Need to Know: Glasgow Warriors v Dragons, PRO14 match preview 2019/20

KO 7.35 at Scotstoun Stadium
Saturday 22nd February 2020
Live on Premier Sports 1

• This is the oldest 23 (average age of 28.5) that Glasgow have fielded in the last three seasons. Will that veteran experience prove crucial?
• It’s Dobie’s Debut as Jamie makes his first start for the Warriors.
• After his late arrival this season, new boy Aki Seiuli has made himself an integral part of the Glasgow side and he is the Warrior to Watch.
• From Glasgow’s full-time squad of 52 there are just 4 available players who are not included in the 23 for the game against the Dragons.

Teams

Head to Head:

Back 3 – ADV Glasgow
Centres – ADV Glasgow
Half Backs – ADV Dragons
Front Row – EVEN
Second Row – ADV Glasgow
Back Row – ADV Glasgow
Subs – EVEN

Glasgow Greetings:

Jamie Dobie will be just 18 years and 197 days old when he makes his first start for the Warriors on Saturday night. The youngest player to start a match for the club is Matt Fagerson who was 18 years and 84 days when he wore the number 7 shirt against Zebre in 2016.

Fun fact when Dragons’ prop Brok Harris made his first pro start (for Western Province in the Currie Cup) Jamie Dobie was 5 years old…

Ewan Mcquillan could become Warrior number 310 if he makes it off the bench. The prop is on loan from the Southern Knights in the Super 6 and gets a big chance with 4 Glasgow tightheads unavailable.

Matchday Milestones:

This will be the 100th game for Glasgow in the PRO14 for Tommy Seymour (he also played for Ulster on 7 occasions in what was at the time the Magners League before joining the Warriors).

Warrior to Watch:

While Aki Seiuli may not have arrived in Glasgow until the start of November and not made his debut until the very end of that month he’s been ever present since then. He’s even managed to become a main contributor to the club band, the Scrumbags!

On the field his scrummaging has been powerful. It’s his aggressive, energetic work in the loose that really stands out though. He averages 14 carries and 17 tackles per 80 minutes. That combined workload of 31 per 80 mins is only topped among the current squad by the insane levels of Jonny Gray. It’s never easy settling into a new club but Aki has hit the ground sprinting and has made a real difference to the squad.

Glasgow at home to Dragons in the PRO12/14 era:

• 6 wins
• 1 loss
• 4 try BPs
• 28 points out of a possible 35 (80%)

Previous match-up at Scotstoun:

Officials:

Referee: Sean Gallagher (IRFU, 19th championship appearance)
AR1: Ian Kenny (SRU)
AR1: Oisin Quinn (IRFU)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)

Mr Gallagher’s regular season record for 2018/19 in the PRO14:

Matches – 5 (all refs – 147)
Average penalty count – 22.4 per game (all refs – 18.4)
Home penalty percentage – 50% (all refs – 52%)
Average card count – 1.4 per game (all refs – 0.9)
Penalties per card – 16.0 (all refs – 19)

There’s a second trip of the season to Scotstoun for Mr Gallagher who will no doubt revel in the warm friendship and bonhomie extended from the stands to all match officials. And by warm friendship I mean catcalls and booing – and by bonhomie I mean chants of “Are you Clancy in disguise?”

In terms of performance, it’s perhaps best to prepare for the whistle to be heard pretty frequently. Certainly, none of the PRO14’s other regular refs averaged more than the 22.4 offences per game Mr Gallagher spotted last season. He awarded 24 pens last time he was at Scotstoun for the game against Cardiff Blues. The Warriors were on the right side of the crime count (14 for v 10 against with a yellow card for the visitors) and they’ll be looking to be similarly in sync with the ref on Saturday.