Glasgow Warriors boosted as quartet are released from Scotland camp

George Horne is one of three returning Scotland players named in the Glasgow side to face Zebre. Picture: SNS/SRU.

A gap weekend in the Six Nations will give Gregor Townsend and his Scotland squad a brief but much-needed chance to recover and recalibrate after a bruising period in which they have not only lost their first two matches in the championship, but also star player Finn Russell following an internal dispute which has turned into a very embarrassing public spat. As a result, attention will be diverted this weekend towards the pro teams and their push to make the Pro14 play-offs.

Glasgow Warriors are back in action tonight when they host Zebre in their first outing since putting Sale Sharks to the sword in the Champions Cup four weeks ago, and they are boosted by the availability of scrum-half George Horne, hooker George Turner, flanker Tom Gordon and winger Kyle Steyn, who have all been involved in the wider Scotland training squad during the last month but have had minimal game-time involvement.

Horne, Turner and Gordon are named in the starting XV against Zebre, while Steyn is on the bench, and all four will be conscious that this is a chance to state their case for a call-up to the Scotland matchday squad to take on Italy in Rome next Saturday.

“There’s no real talk about Scotland and getting opportunities there – we’ve got no control over that and all they can do is perform well for us,” said Warriors head coach Dave Rennie. “I think the good thing with our Scotland boys is every time they get an opportunity to come back from Scotland camp, they jump all over it and that tells you a lot about their character as men and the character of the group. We’re rapt to have them back in and expect to see some impact from them.”