Second meets third in the United Rugby Championship (URC) on Friday night when Glasgow Warriors welcome the Bulls to Scotstoun in what should be a blockbuster game.

Glasgow head coach Franco Smith has named a starting XV showing eight changes from last weekend’s victory over Zebre Parma, as his side prepares for their final home match of the regular season.

Having secured a home quarter-final with victory last weekend, attentions now turn to the race for a top-two position and home advantage in any prospective semi-final, with the third-placed Bulls firmly in the hunt alongside Smith’s squad.

Gregor Hiddleston retains his place at hooker after returning from injury last time out, as Nathan McBeth and Patrick Schickerling come in to the starting line-up to join him in the front-row.

Max Williamson makes his first start since his own injury lay-off, coming into the engine room to partner former Scotland U20 team-mate Alex Samuel.

The back-row sees Jack Mann retained at number eight, whilst Gregor Brown and Rory Darge are named on the flanks for this eagerly anticipated clash.

Behind the scrum, George Horne needs just a single point to reach 500 in a Glasgow jersey, the scrum-half joining Tom Jordan in a familiar half-back combination.

Kyle Steyn switch

Kyle Steyn moves into the midfield to captain the side from outside centre, as Stafford McDowall – a try-scorer in Parma last weekend – continues in the number 12 jersey.

Ollie Smith moves to full-back in the absence of Josh McKay, in a back-three completed by Sebastian Cancelliere and Kyle Rowe on the wings.

There’s a welcome return to action for Scott Cummings after the Scotland international was named amongst the replacements, the 28-year-old set for his first outing since January’s clash with Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop.

Jamie Bhatti rotates to the bench after starting last time out, joining Johnny Matthews and Sam Talakai as the front-row cover for this encounter.

Euan Ferrie and Sione Vailanu also move to the bench after being part of the starting XV a week ago, in a six-two split of forwards and backs amongst the replacements.

The back-line is covered by Jamie Dobie and Adam Hastings, the latter set for his first meeting with the Bulls in a Glasgow Warriors jersey.

Meanwhile, Bulls director of rugby Jake White has kept faith with the same backline that helped to secure a priceless URC victory over Munster last weekend.

However, he has made changes up front with Johan Grobbelaar coming in at hooker as he swaps places with the benched Akker van der Merwe.

JF van Heerden is named at lock, which means there is a positional switch for Ruan Nortje, who skippers the side from flank alongside Jannes Kirsten and the returning Marco van Staden.

One of last week’s heroes, Marcell Coetzee, shifts to bench duty this week while Springboks veteran Willie le Roux returns to action in jersey number 22.

The teams

Glasgow Warriors:  15 Ollie Smith, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Kyle Steyn (c), 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Mann, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Patrick Schickerling, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 1 Nathan McBeth
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Adam Hastings

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sebastian de Klerk, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Marco van Staden, 7 Ruan Nortje (c), 6 Jannes Kirsten, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Jaco Grobbelaar, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Willie le Roux, 23 Stedman Gans

Venue: Scotstoun Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Ru Campbell (SRU), Finlay Brown (SRU)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)

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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/glasgow-warriors-v-bulls-teams-scotland-big-guns-back-for-urc-final-rematch-with-jake-whites-men