Glasgow Warriors young bucks give boss Heineken Cup selection headache

Jan 21 2010 By Matthew Leslie

WARRIORS boss Sean Lineen was left racking his brains after his young bucks gave him a selection headache when they turned on the style to beat Newport/Gwent Dragons 29-25.

With qualification for the last eight of the Heineken Cup out of the equation for both teams, Lineen decided to rest some of his stars and blood his fringe players for this 'dead rubber'.

The reserves duly put their hands up and showed their gaffer why they too should be considered for selection in Glasgow's push to win the Magners League.

Lock forward Richie Gray was the pick of the bunch with an outstanding display while Ruaridh Jackson showed signs of how Dan Parks might not be missed too much when he leaves this summer with a solid performance at fly-half.

The Warriors returning from injury - Rob Dewey, Johnny Beattie and Fergus Thomson - served notice to the current possessors of their shirts that they'll be gunning to grab them back with all three crossing over to bag the tries that sealed Glasgow's win over a Newport side which has traditionally been their bogey team.

The final Heineken Cup group match takes place in Biarritz on Sunday and although the Warriors can't qualify, the incentive of bagging a major scalp is motivation enough.

Lineen said: "I'll probably field my strongest side for this but the question is, what exactly is that after the win over the Dragons? "The guys who came in were did outstandingly well against a team which has been known to frustrate us when we've had the major players out there in the past.

"Richie Gray for me was man of the match and I thought DTH van der Meuwe had his best game in a Warriors shirt.

"No matter who I pick for Biarritz, the guys are up for it because they want to get revenge for that defeat we suffered in the last minute against them at their place three years ago - which was a sore one for us to take at the time."

On the French theme, Lineen took time to quash the recent speculation on skipper Al Kellock's rumoured summer move to Perpignan.

He added: "That's the first I've heard of it. there's been nothing from Al or any club. As far as I'm concerned, he is and will be a vital player for Glasgow."