United Rugby Championship: 50 up for Glasgow Warriors captain Kyle Steyn in season opener against Benetton

United Rugby Championship: 50 up for Glasgow Warriors captain Kyle Steyn in season opener against Benetton

Glasgow Warriors captain Kyle Steyn will make his 50th appearance for the club in his first game leading the side against Benetton on Friday.

Argentine Lucio Sordoni earns his debut after being selected at tighthead prop, joining Jamie Bhatti and Fraser Brown in an all-international front-row.

Start of the Franco Smith era

Lewis Bean and Richie Gray are paired together in the second-row, the latter having stolen more lineouts than any other player in the last season’s edition of the United Rugby Championship.

Elsewhere, South African Sintu Manjezi will make his debut from the blindside flank, with Matt Fagerson lining up at openside with Jack Dempsey completing the new look back-row.

George Horne starts at scrum-half, whilst Tom Jordan will make his debut for Glasgow Warriors after being named at fly-half.

Sione Tuipulotu comes into the starting XV and combines with Stafford McDowall in the midfield.

Newly-appointed club captain Steyn is joined by Argentinian flyer Sebastian Cancelliere on the wings, with Cole Forbes completing the line-up by starting at full-back.

The bench sees the Warriors opt for a six-two split of forwards and backs for the visit to Treviso as the club’s coaching team prepare for the physical test set to be presented by the Leoni.

Johnny Matthews is named amongst the front-row cover, joining Scotland international props Oli Kebble and Zander Fagerson amongst the replacements.

Scott Cummings wears the number 19 shirt, whilst Rory Darge and Thomas Gordon are selected on the bench.

The replacements are rounded out by Ali Price and Duncan Weir, with the pair covering the backline.

For Benetton, South African Dewalt Duvenhage will lead the side and links up with fly-half Giacomo Da Re in the half-back pairing.

Exciting back-three

Joaquin Riera has been named alongside Ignacio Brex in the midfield, whilst Rhyno Smith joins debutant Ignacio Mendy and Italian international Edoardo Padovani in an exciting back-three.

Props Ivan Nemer and Simone Ferrari are joined by hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi in the front-row while Scott Scrafton and Frederico Ruzza partner in the second-row.

Giovanni Pettinelly starts on the side of the scrum alongside Manuel Zuliani and Lorenzo Cannone in the back-row.

Scrum-half and new signing Sam Hidalgo-Clyne is named on the bench with Marco Zanon and Mattia Bellini as the backline replacements.

Meanwhile, Italian captain Michele Lamaro is picked alongside Niccolo Cannone as forward options, with Giacomo Nicotera, Federico Zani and Tiziano Pasquali named as the front-row replacements.

The teams:

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Joaquin Riera, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (c), 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Ivan Nemer
Replacements: 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Michele Lamaro, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Marco Zanon, 23 Mattia Bellini

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Cole Forbes, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Steyn (c), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Matt Fagerson, 6 Sintu Manjezi, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Lewis Bean, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Jamie Bhatt
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Rory Darge, 21 Thomas Gordon, 22 Ali Price, 23 Duncan Weir

Date: September 16
Venue: Stadio Monigo, Treviso
Kick-off: 18:30 local (17:30 BST, 1630 GMT)
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Federico Vedovelli (Italy), Manuel Bottino (Italy)
TMO: Brian McNeice (Ireland)

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