Mark Bennett (foot), Mike Cusack (shoulder), Jonny Gray (ankle), Peter Horne (knee), Al Kellock (arm), Sean Lamont (ankle) and Peter Murchie (shoulder).

This article was posted on 23-Dec-2013, 19:12 by Hugh Barrow.