Glasgow Warriors Vs Zebre Rugby Friday 28th September k/o 7.35

First topic message reminder :

On the Warriors website we have confirmation that Matawalu, Strauss and Fainga'anuku are all to make their debuts... So we can expect Grant, Wilson and Pyrgos to all get a "rest".

I don't know why but I get the feeling that a few of the boys who haven't featured yet may make their debuts as well (Paris, McGuigan, Campbell) so it could be interesting to see what team Toonie puts out!

GLASGOW WARRIORS TEAM TO PLAY ZEBRE IN THE RABODIRECT PRO12 AT SCOTSTOUN STADIUM ON FRIDAY 28 SEPTEMBER (KICK-OFF 7.35PM)

15 Fraser Thomson

14 Tommy Seymour

13 Byron McGuigan

12 Graeme Morrison

11 DTH van der Merwe

10 Ruaridh Jackson

9 Sean Kennedy

1 Gordon Reid

2 Finlay Gillies

3 Mike Cusack

4 Tom Ryder

5 Tim Swinson

6 Angus Macdonald

7 Chris Fusaro (CAPTAIN)

8 Josh Strauss

SUBSTITUTES

16 Dougie Hall

17 Ofa Fainga'anuku

18 Moray Low

19 James Eddie

20 Ryan Wilson

21 Niko Matawalu

22 Peter Horne

23 Stuart Hogg

Not considered for selection due to injury: Chris Cusiter (shoulder), Rob Harley (knee), Ed Kalman (back), Rory Lamont (leg), Pat MacArthur (foot), Jon Welsh (shoulder), Duncan Weir (knee)

No pressure on the Strauss lad like...

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/top-rugby-stories/gregor-townsend-s-plans-to-unleash-new-todd-blackadder-against-zebre-1-2552341

Poor from the Weedge - 2 men up and lose 3 points!

that's bad looks like DTH has done his hammie in

Yeah that didn't look good

Glasgow are woeful tonight yet bizarrely enough they're only 1 try away from a 4 try bonus point

Young Sean Kennedy has looked good at scrum half tonight

Jackson will never get the 10 shirt for Scotland if his kicking continues to be this bad.

Unless Laidlaw is at 9 of course...

Inexperience from Fusaro there I think - penalty in front of the post, go for a scrum. Penalty out wide, go for goal.

Jackson having a bit of a mare with the boot

Morrison just kicked the ball!!!! And it wasn't a disaster!

Glasgow somehow managing to play worse in the 2nd half than they did the in the 1st, quite a feat that...

Watch Glasgow play they said. It'll be fun they said...

Bad looking injury on Moray Low - might be running out of tighheads for the New zealand game!

Suppose there's always Al Dickinson ...

Think it's fair to say that tonight was the very definition of "a wins a win"!

Much rather have this performance and result than Edinburgh's though!

A win is a win but really Glasgow shuld have been looking to do more. Created very little in the second half at all. Nice to see Hogg back and looking keen and Kennedy looked useful.

Kennedy looked significantly better than any time I've seen Pyrgos play! Did Niko come on? Pishin rain maybe wasn't his kind of match...

Good debut from kennedy.

Can't believe early in the 2nd half, after 2 free kicks and 2 penalties, Glasgow failed to turn any of that pressure into points when camped in Zebre's 22

Hopefully the injuries tonight aren't too serious

Kennedy looked good nice pass on him, a terrible game just squeezing past zebre at home and losing Low and DTH

Conditions looked bloody fierce! Good effort after a very strong start by Zebre, who is there no. 11? He was pretty dangerous. I was impressed with Strauss despite some of his knock ons etc (it was pretty darn wet and he's used to playing for the Lions in SA) He had one or two good carries and some good offloads. Sean Kennedy was good apart from a couple of knock ons at the rucks. Overall a pretty gritty game in tricky conditions. But close wins are better than playing well and losing. When it comes to the latter parts of the season all anyone will notice is the points table and who is at the top... Leinster probably

That was a bloody disgrace. Its obvious Fusaro is not a captain - so that experiment failed. Defence abysmal - falling off tackles, failing to even make any. My old Mum could tackle better than that and she nearly 70 ffs! Woeful discipline. How many penalties did that idiot prop give away in the first half ? Fans will stay away in droves. Sean Kennedy was the one brightspot and Hogg looked up for it. Seymour was pants. Morrison made one and scored one was pants too. That full back Thompson was none too clever either. Now DTH and Low crocked for that utter bollux. Why anyone remotely sane would pay £30 for that schieze Townsend I hate your slimy guts.

So have you moved on to townsend then or you just on a break from Robinson then?
Agree it wasn't great watching bit if they keep winnin the fans will stay

How did Strauss play? I think he is a fantastic player.

Srauss was ok if he could hold onto the ball long enough. And RDW I have been consistent in my disdain for Townsend - he is a useless, rubbish coach who replaced a perfectly good coach and as for that that Taylor guy what exactly is he bringing to the party ? It is going to be a very long winter. I suppose Nob Robinson will even look good next to his wee pal Townsend even after we get destroyed by the ABs and the Boks.

Anyone else think that Morrison looked incredibly slow when he was 'running' in for his try?

Sounds like a mess on every level.

Will we regard that as try bonus point dropped at the end of the season?

I suspect that we will.

Yes GC a shambles. When Zebre were down to 13 in the first half they actually increased their lead by 3 points. Very poor captaincy by Fusaro, which had a significant impact on his game as those conditions looked right up his street. We will not be there at the end of the season as Scarlets, Ulster, Munster and Leinster are all so far ahead of us - Ulster will murder us in the Heino. Basic discipline was lacking- esp the newbie forwards in the 1st half. We handed Zebre 9 points on a plate via stupidity. Jackson looked good with ball in hand but constantly had to turn away from clunky old Morrison and it remains his kicking from hand and goal is just not up to it. Sean Kennedy looks a find at SH which was the only good part of a very depressing evening.

Well it wasn't pretty; but in those conditions, 13 changes and a host of players making their first Glasgow appearance, I will take the win!

Positives:

Sean Kennedy played very well, as RDW has mentioned, I saw more spark from him than in any game i have seen Pyrgos play. Kept the defence honest and bossed his forwards with authority.

Strauss, although he knocked on a couple of times and looked a but out of shape, he showed enough to suggest that he will be a huge asset.

The set piece; both the lineout and scrum functioned very well - Swinson looks like a real grafter, he and Ryder would be my first choice.

Negatives:

Ruaridh Jackson was fairly awful, his kicking particularly poor.

Morrison: slow & cumbersome exhibiting his usual poor distribution.

The injuries sustained to Low and DTH both looked pretty serious, the list of casualties will now really hamper any chance of Glasgow making a serious impact this season, especially concerning the front row. How many tight heads do we have left?

Aye EST, there are some positives esp young Kennedy's performance and set piece was ok -thanks to Tom Ryder leading line out at least. I feel sorry for Jackson. He is a good rugby player with the eye for a gap and a quick pass but to play Morrison outside him is asking for extra pressure and he is not a natural kicker of a ball. Believe Murray Low may have sustained a break - desperate news ! DTH may not be as bad as first thought - here's hoping. Our injury list is really bloody awful now.

Glasgow were, once again, completely mince. Jackson's kicking is beyond a joke, although he took the ball to the line well and looked for off-loads. Shame there was no one in support. Good to see Hogg get a good run out and Kennedy looked much more dangerous than Pyrgos whilst making very few errors for his first professional start. Horne didn't do anything wrong but it was clear we were lacking a bona fide 10 after first-phase ball. I would definitely look at starting Kennedy. Here's hoping Toonie doesn't continue the trend of wasting Horne's talent and keep him as cover for stand-off. Any news on how bad DTH's injury is?

I saw Strauss out for lunch in the West End today with DTH, Seymour and Nathan good to see him making friends early doors in Glasgow.
What wasnt so good was that DTH was on cruches! So dont expect to see him ready for the first round of the Heinekin if he cant weight bear on his torn hammie.
Also dont think Troy will have many good things to say about the coaching staff considering he has been left out of the HC squad. I would love to know what he said to p**s Toonie and Taylor off so much that they have effectively ended his career as a game day player at Scotstoun.
Also seeing how Toonie was heaping lavish praise on Sean Kennedy does that mean he is about to leap frog ahead of Pyrgos after 1 game of pro rugby? Does this also mean that Murray McConnell has no future at Glasgow after Cusiter's return as he would effectively be the 4th choice 9 in the squad?
One fianl question: How is Nick Campell deemed good enough for the HC squad, yet he cant even make the bench in PRO12 games being passed over for two sixes in the shapes of James Eddie and Angus McDonald?
We will see how Toonie's selection and rotation policies pan out over the next month or so but the omens arent good.

That does not sound good for DTH or the Warriors. Something wrong here with Townsend's selections if Nathan is not even quoted. Could Troy be too cosy with Sean Lineen ? Think we should be told !

Forget Edinburgh. Get Maitland to Scotstoun right now.

I haven't seen the game yet or even the highlights, but the result is not encouraging.

I'm sure Townsend probably thinks that his rotation policy was justified by the fact that Glasgow won, but I completely disagree. All the top sides will take 5 points from their home fixture against Zebre, on top of which Townsend was given the top to make Glasgow a more attacking threat.

Scraping a win at home against Zebre, with winning a BP and conceding one, it a horrible outcome. The home fans are owed an apology from Townsend for picking that team.

funnyExiledScot wrote:The home fans are owed an apology from Townsend for picking that team.

The fans are owed nothing. Imagine being a player in that team and having the coach apologising for picking you against the weakest team in the league.

I'm not suggesting he criticise the players individually. Simply that he man up to making an enormous amount of changes all at once, throwing together players who have barely played together in a number of areas (lock, backrow, half back, centre and back three) all at the same time.

I have no issue beef with any player on that pitch, I just wouldn't have treated the game as pre-season friendly as if it didn't matter.

It was an amateur piece of coaching from an amateur.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Simply that he man up to making an enormous amount of changes all at once, throwing together players who have barely played together in a number of areas (lock, backrow, half back, centre and back three) all at the same time.

What nonsense. I can understand you not liking Townsend he is not a good coach. But seriously. You are away to Cardiff next week and then have two Heineken Cup games against Northampton and Ulster.

You were playing the weakest side in the competition at home just ahead of those games. Rotation had to be done in that match. Townsend made the call - they won the match and you are suggesting he make an apology to the fans - wise up!

funnyExiledScot wrote:I'm not suggesting he criticise the players individually. Simply that he man up to making an enormous amount of changes all at once, throwing together players who have barely played together in a number of areas (lock, backrow, half back, centre and back three) all at the same time.

I have no issue beef with any player on that pitch, I just wouldn't have treated the game as pre-season friendly as if it didn't matter.

It was an amateur piece of coaching from an amateur.

I'm not Townsends biggest fan, and I agree it was one or two changes too many; but at the end of the day, the team won. I don't think Townsend has anything to apologise for as long as the team wins.

I guess we diagree mr stag. Fact is that glasgow are undercooked and haven't settled any key combinations in the 1st xv, in fact you'd be hard pushed to know what the xv is. I think there has been too much rotation. You disagree.

funnyExiledScot wrote:I guess we diagree mr stag. Fact is that glasgow are undercooked and haven't settled any key combinations in the 1st xv, in fact you'd be hard pushed to know what the xv is. I think there has been too much rotation. You disagree.