2015–16 Glasgow Warriors season

The 2015–16 season saw Glasgow Warriors compete in the competitions: the Guinness Pro12 and the European Champions Cup.

Season Overview
The 2015–16 season began for Glasgow Warriors, for the first time, as defending champions.

In preparation for the defence of the title in a Rugby World Cup year - where it was expected that Glasgow Warriors would supply the majority of the Scotland side - Gregor Townsend assembled one of the biggest Professional squads in world rugby.

It was hoped that the large squad would see the Warriors through the early part of the season and provide enough impetus for a European challenge too.

Coaches

 * Head coach: Gregor Townsend
 * Assistant coach:  Matt Taylor
 * Assistant coach:  Kenny Murray
 * Assistant coach: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Dan McFarland

BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy Stage 3 players
Scottish Rugby Academy players who have been assigned to a Professional club are Stage 3 players. These players are assigned to Glasgow Warriors for the season 2015-16.

Academy players promoted in the course of the season are listed with the main squad.


 * Cameron Fenton - Prop / Hooker
 * Andrew Davidson - Lock
 * Callum Hunter-Hill - Lock
 * Kiran McDonald - Lock
 * Michael Dewar - Flanker
 * Bruce Flockhart - Flanker
 * Matt Smith - Flanker
 * Lewis Wynne - Flanker


 * George Horne - Fly-half
 * Robbie Fergusson - Centre

Player statistics
During the 2015–16 season, Glasgow have used 56 different players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and points scored by each player.

Personnel in

 * Dan McFarland from Connacht

Personnel out

 * Shade Munro to Scotland women's national rugby union team

Academy promotions

 * Zander Fagerson from Scottish Rugby Academy
 * D'Arcy Rae from Scottish Rugby Academy
 * Glenn Bryce from Scottish Rugby Academy
 * Fergus Scott from Scottish Rugby Academy
 * George Hunter from Scottish Rugby Academy
 * Ali Price from Scottish Rugby Academy
 * Scott Cummings from Scottish Rugby Academy
 * Nick Grigg from Scottish Rugby Academy
 * James Malcolm from Scottish Rugby Academy

In

 * 🇮🇹 Simone Favaro from 🇮🇹 Benetton Treviso
 * Grayson Hart from Edinburgh
 * Kieran Low from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London Irish
 * Mike Blair from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Newcastle Falcons
 * 🇦🇺 Sam Johnson from 🇦🇺 Queensland Reds
 * 🇺🇸 Greg Peterson from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Leicester Tigers
 * Taqele Naiyaravoro from 🇦🇺 NSW Waratahs
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Javan Sebastian from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Scarlets
 * Jason Hill from Heriot's Rugby Club
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Rory Clegg from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Newcastle Falcons
 * Gary Strain from Glasgow Hawks
 * Steven Findlay from Glasgow Hawks
 * Mark Robertson from Scotland 7s
 * Nyle Godsmark from Scotland 7s
 * Hugh Blake from Edinburgh
 * Junior Bulumakau from SCOTS British Army
 * Scott Wight from Scotland 7s (loan)
 * 🇹🇴 Sila Puafisi from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Gloucester Rugby
 * Shalva Mamukashvili from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Sale Sharks
 * Rory Hughes from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London Scottish (loan ends)
 * Robbie Fergusson from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London Scottish (loan ends)
 * Andrew Davidson from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London Scottish (loan ends)
 * 🇳🇿 Jarrod Firth from 🇳🇿 Counties Manukau
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Rory Clegg from 🇫🇷 Oyonnax
 * 🇨🇦 Djustice Sears-Duru from 🇨🇦 Ontario Blues

Out

 * Nikola Matawalu to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bath Rugby
 * Sean Maitland to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London Irish
 * 🇨🇦 D. T. H. van der Merwe to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Scarlets
 * Dougie Hall retired
 * Jon Welsh to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Newcastle Falcons
 * Alastair Kellock retired
 * Murray McConnell to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Nottingham
 * James Downey to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Wasps
 * Tommy Spinks to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Jersey
 * Euan Murray to 🇫🇷 Pau
 * 🇨🇦 Connor Braid to 🇨🇦 Canada Sevens
 * Rossouw de Klerk released
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Rory Clegg to 🇫🇷 Oyonnax
 * Robbie Fergusson to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London Scottish (loan)
 * George Horne to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London Scottish (loan)
 * Andrew Davidson to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London Scottish (loan)
 * Nyle Godsmark to Melrose RFC
 * Andy Redmayne to Glasgow Hawks
 * Scott Wight to Scotland 7s (loan ends)
 * Mark Robertson to Scotland 7s
 * Gary Strain to Glasgow Hawks
 * George Hunter to Ayr RFC
 * Rory Hughes to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London Scottish (loan)
 * Kieran Low to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Saracens (loan)
 * Michael Cusack to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Newcastle Falcons
 * Steven Findlay to 🇦🇺 Eastern Suburbs RUFC
 * Robbie Fergusson to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London Scottish
 * Mike Blair retired
 * James Eddie retired
 * Andrew Davidson to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Newcastle Falcons
 * Jason Hill to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bedford Blues

Match 1
Glasgow Warriors:15. Peter Murchie 14. Junior Bulumakau* 13. Glenn Bryce 12. Fraser Lyle 11. Lee Jones 10. Rory Clegg 9. Grayson Hart

1. Jerry Yanuyanutawa 2. Kevin Bryce 3. D'arcy Rae 4. James Eddie 5. Kieran Low 6. Tyrone Holmes 7. Chris Fusaro (c) 8. Jason Hill

Replacements: Mark Robertson, Nick Grigg**, Robbie Fergusson **, Nyle Godsmark, Ali Price**, Will Bordill, Simone Favaro, Scott Cummings**, Andrew Davidson**, Zander Fagerson, Pat MacArthur, Fergus Scott, George Hunter [* Trialist] [** BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy Stage 3 Player]

Clermont: 1. Thomas Domingo (c) 2. John Ulugia 3. Clément Ric 4. Paul Jedrasiak 5. Loïc Jacquet 6. Camille Gérondeau 7. Julien Bardy 8. Fritz Lee 9. Ludovic Radosavljevic 10. Camille Lopez 11. Hosea Gear 12. Benson Stanley 13. Aurélien Rougerie 14. Adrien Planté 15. Nick Abendanon

Replacements: Viktor Kolelishvili, Raphaël Chaume, Arthur Iturria, Alexandre Lapandry, Enzo Sanga, Patricio Fernandez, Pedro Bettencourt, Daniel Kötze, Etienne Falcoux, Judicaël Cancoriet, Calvonn Allison, Alexandre Nicoue, Albert VuliVuli, David Strettle

Match 2
Canada: 15 Matt Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Connor Braid, 11 D. T. H. van der Merwe, 10 Nathan Hirayama, 9 Phil Mack, 8 Richard Thorpe, 7 Nanyak Dala, 6 Kyle Gilmour, 5 Jamie Cudmore (c), 4 Evan Olmstead, 3 Andrew Tiedemann, 2 Benoit Piffero, 1 Djustice Sears-Duru. Replacements: 16 Hubert Buydens, 17 Ray Barkwill, 18 Doug Wooldridge, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Aaron Carpenter, 21 Jamie Mackenzie, 22 Liam Underwood, 23 Harry Jones, 24 Brett Beukeboom, 25 Phil Mackenzie.

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Peter Murchie (c), 14 Lee Jones, 13 Glenn Bryce, 12 Fraser Lyle, 11 Rory Hughes, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Kieran Low, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Jerry Yanuyanutawa. Replacements (all used): George Hunter, Kevin Bryce, Mike Cusack, D'arcy Rae, Scott Cummings**, James Eddie, Will Bordill, Jason Hill, Grayson Hart, Scott Wight, Mark Robertson, Robbie Fergusson**, Junior Bulumakau. [** BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy Stage 3 Player]

Match 3
Glasgow Warriors:15. Glenn Bryce 14. Junior Bulumakau 13. Sam Johnson 12. Fraser Lyle 11. Lee Jones 10. Rory Clegg 9. Grayson Hart

1. Alex Allan 2. Fergus Scott 3. D'arcy Rae 4. Rob Harley (c) 5. Scott Cummings** 6. Tyrone Holmes 7. Hugh Blake 8. Adam Ashe

Replacements (all used): James Malcolm**, George Hunter, Zander Fagerson, Jason Hill, Callum Hunter-Hill**, Ali Price**, Gregor Hunter, Nick Grigg**, Chris Fusaro, James Eddie, Gary Strain, Mike Cusack, Kieran Low, Robbie Fergusson **, Nyle Godsmark, George Horne**

[** BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy Stage 3 Player]

Army Rugby Union: 1. Dowding 2. Austin 3. Budgen 4. Jones 5. Ball 6. Koroiyadi 7. Lamont 8. Boladua 9. Chennell 10. Davies 11. Nlalaugo 12. Wessells 13. Nakamavuto 14. Watkins 15. Leatham

Replacements: Dwyer, Hamilton, McLaren, Bates, Llewellyn, Nayacavou, Vata, Prasad, O'Reilly

Pro12
At the start of the season, Glasgow Warriors were missing 21 players on Rugby World Cup duty in various international squads, more than any other club in world rugby.

That wasn't all. The Australian international, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Glasgow's marquee signing of the season, was stuck in Australia awaiting a visa. He wouldn't arrive in Glasgow until October and he played his first match against Newport Gwent Dragons on 16 October 2015.

In addition to losing players to the World Cup and visa hold-ups Glasgow had a run of injuries at the start of the season. Alex Dunbar & Sam Johnson were injured for the opener against Scarlets and that injury list grew with stand-in captain Peter Murchie being injured for 3–4 months.

A spate of injuries to Glasgow's recognised hookers caused the Warriors to sign Shalva Mamukashvili from Sale Sharks. The hooker injury list included Kevin Bryce, Fraser Brown, Pat MacArthur and new academy promotion Fergus Scott. Mamukashvili and academy players James Malcolm and Cameron Fenton were called on to avert the Hooker crisis.

The season was to get even worse for the Warriors as, due to flooding, Scotstoun became unplayable over the winter. Glasgow's 1872 Cup home match against Edinburgh Rugby was played at Murrayfield, Edinburgh's home! In addition Glasgow had to move other home matches to Rugby Park in Kilmarnock.

Losing both matches to Edinburgh left Glasgow at one point sitting 9th in the Pro12 league table. However, as the club managed to get Scotstoun playable again and their World Cup players gradually got back to domestic ways, Glasgow slowly climbed back up the table. A 9-game winning streak saw Glasgow manage to climb to the top of the table and secure a semi-final play-off place.

Away to Connacht in the final league match of the season, victory would have secured Glasgow a home semi final and first place. Instead Connacht ground out a tight match which meant Glasgow finished third; with Leinster securing top spot by a single point.

This meant that Glasgow had to travel back to Connacht for an away semi-final. Another bruising match followed with two Glasgow Warriors players Russell and Fagerson colliding when tackling Connacht's Bundee Aki in the first minutes, immediately putting Glasgow on the back foot. Russell ended in hospital - and by the end of the game Simone Favaro, Johnny Gray, D'Arcy Rae and Josh Strauss all suffered injuries. Connacht ground out another win and found themselves in the Edinburgh final against Leinster to end Glasgow's championship defence.

Round 11 - 1872 Cup 2nd leg
Edinburgh Rugby won the 1872 Cup with an aggregate score of 37 - 22.

Round 9 rescheduled match
This match – originally scheduled to be held during Round 9, on 5 December 2015 – was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Round 12 rescheduled match
This match – originally scheduled to be held during Round 12, on 8 January 2016 – was postponed due to a European Rugby Champions Cup fixture rearrangement that occurred as a result of the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015.

Europe
By virtue of winning the Pro12 in 2014–15, Glasgow Warriors were seeded as top seeds in the European Champions Cup pool stages. Drawn with Racing 92, Northampton Saints and Scarlets, it was a tough group.

Townsend had predicted that four wins out of six would be needed to qualify. Glasgow secured a home win against Racing and home and away wins against Scarlets. Three wins might have been enough had the group been tighter but unfortunately Scarlets proved the whipping boy of the group and it was Glasgow's losses to Northampton Saints home and away which ended the Warriors hopes of progress.

Competitive debuts this season
A player's nationality shown is taken from the nationality at the highest honour for the national side obtained; or if never capped internationally their place of birth. Senior caps take precedence over junior caps or place of birth; junior caps take precedence over place of birth. A player's nationality at debut may be different from the nationality shown. Combination sides like the British and Irish Lions or Pacific Islanders are not national sides, or nationalities.

Players in BOLD font have been capped by their senior international XV side as nationality shown.

Players in Italic font have capped either by their international 7s side; or by the international XV 'A' side as nationality shown.

Players in normal font have not been capped at senior level.

A position in parentheses indicates that the player debuted as a substitute. A player may have made a prior debut for Glasgow Warriors in a non-competitive match, 'A' match or 7s match; these matches are not listed.

Tournaments where competitive debut made:

Crosshatching indicates a jointly hosted match.

Sponsorship

 * BT Sport
 * Rowan Glen
 * McCrea Financial Services
 * Malcolm Group
 * QBE Insurance
 * Scot JCB

Official kit supplier
Macron