Rory Scannell set to make first Pro14 start

Rory Scannell is set for his first start of the Guinness Pro14 campaign tonight as Munster go to Glasgow Warriors looking for a fourth win from four this season.

Their hosts, under new head coach Dave Rennie following the departure of Gregor Townsend to the Scotland job, also remain unbeaten and this represents a litmus test for both Conference A sides as to their early-season credentials as title contenders.

Both teams overcame wobbles in Wales last weekend, with the Irish province scraping past Ospreys for a 21-16 win in the Swansea rain while Glasgow needed a late penalty miss from Cardiff’s Steve Shingler to collect their third win of the season.

After two appearances off the bench against the Cheetahs and Ospreys, Irish international Rory Scannell starts at inside centre in a midfield partnership with new signing Chris Farrell, replacing Jaco Taute, who drops to the bench. It is the only change to the side which won at the Liberty Stadium as Tyler Bleyendaal captains the side while prop Dave Kilcoyne is on the bench after recovering from a knee injury to face a team Munster beat four times last season, twice in the league and also in European pool play.

Erasmus believes Glasgow’s coaching changes from Townsend to Rennie are an evolution rather than a deviation.

“I think Gregor’s approach was attack, you know, and trust yourself and attack from inside the 22. I think that Dave looks like it is a lot the same, if he is going to do the same thing he did at Super Rugby. The Chiefs were renowned for running the ball from everywhere and being successful at it, not stupid, being clever. They have showed in two of their games in wet rainy weather. I think when a team strikes them on that 4G pitch on a dry day it is going to busy defensively and I think they’ll keep it that way.”

With Scotstoun a 7,351 sell-out tonight, the home side welcome back captain Ryan Wilson to their starting line-up and fellow back row Rob Harley to the bench while scrum-half Ali Price, wing Rory Hughes and centre Peter Horne all return. Yet they still have a long injury list including Lions Stuart Hogg and Tommy Seymour as well as international colleague Jonny Gray.

“We’ll get a bit of an idea of where we’re at,” Glasgow boss Rennie said of tonight’s game. “It’s a good test. We’ve created a lot of opportunities but not been clinical enough to turn them into points, so that’s our challenge this week.