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.
Team
Coaches
Head coach: Gregor Townsend Assistant coach: Matt Taylor Assistant coach: Kenny Murray Assistant coach: Dan McFarland
Squad Hookers
Fraser Brown Kevin Bryce Pat MacArthur James Malcolm Shalva Mamukashvili Fergus Scott
Props
Alex Allan Michael Cusack Zander Fagerson Steven Findlay Jarrod Firth Ryan Grant George Hunter Sila Puafisi D'Arcy Rae Gordon Reid Djustice Sears-Duru Javan Sebastian Gary Strain Jerry Yanuyanutawa
Locks
Scott Cummings Jonny Gray Kieran Low Leone Nakarawa Greg Peterson Tim Swinson Loose forwards
Adam Ashe Hugh Blake Will Bordill James Eddie Simone Favaro Chris Fusaro Jason Hill Rob Harley Tyrone Holmes Josh Strauss Ryan Wilson
Scrum halves
Henry Pyrgos Mike Blair Grayson Hart Ali Price
Fly halves
Rory Clegg Gregor Hunter Finn Russell Duncan Weir Scott Wight Centres
Mark Bennett Alex Dunbar Nick Grigg Peter Horne Sam Johnson Fraser Lyle Richie Vernon
Back Three
Glenn Bryce Junior Bulumakau Nyle Godsmark Rory Hughes Lee Jones Sean Lamont Taqele Naiyaravoro Mark Robertson Tommy Seymour Stuart Hogg Peter Murchie
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.
Position Nation Name Pro12 Champions Cup TotalApps(sub)TriesPointskickedApps(sub)TriesPointskickedApps(sub)Total pts HKFraser Brown11101(1)0012(1)5HKKevin Bryce1(2)100001(2)0HKCameron Fenton(1)00000(1)0HKPat MacArthur9(3)0030012(3)0HKJames Malcolm1(10)101(1)102(11)10HKShalva Mamukashvili1(1)001(3)002(4)0HKFergus Scott(3)00000(3)0PRAlex Allan4(3)102(2)006(5)5PRMike Cusack3(2)100003(2)5PRZander Fagerson6(13)201(5)007(18)10PRRyan Grant3(3)102005(3)5PRSila Puafisi12(3)205(1)0017(4)10PRD'Arcy Rae2(5)000002(5)0PRGordon Reid13(4)302(2)0015(6)15PRJerry Yanuyanutawa3(12)10(2)003(14)5LKScott Cummings5(3)10(1)005(4)5LKJonny Gray8206001410LKKieran Low1(2)000001(2)0LKLeone Nakarawa14(3)5061020(3)30LKGreg Peterson8(7)201(1)009(8)10LKTim Swinson7(4)10(4)107(8)10BRAdam Ashe10(3)2030013(3)10BRHugh Blake(1)00(1)00(2)0BRJames Eddie1(4)001002(4)0BRSimone Favaro9(5)304(1)0013(6)15BRChris Fusaro12(3)102(1)0014(4)5BRRob Harley17(1)102(1)0019(2)5BRTyrone Holmes1(5)000001(5)0BRJosh Strauss10(3)003(1)0013(4)15BRRyan Wilson10(4)002(1)0012(5)0SHMike Blair4(5)003007(5)0SHGrayson Hart9(11)10(4)009(15)5SHAli Price5(6)203008(6)10SHHenry Pyrgos5(1)100005(1)5FHRory Clegg4(2)0600004(2)60FHGregor Hunter1(1)000001(1)0FHFinn Russell8(2)2615(1)04813(3)119FHDuncan Weir9(3)3992(3)11311(6)132FHScott Wight1(1)000001(1)0CEMark Bennett11(2)3030014(2)15CEAlex Dunbar9204001310CERobbie Fergusson(2)00000(2)0CENick Grigg(1)00000(1)0CEPeter Horne9(1)3021011(1)20CEFraser Lyle50000050CESam Johnson3(4)000003(4)0CERichie Vernon200(1)002(1)0WGJunior Bulumakau2(2)100002(2)5WGRory Hughes91000095WGLee Jones11(3)201(3)0012(6)10WGSean Lamont8(1)104(1)0012(2)5WGTaqele Naiyaravoro12(4)604(2)3016(6)45WGTommy Seymour8204001210FBGlenn Bryce7(4)50(1)007(5)25FBStuart Hogg9235131421FBPeter Murchie8(1)000008(1)0
Staff movements
Coaches
Personnel in
Dan McFarland from Connacht
Personnel out
Shade Munro to Scotland women's national rugby union team
Player movements
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
Player transfers
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
Scott Wight from Scotland 7s (loan) Sila Puafisi from Gloucester Rugby Shalva Mamukashvili from Sale Sharks
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
George Horne 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
Mike Blair retired James Eddie retired Andrew Davidson to Newcastle Falcons Jason Hill to Bedford Blues
Competitions
Pre-season and friendlies
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.