Glasgow Warriors will mark what could be veteran centre Graeme Morrison’s last home game for the club by trying to ensure that he gets at least one more.
The team will wear commemorative badges on their jerseys against Ospreys to mark the 35-times capped Scotland centre’s decade at the club, as he returns to the starting team after a difficult season battling injury.
With his contract up at the end of the season, the 30-year-old has yet to agree new terms and it could be his final home game.
But should Glasgow beat the Welsh region the reigning Rabodirect PRO12 champions and Connacht in two weeks the club could yet gain a home semi-final in the play-offs, giving Morrison potentially one further final bow.
In any case, it’s quite a tribute to the longest-serving player at Scotstoun, and hopefully an emotional driver as well, explained Gregor Townsend.
“I think it’s motivational for Graeme and the team, but we’d also like to show Graeme respect for what he’s done and what he continues to do,” said the head coach.
“He’s been a great ambassador and a great player for the club. He’s battled through injuries this year and performed really well when he’s had the chance.
“I like to think the players would have an extra bit of motivation playing for someone who means a lot to them and to the club.”
Morrison will start for the Warriors against the Ospreys and that is merited by his performances in training, added Townsend.
“He has done really well so that’s the reason he’s starting,” he said.
“It’s been a real shame for Graeme this year, pre-season he was flying with the best scores in our fitness tests before he had issues with his knee. He didn’t manage to shake it off before Christmas but credit to him and the medics that he’s available for this game.”
Morrison’s veteran presence in the midfield will help the Warriors recover their poise after the disappointment of the Scarlets performance, when they could have secured their play-off place but a comprehensive defeat brought to an end the outstanding run of bonus point wins.
“We’ve looked at our last three or four games as being finals. The teams we’re playing against are challenging for the top four so we’ve got to beat them and knock them out to make our qualification secure, so now we’ve got ourselves in a potential must-win game at the weekend,” said Townsend.
The Warriors are looking at their biggest crowd of the season at Scotstoun, with a new stand bringing the capacity up to 9,000 and 5,700 tickets already sold.
There is some good news with the possibility that Chris Fusaro could play a part in the final few games, having had a troublesome groin injury operated on successfully last week. Prop Mike Cusack is seeing a specialist this week but is not expected to be back this season, while both Chris Cusiter and Rory Lamont also miss out.