Magners League Official Website : Lamont set for landmark appearance

Lamont set for landmark appearance

15 April 2005, 1:25 pm

By Graham Jenkins

Sean Lamont will make his fiftieth appearance for Glasgow when he plays in the Celtic League match against Leinster at Hughenden tomorrow evening.

Glasgow’s support, of course, will be looking for him and his brother, Rory, to rerun the try-scoring deeds of last week against Llanelli at Stradey Park. Between them in Glasgow’s outstanding 57-30 victory against last season’s league champions, the brothers scored five tries – Sean two, and Rory three.

Their fellow cap, Gordon Bulloch, Scotland’s captain and Glasgow’s only representative in the British and Irish Lions squad for the New Zealand tour, returns to the starting line-up. The hooker has played off the replacements’ bench in Glasgow’s two matches since his return from Scotland duty last month.

Bulloch replaces Scott Lawson in one of just two changes in personnel from the starting XV against Llanelli. The other alteration has been enforced as Andrew Wilson is unavailable because of a brother’s wedding. Jon Petrie, Glasgow’s captain, switches to open side, and Paul Dearlove comes in at No.8. Dearlove, like Bulloch, played as a replacement in the historic win at Stradey Park last week.

Tomorrow’s Hughenden match will be Sean Lamont’s last league appearance for Glasgow before he departs to Northampton. Kenny Logan also will bow out from Celtic League rugby if he comes off the bench. The 70-cap wing, who started his major rugby career with Glasgow before moving to London Wasps, is to retire from the game at the end of the season after a year back in Scotland.

“Kenny has been a fantastic servant for Scottish rugby,” Hugh Campbell, Glasgow’s head coach, remarked today. “His input to Glasgow this season has been much appreciated.”

It may not be the last Hughenden match for either Sean Lamont or Logan. Glasgow are still in with a chance of fourth place in the final league table and, consequently, earning a home tie in the Celtic Cup quarter-finals … if they can record a five-point win against Leinster. But even a maximum for Glasgow may not be enough on its own. To grab that fourth place Glasgow need Llanelli, Dragons, and Edinburgh to slip up in their weekend matches.

Leinster’s team for tomorrow evening includes three of their six British and Irish Lions – Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy, and Shane Byrne. O’Driscoll, the Lions’ captain, will partner Gordon D'Arcy, at centre.

Hugh Campbell acknowledged that Leinster will be strong. “Obviously, a squad producing six Lions will be formidable,” he commented even though Leinster will field only three of that half-dozen. “O’Driscoll and D’Arcy are the best centre pairing in Europe,” the coach remarked.

But Hugh Campbell is confident in his own team’s ability, not only because of the big win at Llanelli last week. “We haven’t lost a home game since October,” he pointed out, “and that was against Munster only to a last-minute drop goal.”

Tomorrow’s match will kick off at 7.30pm. Teams:

Glasgow
15 Calvin Howarth
14 Rory Lamont
13 Andy Craig
12 Andrew Henderson
11 Sean Lamont
10 Dan Parks
9 Sam Pinder
1 Kevin Tkachuk
2 Gordon Bulloch
3 Euan Murray
4 Joe Beardshaw
5 Dan Turner
6 Steve Swindall
8 Paul Dearlove
7 Jon Petrie (captain)

Substitutes:
16 Scott Lawson
17 Ben Prescott
18 Andrew Hall
19 John Beattie
20 Graeme Beveridge
21 Kenny Logan
22 Scott Barrow