Glasgow Warriors Announce Seven Squad Changes for Champions Cup Fixture Against Toulon

Glasgow Warriors’ head coach, Franco Smith, has made seven alterations to his team for Sunday’s Champions Cup fixture against Toulon, a match that will mark Ben Afshar’s inaugural European start. The URC champions, who secured an impressive victory over Sale Sharks last weekend to commence their European campaign, have seen Smith implement these seven alterations to the team that began the previous game at Scotstoun. In the forward pack, Sam Talakai steps in for Zander Fagerson in the front row, while Alex Samuel has been selected ahead of Scott Cummings in the second row. Jack Mann replaces Matt Fagerson. Henco Venter will shift to blindside flanker to accommodate Mann, with Rory Darge maintaining his role at openside. Among the backs, George Horne, who was named player of the match last weekend, moves to the bench, and Ben Afshar takes his place. Duncan Weir also enters the starting lineup at fly-half, with Tom Jordan moving to the replacements. Stafford McDowall will partner captain Sione Tuipulotu in the centres, replacing Huw Jones, and Jamie Dobie comes onto the wing in place of Sebastian Cancelliere. Commenting on the upcoming game, Smith stated: “This weekend presents another challenge for this group, as we face a side with a strong pedigree in European competition.” He further added: “Toulon come into the match in great form, having played some excellent rugby to overcome the Stormers last weekend.” Smith concluded by saying: “They will also be looking to defend their proud record in front of a passionate home support, making it a challenge we look forward to facing on Sunday.” The Glasgow XV selected to face Toulon is as follows: McKay, Dobie, Tuipulotu, McDowall, Rowe, Weir, Afshar; Bhatti, Hiddleston, Talakai, Oguntibeju, Samuel, Venter, Darge, Mann. The list of replacements includes: Matthews, Sutherland, Z Fagerson, Cummings, M Fagerson, Fraser, Horne, Jordan.