Need to Know: Glasgow Warriors v Exeter, Champions Cup match preview 2019/20

KO 3.15
Scotstoun Stadium
Saturday 11th January
Live on BT Sport 2

This will be the 600th competitive match in the history of Glasgow Warriors as a professional team. Hopefully, the club can mark the occasion with their 292nd win!

Champions Cup stats:

• Glasgow have won 7 and lost 3 of their games when they been at home in the Champions Cup for Round 5.
• Overall the Warriors have 10 wins in matches in the penultimate rounds of the pool stages – more than at any other stage of the competition.
• This will be the 26th Champions Cup match played at Scotstoun. Glasgow’s record at the venue is currently won 13, lost 12.
  

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Starting XV stats:

BACKS
14   Champions Cup tries   25
96   Champions Cup appearances   180
26.7   Average age   27.7
5   Capped players   5

FORWARDS
904kg   Pack weights   898kg
169   Champions Cup appearances   80
26.8   Average age   26.5
6   Capped players   5

Glasgow Greetings:

Saturday’s game will feature Glenn Bryce’s first Champions Cup start. The full back’s only previous experience in this tournament came 4 years ago when he replaced Sean Lamont against Racing 92 in Paris.

Once A Warrior:

There will be an affectionate off-pitch reception for one of the club’s favourite sons, Stuart Hogg, as he returns to Scotstoun for the first time with his new team. There may also be a reception committee waiting for him on the pitch – but they’re unlikely to be quite as welcoming! They will need to catch him first mind you…

Matchday Milestones:

Tommy Seymour will tie Andy Henderson’s record for the most appearances in European competition by a Glasgow back (41). Ten of Muffles’ games came in the Challenge Cup so Tommy is out on his own when it comes to the Champions Cup.

Warrior to Watch:

Things have definitely been on the up for Huw Jones over the last month. It’s maybe not quite at the stage of bringing out the “10 Things I Rate About Huw” article but with a try and a couple of quality assists allied to clean breaks and a raft of defenders beaten the outside centre is beginning to look an awful lot more like fella who was torching defences for Scotland not that long ago.

The numbers suggest he’s currently trying to be more of a distributor, getting close to an even split between passing and carrying the ball himself (46% pass / 50% run / 4% kick). It feels like when the confidence really starts flowing he’ll back himself a bit more (he carries 60% of the time for Scotland). For now, there’s the opportunity for his teammates to take advantage of that creativity which can hopefully unlock what is a fairly miserly Exeter defence.

Glasgow’s Track Record…

…against English sides in the pool stages of the European Cup:

• • 14 wins (12 at home, 2 away)
  • 29 losses (8 at home, 21 away)

Most recent meeting at Scotstoun:

20/10/18 Scotstoun Report

Glasgow Warriors 28
T: Stuart Hogg, Penalty Try, Tommy Seymour, Matt Fagerson
C: Finn Russell (3)
Exeter 21
T: Sam Simmonds, Don Armand, Ian Whitten
C: Gareth Steenson (3)

This will be the third Champions Cup encounter between these two sides at Scotstoun (the Warriors won 20 – 16 in 2013). Only three Glasgow players will have featured in all three games – Tommy Seymour, Jonny Gray and Rob Harley.

There are five men in the Exeter 23 who are returning for their third European Cup match at Scotstoun – Whitten, Ewers, Moon, Armand and Steenson.

Key stats from Round 2:

The Good
13: defenders beaten by Sam Johnson and Tommy Seymour. When they found themselves in attacking positions the Glasgow backline was able to stress Exeter’s midfield in particular. The trouble was not having the right kind of field position to do this more often – particularly in the second half.

The Bad
50: metres made by Glasgow’s starting pack – the lowest figure from any of the club’s Champions Cup matches this season. The Warriors’ forwards were stifled, stymied and frequently shoved back by a physical Exeter unit. The visitors have 5 changes in their pack from the previous game and Glasgow have the weight advantage in the tight 5 (598kgs to 564kgs). Can they put in a more aggressive performance and make this count?

The Ugly
45: percentage territory for Glasgow in the second half. It wasn’t even so much this figure alone, more its relationship to a possession figure of 54%. That excess of ball in hand over field position illustrates how much Glasgow were over-playing rather than thinking clearly about the territorial aspect of needing to overcoming a team with such a stuffy defensive setup.

Officials:

Referee: Romain Poite (Fra)
AR1: Vincent Blasco Baque (Fra)
AR2: Adrien Descottes (Fra)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (Fra)

As mentioned above this is the third Glasgow v Exeter fixture at Scotstoun – and all three will have been refereed by M. Poite! Outwith these games though the French official doesn’t have a huge amount of previous experience of the Warriors.

His first Glasgow game was way back in November 2007 – against Saracens at Vicarage Road. Since then there have been just 7 more matches with Exeter’s visit to Scotstoun in January 2018 being the most recent.

The breakdown can be a bit of a lottery when M. Poite is in charge which means Glasgow need to put a heavy emphasis on being precise at the ruck and maul. Quick, clean ball is essential for the game plan and they cannot afford to get mired in a battle at the breakdown.