Glasgow Warriors have named Gregor Hiddleston to start at hooker for tomorrow’s BKT United Rugby Championship semi-final against the Vodacom Bulls at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. Rory Darge will captain the side from openside flanker as Glasgow look to turn last week’s quarter-final win into another step toward the Grand Final.
The selection gives Glasgow a settled core for one of the biggest matches in their season. George Horne starts at scrum-half alongside Adam Hastings at half-back, while Kyle Rowe and Kyle Steyn are named on the wings and Josh McKay is at full-back. It is the kind of line-up that suggests Glasgow want to play on the front foot from the opening minutes, especially after beating Connacht 33-21 at Scotstoun in last week’s quarter-final to earn home advantage through the play-offs.
That win mattered because it kept Glasgow’s title defence alive and brought them to Murrayfield with a clear shot at a place in the final. They are chasing back-to-back URC crowns, but the Bulls stand in the way after establishing themselves as one of the competition’s strongest sides. Glasgow know the margin for error is thin; the quarter-final showed they can seize control late, but a semi-final leaves much less room to recover if the game slips.
The contrast is what makes this selection more than a team sheet. Glasgow have the momentum of a home play-off run and the confidence of a strong second-half display against Connacht, but the Bulls arrive with the weight of a side used to deciding matches at this stage. For Hiddleston, Darge and the rest of the starting XV, tomorrow is about turning selection into proof. The winner goes to the Grand Final, and Glasgow have named a side built to make sure their season does not stop at Murrayfield.
