Glasgow Warriors are back in South Africa for the first time since beating the Bulls in the URC final. The Sharks lie in wait – and they are bringing out the big guns.
Kevin Millar takes a look at how the sides match up.
- The last meeting in Durban of these teams was almost exactly two years ago. There are only nine survivors from that game in the Warriors’ 23 with eight returnees for the Sharks.
- Johnny Matthews (41) has scored more than twice as many tries for Glasgow as the other seven members of the replacements bench combined (18).
- Eight of the Sharks’ 23 have played in a World Cup final. No-one in the Warriors’ lineup has even featured in an RWC knockout match)
- George Horne needs to control the game from scrum half and he is the Warrior to Watch.
Other Sharks’ 23 stats:
- 16 capped internationals with 576 caps (Glasgow – 18 with 377 caps)
- 16 players who have featured for other South African sides in the URC or Super Rugby (Glasgow – three who have played for Edinburgh)
- 11 World Cup winners, including seven double RWC winners (Glasgow – none)
- 10 players who are making their first URC appearance of the season (Glasgow – none)
The teams
Head to head
Matchday milestones
A little over seven years on from Glasgow’s first game in South Africa, there will be a handful of players from that fixture involved this weekend.
On October 6 2017, Zander Fagerson started for Glasgow in Bloemfontein while Henco Venter, Makazole Mapimpi and Ox Nche all featured for a Cheetahs’ side coached by Franco Smith.
Warrior to Watch
George Horne’s partnership with Tom Jordan is restored as they start together for the 23rd time. That’s the same number of games that Horne and Adam Hastings have played as a combination in the 9 and 10 jerseys, including Scotland matches.
Being paired with the soon-to-be Scottish-qualified Jordan means that Horne will be back on goal-kicking duties.
This being a Franco Smith-coached side, that most likely means conversions not penalties, but every point will count and the Warriors need the scrum half to maintain his high success rate.
The last time Glasgow played in South Africa, it was Horne’s box kicking that played a crucial role in their victory as he contributed 16 of his side’s 22 kicks from hand.
His link up with Kyle Steyn on repeated kick and chase just after half-time in the final was part of the reason that the Warriors dominated territory and kept the Bulls at arms length for extended periods in the game.
URC form
Track record…
…away to South African sides in the PRO14/URC era:
- Two wins
- Eight losses
- Five Try bonus points
- One Losing bonus points
- 14 points out of a possible 50 (28%)
Glasgow also beat the Bulls in Pretoria in last season’s Grand Final.
Previous match-up v Sharks in South Africa
Officials
Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU, 44h league game); Assistants: Marius van der Westhuizen and Stephan Geldenhuys (both SARU); TMO: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Mr Busby’s record for 2023/24:
- Matches – 19
- Average penalty count – 19.9 per game
- Home side penalties conceded percentage – 51.5%
- Average card count – 0.8 per game
- Penalties per card – 17.2
- Mr Busby refereed Scottish sides on six occasions last season although only two of those were Glasgow fixtures – and both were against the Stormers at Scotstoun.
The Irish official was more of a regular with the Warriors in season 2022/23 when he took charge of four of their games – including the previous encounter between these teams in Durban.
That was the last time that Glasgow lost the penalty count (14 – 11) when Mr Busby was the man in the middle.
Read the rules here