Planet Rugby

Preview: Treviso v Glasgow

26th October 2012 10:14

Rob Harley

Rob Harley: Back from injury for Glasgow

Glasgow coach Gregor Townsend has made five changes to his starting XV for Saturday's PRO12 clash with Treviso at Stadio di Monigo.

Tommy Seymour returns from his one-match suspension to replace the injured Byron McGuigan on the right wing, while Niko Matawalu, a try scorer against the Belfast side, lines up on the other touchline.

Stuart Hogg moves to outside centre, with Peter Murchie reverting to full-back. Alex Dunbar, who started on the wing in the Ulster game, switches to inside centre.

Peter Horne, who has featured in every match so far this season, is rested, having also suffered blows to the face and knee against Ulster.

In the forwards, meanwhile, the changes see Finlay Gillies replace Dougie Hall at hooker, blindside flanker Rob Harley make his first start since recovering from a knee injury, and John Barclay come in for the rested Chris Fusaro at openside.

Among the Glasgow replacements and set for a competitive debut is wing Taylor Paris, the youngest player to be capped by Canada at both fifteens and sevens.

"There are a few switches in our back-line, both personnel-wise and positional, but we're fortunate to have a number of players in there who are versatile," said Townsend.

"In the pack, it's great to have Rob Harley back in the mix.

"He's been a very influential player for the club over the last two years, and I've been really impressed by how hard he's worked to return promptly from his injury and keep making a significant contribution.

"With 13 of our players having been named in the Scotland squad this week, there are going to be some big games ahead for a number of players not involved against Treviso.

"As we've said on a number of occasions, it's vital that we have a large group of players all capable of delivering when the team needs them to, and every individual in our squad has a big part to play this season."

Two backs who won't feature in northern Italy are Graeme Morrison and Sean Lamont.

"With his knee injury having failed to settle, Morrison has undergone further assessment, which concluded that he is likely to be unavailable for selection until around the start of December.

Sean Lamont, meanwhile, is recovering well from the facial injury he sustained against Northampton Saints a fortnight ago, but the Treviso game comes too soon for him.

The Warriors are striving to make it five PRO12 wins in a row after beating Ospreys and Cardiff Blues on the road, and Connacht and Zebre at Scotstoun Stadium.

Saturday's clash in the Veneto gives them the opportunity to maintain this positive run, and build on their current placing of third in the competition table.

Glasgow have won on five of their last six visits to Italy, but were made to fight all the way for victory back in April, when a late DTH van der Merwe try saw them emerge victorious 13-8.

"This weekend's game against Benetton Treviso is massive for us," explained Townsend.

"We've achieved some good results of late in the PRO12, and after two defeats in the Heineken Cup, it's vital we get back on track.

"We're well aware that it's going to be an extremely tough game. Treviso have already beaten Ospreys and Scarlets at home, and only lost to Leinster by a point there.

"That underlines just how well we're going to have to play in all aspects of our game to come away with another win.

"As usual with matches against Italian opposition, we'll need to be watertight in our work up front; our scrum has been going really well in recent games, and establishing the right sort of platform in the set-piece is a necessity."

Meanwhile, Treviso have made several changes to their side that lost 33-21 to Toulouse in a Heineken Cup clash last weekend.

Amongst the forwards, Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, Franco Sbaraglini and Pedro Di Santo replace Lorenzo Cittadini, Leonardo Ghiraldini and Michele Rizzo in the front row while Manoa Vosawai moves from flank to number eight in place of Robert Barbieri and Corniel Van Zyl returns as captain in the second row in place of Antonio Pavanello,

The only change in the back-line sees Christian Loamanu replacing Giulio Toniolatti on the right wing.

Rugby Union betting odds

Form: Benetton Treviso have won their last two RaboDirect PRO12 matches against Scarlets and Edinburgh. Treviso lost both games against Scottish opponents at Stadio Monigo last season.Glasgow Warriors have won their last four PRO12 contests, and have also won their last four encounters against Italian opponents. The Warriors have lost just one of their last six visits to Italy in all competitions: 16-19 at Treviso on 16 April 2011. The two fixtures between the teams last season were both won by the away side on the day.

The teams:

Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Christian Loamanu, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Corniel Van Zyl (c), 4 Francesco Minto, 3 Pedro Di Santo, 2 Franco Sbaraglini, 1 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet.
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Valerio Bernaḅ, 21 Marco Filippucci, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Brendan Williams,

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Stuart Hogg, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Niko Matawalu, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 John Barclay, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Al Kellock (c), 4 Tom Ryder, 3 Mike Cusack, 2 Finlay Gillies, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Ofa Fainga'anuku, 18 Gordon Reid, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 James Eddie, 21 Scott Wight, 22 Troy Nathan, 23 Taylor Paris.

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