Chris Fusaro reaches his 100th appearance for the Glasgow Warriors tonight with a point to prove to Gregor Townsend and to another sell-out Scotstoun crowd.
The former Howe of Fife favourite returns to the Warriors team tonight for the visit of Treviso in the Guinness PRO12 to reach his century of appearances but he was missing from last week’s European rugby Champions Cup match against Northampton and is no longer automatic first choice for the 7 shirt.
His plan is to show his dynamic best as Glasgow seek to bounce back from the Saints disappointment with Gregor Townsend resting the likes of Leone Nakarawa, Peter Horne and Tommy Seymour.
“It’s obviously a big landmark and I’m very proud to reach the century,” said Fusaro. “I came into the team in 2011 during the World Cup and it’s been so good to be part of the rise of the club to the PRO12 title and where we are now.
“But it’s always been the same that the pressure for places is such that you have to perform for this club or you’ll not hold the shirt the following week, so I’m aiming for a big performance this week.”
Head coach Townsend meanwhile backed Stuart Hogg to respond to his under-par performance against Northampton with a big showing against the PRO12’s only winless team.
Hogg made two errors that resulted in two tries against the Saints, in the week after he became a father and Townsend conceded that the Scotland full back might have been affected by that major life change.
“He’s the first to admit he made a couple of mistakes but it’s important how you respond,” he said. “It’s been a big change in his life but he trained well last week and again this week.
“He’ll bounce back. He’s such a special player, he’s got such an all-round game and we’ll need him stepping up if the weather is as bad as we’ve been told.”
There’s an obvious necessity of the win for the crowd and the squad after the let down against Northampton.
“There were parts of the game last week that pleased us as coaches but obviously parts we have to improve on,” added Townsend, who believes that Georgian hooker Shalva Mamukashvili will have made the necessary adjustments after a difficult debut last week.
“He’ll be much better for his game last week,” said Townsend. “It’s a challenge and unusual when you have four hookers and they’re all injured, and Shalva’s first game on the bench was the one that never took place in Paris,” he said.
“It’s very tough for someone who has not played for us to fit in right away, 10 minutes into a Champions Cup game, but we’re very happy with the way he’s trained this week.”
Alex Dunbar also makes a return after a sternum injury stalled his comeback from the ACL rehabilitation that made him miss the World Cup, while Grayson Hart will start at scrum-half in place of Mike Blair.
Glasgow team: Stuart Hogg; Taqele Naiyaravoro, Mark Bennett, Alex Dunbar, Sean Lamont; Finn Russell, Grayson Hart; Gordon Reid, Shalva Mamukashvili, Mike Cusack; Tim Swinson, Jonny Gray (capt); Rob Harley, Chris Fusaro, Adam Ashe.
Replacements: James Malcolm, Ryan Grant, Sila Puafisi, Greg Peterson, Josh Strauss, Ali Price, Duncan Weir, Sam Johnson.