Preview: Treviso v Glasgow

Editor

Scotland and British and Irish Lions full-back Stuart Hogg returns to the Glasgow side for Friday's visit to take on Treviso.

Scotland and British and Irish Lions full-back Stuart Hogg returns to the Glasgow side for Friday's visit to take on Treviso.

Hogg has recovered from a hamstring injury and replaces Peter Murchie at full-back, while Tommy Seymour moves to the right wing and Niko Matawalu comes in for Sean Maitland on the opposite side.

Mark Bennett keeps the number 13 jersey, with Peter Horne coming in at inside centre and Finn Russell switching to fly-half in place of Ruaridh Jackson.

Henry Pyrgos, who scored a brace of tries when the two teams met at Scotstoun last month, replaces Chris Cusiter at scrum-half.

In the pack Gordon Reid comes in for Ryan Grant at loosehead, Pat MacArthur replaces Dougie Hall at hooker and Geoff Cross is named at tighthead in place of Jon Welsh.

Tim Swinson comes back into the team in place of Al Kellock, after recovering from illness, and he will partner Jonny Gray in the engine room.

Rob Harley continues at blindside flanker, with Tyrone Holmes replacing Chris Fusaro at openside and Josh Strauss starting at number eight and captaining the side.

Six of the eight players named on the bench started in last week's win over Edinburgh.

“Our win over Edinburgh has given everyone at the club a massive boost ahead of the final two games of the regular season, but we face another tough test tomorrow night in Italy,” said Warriors boss Gregor Townsend.

“On home soil Treviso perform with an intensity and physicality that makes them one of the most challenging sides you can face in the PRO12 on the road and defensively we'll need to be at our very best.

“Conceding four tries last weekend really hurt us and we are determined to deliver a much improved defensive performance tomorrow night.

“There is a lot of rugby still to be played this season and we must go out and put in an 80-minute performance if we're to secure our place in the play-offs.”

Meanwhile, Treviso are without the services of hulking Japanese international Christian Loamanu for Friday's home match, with experienced Italy full-back Luke McLean instead slotting in at inside centre.

Brendan Williams wears 15, while exciting midfielder Michele Campagnaro partners McLean in the centres and Tobias Botes and Mat Berquist continue their strong half-back pairing.

Up front, Manoa Vosawai comes into the back-row at blinside flanker, with Marco Fuser partnering captain Antonio Pavanello in the second-row.

Form: Benetton Treviso's last six PRO12 encounters have all been won by the home side on the day, whilst they are looking for a victory to keep Zebre at bay for the Italian European spot.

Treviso have won their last two home games at Stadio Monigo but have not won three in a row at home in the competition for twelve months.

Glasgow Warriors are the best team in the PRO12 on current form having won their last six matches and gained 26 league points in the process.

The Scotsmen have won their last nine clashes with Italian opponents since tripping up to Treviso at Firhill in September 2011.

The two sides have met on seven previous occasions in the PRO12 with Glasgow having the edge by five wins to two.

The teams:

Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Mat Berquist, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Marco Filippucci, 7 Paul Derbyshire, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 5 Marco Fuser, 4 Antonio Pavanello (c), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Alberto De Marchi
Replacements: 16 Giovanni Maistri, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Dean Budd, 21 Alberto Sgarbi, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 James Ambrosini

Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Niko Matawalu, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Josh Strauss (c), 7 Tyrone Holmes, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Leone Nakarawa, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Chris Cusiter, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Sean Maitland

Date: Friday 2nd May
Venue: Stadio Monigo
Kick-off: 2000 local, 1900 BST
Referee: George Clancy (Ire)
Assistant referees: Andrea Spadoni, Simone Boaretto (both Ita)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Ita)