Need to Know: Scarlets v Glasgow Warriors, PRO14 Match Preview 2017/18

KO 4.15 Parc y Scarlets
Saturday 7th April
Live on Sky Sports Action

Scarlets were the bogey team of the Townsend era, returning the fewest points of any of the other 11 sides in the PRO12. Dave Rennie will be leading his charges against the West Walians for the first time – here’s hoping the Kiwi has better fortune in his encounters with the men in red than his predecessor. The Warriors will need to overcome a side who have only lost once at home so far this season (against Bath in the Champions Cup).

Teams

Head to Head:
Back 3 – ADV Glasgow
Centres – ADV Scarlets
Half Backs – EVEN
Front Row – ADV Scarlets
Second Row – EVEN
Back Row – EVEN
Subs – ADV Glasgow

Once A Warrior:
John Barclay, who left Glasgow in 2013, has a 3 wins and 4 losses record in games he has played against the Warriors and always seems to have an extra point to prove against his old team. DTH van der Merwe never managed to pick up a try against Glasgow during his spell with the Scarlets. Now he is a Warrior once more can he notch a score for his former former club against his former club?

Glasgow Greetings:
More of a welcome back this week as skipper Ryan Wilson is set to play his first game of 2018 for the Warriors.

Warriors One to Watch:
It’s been a stop start season for Stuart Hogg – especially in the league. This will be just his second appearance in the PRO14 during the 2017/18 campaign. While his game time for Glasgow may have been fleeting he’s been flying every time he has taken to the field in the black jersey.

A try on each of his outings (taking less than 90 seconds to get on the scoreboard against both the Kings and Exeter); averaging 124m per game with ball in hand; 6 clean breaks; 7 defenders beaten. Hoggy has looked the business and while injuries may have hampered the early part of the season it hopefully means he is fresh for the run in and the playoffs to come, where the man from Hawick will be hugely influential.

Stuart is reunited in the back 3 with Tommy Seymour and DTH van der Merwe. The last time they played together as a trio? The PRO12 Grand Final in 2015. A similar performance and result would do very nicely this weekend…

The Scarlets v Glasgow fixture in the PRO12 era:

• 2 wins
• 4 losses
• 1 Try Bonus Point
• 9 points out of a possible 30 (33%)

Last season’s match-up:

2
Yellow cards for Glasgow – leading to playing 20 minutes of the second half short-handed. The Warriors have chopped their card count from 18 last season to just 6 so far in this campaign. They will need to maintain that discipline as the business end of the season approaches, starting at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday.

21
Number of players unavailable for selection for the Warriors. The only time Glasgow and Scarlets have met in the league outside international windows in the last 3 years is in April 2016 – and that was when a sickness bug was running through the home team’s players! It will make a change to see two full strength sides going at it in what should be one of the league’s most entertaining encounters.

69
Tackles attempted by Glasgow – the fewest in any match last season. The Warriors dominated possession and territory in the first 40 minutes but couldn’t take their chances to build a lead on the scoreboard – partly through their own inaccuracies but also because of ferocious Scarlets’ defence. Dave Rennie will be expecting to see a more clinical edge from the top class backline he has selected.

Home and Away:
Scarlets last 6 in PRO14 (H) – W W W W W D
Glasgow last 6 in PRO14 (A) – W W L W D L

Officials:
Referee: George Clancy (IRFU, 100th competition game)
AR1: David Wilkinson (IRFU)
AR2: Gwyn Morris (WRU)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)

Mr. Clancy’s record in Warriors’ fixtures from 2013 – 2017:

Matches – 16* (118 for all refs)
Average penalty count – 17.8 (19.1 all refs)
Average penalties for Glasgow – 8.9 (9.6 all refs)
Average penalties against Glasgow – 8.9 (9.5 all refs)
Yellow cards – 2 in total, both for Glasgow’s opponents (1.0 per game all refs)
Red cards – 1 (for Brian Alainu’uese)

On Saturday Mr. Clancy will become just the second referee (after Nigel Owens) to take charge of 100 PRO14 matches. His first ever fixture involving the Warriors came back on 13th November 2004. Since then he’s been the man in the middle a further 34 times in the league when Glasgow have played.

The Warriors lost all 3 games Mr. Clancy refereed last season (although that probably had a lot more to do with the understrength line-ups fielded than the match officials) but prior to that they had won 10 out of 11 with the Irish whistler in charge. Glasgow have already beaten Cheetahs home and away this season with Mr. Clancy as the ref. There will be no excuses for not knowing what to expect from the experienced official.

* There are no stats available for Glasgow’s game away to Treviso in 2013/14 so Mr. Clancy’s penalty and card numbers are based on 15 games.