Glasgow Warriors
Ahead of the start of the RaboDirect PRO12 season on September 6, we preview the fortunes of each side.
They strode down the Grand Stairway into the Titanic Suite one by one, the captains of the RaboDirect PRO12 all kitted out in battledress and ready for action stations.
The new season of RaboDirect PRO12 rugby is nearly upon us and despite seeing several top players leave the league and opt to take up a contract in the Top 14, the 12 sides in the Celtic competition have had a busy summer as they look to bolster their resources. Several top internationals have decided to give the PRO12 a shot and we have picked out a selection of eye-catching transfers in the latest Scrum Sevens.
Glasgow Warriors have named their team to take on Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park this afternoon (kick off 4.00pm South African Time). Josh Strauss will skipper the Warriors for what is their final pre-season game before opening the PRO12 against Cardiff at Scotstoun next Friday.
Tyrone Holmes is set to make his debut on Thursday for Glasgow Warriors at Rubislaw in Aberdeen. The Warriors are on a two day trip to the city as part of their preseason preparations which include a practice session which will be open to the public to attend as well as a match against local team, Aberdeen Grammar.
Glasgow Warriors scrum-half Niko Matawalu will miss the start of the season after the Fiji international broke a bone in his foot. The 24-year-old has damaged the fifth metatarsal in his right foot during training and has undergone surgery.
Scotland have made three changes in their starting team for their 11th and final international of the season against Italy in Pretoria on Saturday. There are six Glasgow Warriors in the starting XV and five on the bench for the final game of the tour.
Rob Harley has been called into the Scotland squad as injury cover after fellow forward Jim Hamilton returned home to be with his expectant wife.
Leinster (11) 17/15 (10) Glasgow Warriors
After 132 games over 22 rounds just four of the 12 participating teams now go forward to the knock-out phase in the quest to find the RaboDirect Pro12 champions of 2012/13.
With just four points separating the top three teams who have already qualified for the Pro12 play-offs, no-one can yet be certain of their position in the table.
The RaboDirect PRO12 is in line to record its best ever attendances since the competition changed to a home and away format ten seasons ago.
It was all change yet again at the top of the Pro12 table following Round 20, with Ulster retaking the top position, whilst Glasgow Warriors slipped to third.
And with just two rounds left, and a maximum of 10 points on offer, five teams are still vying for the four play-off places.
Round 17 of the Pro12 kicks off with five games on Friday, with both contenders for the top spot in action.
Leaders Ulster, who have been at the top since round five, welcome Benetton Treviso to Ravenhill whilst Glasgow Warriors host Cardiff Blues at Scotstoun.
There was good news for clubs on both sides of the Central Belt as the services of two valuable loose forwards were announced. Glasgow Warriors have managed to secure the services of prodigal son Richie Vernon once more while Roddy Grant has extended his contract with Edinburgh Rugby.
With just seven rounds left in the regular season of the PRO12, the race is really on for a top four finish, and qualification for the play-offs. In the pick of the games this weekend first plays second when leaders Ulster travel to face Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun on Friday night.
With a pause in the international matches, the Pro12 takes centre stage again this weekend with games in Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
First up on Friday night table toppers Ulster welcome Zebre to Ravenhill. The leaders will be keen to get back to their winning ways having suffered only their second defeat in this season’s campaign at the hands of Ospreys last week.
Scottish Rugby announced on Thursday that it had secured the biggest sponsorship deal in its history.
New kit partner, Macron, will come on board in the summer to become official kit supplier for all Scotland representative teams and the professional clubs, Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors.
Despite their loss to Munster at Thomond Park last Saturday, Ulster remain clear at the top of the Pro12 table as we start the New Year.
Ulster have a nine-point lead over second placed Scarlets, who they welcome to Ravenhill on Friday.
Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby did battle yesterday in the Rabo Direct Pro12 at Murrayfield. The match also doubled up as the second leg of the 1872 Cup. Glasgow won the first leg of the cup game last weekend at their home ground, Scotstoun Stadium, by nine points. Glasgow were comfortably in front in yesterday’s game, leading by 18 points on the 55 minute mark. However, a late rally by Edinburgh made for an exiting finish, FINAL SCORE : Edinburgh 17 – 21 Glasgow.
Rather than bring one match report I thought for a change would post two match reports, one from either camp. There is some repetition but it is interesting to see the reports as written from ‘both sides of the fence’.
At the half-way point of the regular season Ulster sit atop of the Pro12 table with a perfect won 11 out of 11 record.
The leaders face Munster in one of four games on Saturday, safe in the knowledge that regardless of other results, they will enter 2013 as table toppers.
This weekend sees further action in the RaboDirect Pro12 as this season’s competition enters the twelfth round of matches in the league stage. Most of the games will be completed during the weekend but one of the matches, Scarlets versus Ospreys, is scheduled for the afternoon of Monday afternoon.
The attention in Scotland in particular will, for the second week in a row, be centred on the derby match between Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors. This match will take place at Murrayfield on Saturday, kick off due 18.05 South African Time.
After a few weeks of Heineken Cup rugby this weekend seems the return to action in the major leagues in the form of the Aviva Premiership and the Rabbo Direct Pro12 as well as the French Top 14. Of particular interest in Scotland is the big derby match between Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh on Friday night in Glasgow.
Head coach Gregor Townsend has made three changes to the Glasgow Warriors side which was beaten by Munster last week as they prepare to face French Top 14 team Castres Olympique in the Heineken Cup.
Glasgow Warriors and Scottish Rugby have today pulled off another major signing coup, landing Crusaders back-three star Sean Maitland. The 24-year-old Canterbury man, equally adept on the wing or at full-back, is one of the most highly rated outside backs in Super Rugby, and qualifies to play for Scotland courtesy of both his paternal Grandparents who were born in Glasgow.
Alan Dymock looks at a drookit night when Glasgow Warriors traded errors with Ulster. The problem he finds is that Glasgow’s mistakes were closer to their sticks and Ulster were bossing breakdowns and lineout drives.
The fifth round of the RaboDirect Pro12 started with four matches on Friday night and the remaining two fixtures in the round being played on Saturday. This round yielded numerous surprise results, so much so that we only managed to correctly predict one out of the six results.
Glasgow Warriors are gunning for their second home RaboDirect PRO12 victory in seven days when they face Zebre at Scotstoun Stadium on Friday (kick-off 7.35pm British Summer Time). The Warriors have made several changes to their match day squad of 23 for this game. In arguably the most notable change, former Golden Lions eighthman and captain Josh Strauss will be starting at eightman.
One of the foremost coaches in world rugby is to visit Scotland next month to spend time with the country’s two pro-clubs and to outline his philosophies to senior club and school coaches.
As Round Four of the PRO12 opens, a Welsh Region still tops the table, however it is not last season’s winners, Ospreys, but their opponents on Friday night, Scarlets, setting the pace.
The GLRU have announced in a media release that former talsimatic captain Joshua Strauss is to leave the Lions and play for the Glasgow Warriors until May 2015.
He will depart for Scotland in the next 2 weeks.
The full press release reads:
The second round of the RaboDirect Pro12 competition is scheduled for this weekend. Four of the games will be played on Friday night with the remaining two games taking place on Saturday.
Various pre-season friendly matches have taken place this weekend, ahead of the start of the Aviva Premiership and RaboDirect Pro12 competitions. Furthemore, there has been news of player injuries as well as some player transfer news.
This weekend saw the semi finals of the two competitions being played. The final scores were fairly close in all but one of the matches.
The two competitions have reached the knockout stages with the battle for final spots taking place this weekend.