Racing 92 have been less than subtle about the way they plan to extract revenge on Glasgow at Scotstoun tonight – but the Warriors are ready for the challenge.
The French champions are seeking to reverse their 23-16 defeat in Paris by muscle – the pack the Parisians have picked is, in Gregor Townsend words “probably the biggest ever assembled”.
“When you’ve got Leone (Nakarawa) playing No 8 at 20 stone, it all adds up,” said the Warriors head coach. “They’ve gone for Ben Tameifuna, who is one the heaviest tight heads (in world rugby), two huge second rows as well.
“They’ve obviously reacted a little bit to the defeat, but there’s a clear message there that they think they can put their biggest team out against us. So it’s a really good challenge for us.”
But it won’t just be a case of Glasgow moving the big Racing pack around the Scotstoun artificial pitch and trying to run them off their feet, the coach added.
“Last week they played a lot of rugby, so maybe they’re looking to mix that up with having a pack that’s more direct, more set-piece focused, but they’ve got a back line that can still move the ball,” he reasoned.
“Tameifuna is big but one of the best tight heads for skills in open play, and Leone does pretty well for a guy who is 20 stone. But it does mean they’ll put more weight on things like lineout drive and scrum and ball-carrying.”
While intrigued at Racing’s selection, it doesn’t mean Townsend fears for his team – he remains confident that another win in the back-to-back section of the pool can set uo the warriors for the quarter-finals.
“We respect their squad, they could pick anybody of 30 players and still have a great team,” he said. “But I’m a huge believer in what we’re capable of doing, and the players showed that last week.
“We know know how tough it’s going to be. It’s great that we’ve got them at home, but they’re going to throw everything at us. It’s a big test for us, but I’m confident the players will get there.”
Townsend is also intrigued by Racing using former Warriors favourite Nakarawa at No 8, something he did himself only in emergencies during the Fijian’s years at Scotstoun.
“I’ve read that they see his future as a No 8 because he’s such a great attacker,” he said. You have someone that big at No 8, you can still play open rugby and have another option in your lineout.
“He always wanted to be a second row here, and we took the view that there was no second row like him, and it was a huge advantage to us having him there.
“Either way he’s going to be a very dangerous player. That’s the first time I’ve coached against him, and when you see him out there you do think ‘Let’s hope the ball doesn’t go to him. What a player he is!’
“We did a really good job last week on him and we’ll have to do that tomorrow night.”
Racing have made changes all over their team, including the entire front row, bringing in South African Franco van der Merwe to the second row, and changing both wings, bringing in French internationals Teddy Thomas and Marc Andreu for Joe Rokocoko and Juan Imhof.
The only pafrt of the team that is unchanged is aty half-back, where Carter continues to partner Maxime Machenaud, the scrum-half skippering the side.
Glasgow Warriors: Stuart Hogg; Tommy Seymour, Alex Dunbar, Samuel Johnson, Lee Jones; Finn Russell, Ali Price; Gordon Reid, Fraser Brown, Zander Fagerson, Tim Swinson, Jonny Gray (c), Robert Harley, Ryan Wilson, Josh Strauss
Replacements: Corey Flynn, Alex Allan, Sila Puafisi, Brian Alainu’uese, Chris Fusaro, Henry Pyrgos, Mark Bennett, Sean Lamont
Racing 92: Brice Dulin; Teddy Thomas, Casey Laulala, Anthony Tuitavke, Marc Andreu; Dan Carter, Maxime Machenaud (c); Viliamu Afatia, Camille Chat, Ben Tameifuna, Gerbrandt Grobler, Francois van der Merwe, Wenceslas Lauret, Chris Masoe, Leone Nakarawa
Replacements: Dimitri Szarzewski, Eddy Ben Arous, Cedate Gomes Sa, Thibault Dubarry, Antonie Claassen, Xavier Chauveau, Benjamin Dambielle, Joe Rokocoko