Lions preparing for returning Scottish stars in Glasgow tussle

The Lions are bracing for a number of returning Scottish star players when they take on Glasgow Warriors in their United Rugby Championship (URC) encounter at the Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday night (kick-off 9:35pm).

Already three players who featured in Scotland’s Six Nations loss against France, made their return to the Glasgow fold this past weekend against Munster, with Stafford McDowell starting while Matt Fagerson and Gregor Brown played off the bench.

Further players from that final Six Nations game, such as Zander Fagerson, Rory Darge, Tom Jordan, Huw Jones, Rory Sutherland and Jamie Dobie, could be back this weekend to bolster the hosts.

That would make what is already a massive task for the Lions an even bigger challenge against the defending URC champs and current second ranked team, on their home patch.

Glasgow have only lost four games so far this season, with just one coming at home, when they were pipped 32-31 by Ospreys, but that was without all of their Scottish internationals, so with them back they will be a different beast.

Fired up

Lions forwards coach Julian Redelinghuys said that no matter what team Glasgow put on the field, the visitors will be fired up and ready for that challenge.

“There is a lot of work that goes into a game like this, or actually every game. We definitely look at where there are weaknesses in their game, at games that they have won, how they play at home, how they play away, and all that,” explained Redelinghuys.

“We don’t know what team they will select, but we do have a feeling that they will bring back a lot of Scottish guys. But we will have a look at that when they name their team. We do have a good idea about what they will bring this weekend.

“They are second on the log for a reason and we are under no illusion of what to expect on Saturday. We just need to get our plans sorted and then execute our plan on the weekend.”

The Lions loss against Cardiff over the past weekend dropped them from eighth on the URC log to 13^th, and a loss against Glasgow would see them lose further ground in the hunt for a place in the playoffs come the end of the pool phase.

Pressure match

That should add pressure to the match, as the Lions need to pick up as many points as they can to assist them ahead of a home run to finish the pool stage, but Redelinghuys says they aren’t focusing on that currently, as it is already a conversation that they had.

“We had a great chat about that before we came on tour. The log is really congested. I think the top three or four are a little bit ahead of the rest. Then like you saw over this (past) weekend there were a lot of swings,” said Redelinghuys.

“Just one or two points makes a massive difference on the log (at the moment). So that was a chat we had, but after that we can’t speak about the log every week and our focus is just on each game as it comes.

“This week that is Glasgow. Did we worsen our chances after our loss against Cardiff? Yes we did, but focusing on that will not help us this coming weekend, or the coming EPCR game, or our home run. So we do realise the position we are in and we know what we need to do to get the right result.”