Need to Know: USA Perpignan v Glasgow Warriors, Challenge Cup match preview 2022/23

KO 8.00 GMT (9.00 local time) at Stade Aime Giral
Saturday 14th January 2023
Live on epcrugby.tv

• Glasgow have won just 7 of their 26 matches away to French opposition in European competition.
• The Warriors have won their last 6 matches in a row in all competitions – something they haven’t achieved since September / October 2017.
• They are on a run of 3 consecutive away victories – a feat they also haven’t managed since September / October 2017.
• Asifa Taumoepeau and Tom Ecochard have more previous appearances for Perpignan between them (315) than the other 21 USAP players combined (263).
• The home side have made 14 changes to their starting XV from their most recent Top 14 game, against Clermont.
• The visitors have made 12 changes to the lineup that tackled the Stormers in the URC last weekend.
• First-time skipper, Stafford McDowall, is the Warrior to Watch.

Teams

(Players in BLOCK CAPITALS are full internationals; numbers in brackets are previous appearances for USAP / Glasgow)

Head to Head:

Back 3 – ADV Glasgow

Centres – EVEN

Half Backs – ADV Perpignan

Front Row – EVEN

Second Row – ADV Glasgow

Back Row – ADV Glasgow

Subs – EVEN

Changes from Round 2:

Despite there being just four weeks since these sides last met there are a huge number of changes in the teams. Just 5 of the 30 players who started at Murrayfield start again in this fixture:

USAP – Afusipa Taumoepeau and Tom Ecochard
Glasgow – Josh McKay, Richie Gray and Jack Dempsey

Overall there are a combined 28 changes to the matchday squads with 11 returning players for the visitors and just 7 for their hosts.

Glasgow Greetings:

First start – Nathan McBeth

European debut – Alex Samuel

First European start – Johnny Matthews

Warrior to Watch:

Stafford McDowall is the 42nd player named to captain Glasgow for a match during the professional era. The sizeable centre is closing in on 50 appearances for the club and is having his strongest season since breaking through in 2018/19.

This will be his 9th start of the campaign – already more than he managed in the previous 2 seasons combined. 3 tries in 8 outings have doubled his career tally (3 in 38 appearances). It’s not just scoring though – his offensive output is up across the board and he ranks in the URC’s top 50 players for carries, metres and clean breaks.

With some of his competition for midfield places having recently demonstrated their ability to switch between inside and outside centre, an outing in the less familiar 13 shirt will present Stafford with a chance to show his flexibility and increase his utility to the squad and in game situations.

Previous meeting

Officials:

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
AR1: Ben Breakspear (Wales)
AR2: Gwyn Morris (Wales)
TMO: Ian Davies (Wales)

Mr Evans’ record for 2021/22:

Matches – 11
Average penalty count – 21.7 per game
Home side penalties conceded percentage – 43.1%
Average card count – 1.4 per game
Penalties per card – 15.9

After unfamiliar referees in Rounds 1 and 2, Glasgow will be glad the man in the middle this time round is a URC official who has taken charge of their matches on 5 previous occasions – including the Benetton game at Scotstoun earlier this season.

Mr Evans has already dished out 5 red cards so far during 2022/23. Tempers did fray periodically throughout the previous meeting between these sides so there’s a chance that the Welsh whistler will add to that tally on Saturday evening.

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Additional ref stats from:

https://www.cardiffrfcfans.com/analysis/referee_heads.php?countryID=1