The Glasgow Warriors will land in South Africa on Tuesday with a squad that certainly doesn’t lack international experience and also with plenty to gain from their two-match Vodacom United Rugby Championship tour.
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The Warriors start their tour by facing the DHL Stormers at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Friday night before heading to Pretoria to face the Vodacom Bulls the following week. Both their opponents are in contention for both play-off places and the South African Shield as well as places in next year’s Champions Cup and therefore will have a lot of motivation to beat them.
Glasgow though also have something to play for - they have worked out that a win in one of the two games will be enough to secure their place in the play-offs. They are currently placed third, level on points with second placed Ulster and three ahead of the fourth placed Munster and fifth placed Stormers, who both have the same number of points.
While defeats in both games could leave the visitors vulnerable with just their away return derby against Edinburgh to come after that, a win will make them more comfortable and that is why they will be going all out against the Stormers on Friday night.
The squad that flew out of Scotland on Monday included 17 Scotland internationals, plus a clutch of other international players who have played for other nations, and a few Scottish Sevens internationals.
Among the tourists will be former Stormers prop and South Africa under-21 Junior World Championship winner Oli Kebble, son of former Springbok strongman Guy, as well as Kyle Steyn. Kebble will bring local knowledge to his former home city.
Steyn was the Player of the Match in the win over the Newcastle Falcons in the Challenge Cup at the weekend.
Friday night’s game will be the Warriors’ first ever clash with the Cape franchise, and their game against the Bulls will be their first too, but they won both matches against South African franchises - the Emirates Lions and the Cell C Sharks - on their home field in Glasgow, The Scotstoun, in the initial stages of the URC in September/October.
Glasgow Warriors tour squad:
Forwards:Simon Berghan, Jamie Bhatti, Fraser Brown, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey, Zander Fagerson, Thomas Gordon, Richie Gray, Rob Harley, Oli Kebble, Johnny Matthews, Nathan McBeth, Kiran McDonald, Ally Miller, George Turner, Murphy Walker, Max Williamson, Ryan Wilson.
Backs:Jamie Dobie, Robbie Fergusson, Cole Forbes, Sam Johnson, Sean Kennedy, Stafford McDowall, Josh McKay, Domingo Miotti, Ali Price, Ollie Smith, Kyle Steyn, Ross Thompson, Sione Tuipulotu, Duncan Weir.