Glasgow Warriors will be without Scotland captain Chris Cusiter for the first ever Magners League semi-final against the Ospreys tonight in Swansea, but coach Sean Lineen has put his faith in experienced back up Mark McMillan.
McMillan, the former Stirling County scrum-half, gets the call as Cusiter has failed to recover from a knee injury, the latest fitness setback the national skipper has suffered since the end of the Six Nations.
McMillan will leave Glasgow for Bath this summer but already has plenty of experience of key knockout matches from his time with Wasps, when the London club won Heineken Cup and Guinness Premiership titles.
Lineen said, “It just shows the strength in depth of the squad. Cus hasn’t managed to pull through but what a replacement we’ve got in Mark McMillan.
“We’ve won down in Wales before so the players are going down there with one thing in mind.
“It’s going to be a 22-man effort and that has been evident this week which has been an interesting one in training.”
Two other changes in the Warriors team from that which defeated the Scarlets last week see the return of internationalists John Barclay and Max Evans, both of whom were rested for that game.
This means it is the first time Evans has been back in Wales since the infamous Six Nations match in February. The centre scored a try in the match but it was traumatic day with both the galling loss in injury-time to the Welsh and the serious neck injury to his younger brother Thom.
“This game feels as big as an international especially with the kind of players you’re up against,” said Evans.
“The last time we came across in these guys was the Wales game and the feeling after that will definitely be in the back of my mind. I’ll be using it as a positive though, something to call upon in terms of just giving myself a kick up the backside if I need it.’Real buzz'”For the guys who haven’t experienced that atmosphere yet this will be the nearest they get until they actually play an international, so there’s a real buzz about the team this week.”
However, the team are well prepared for the hostile reception awaiting them from the Welsh crowd at the Liberty Stadium.
“One of the greatest things this season was the crowds we had for the games against Edinburgh at both grounds were exceptional. Some of our guys hadn’t experienced that kind of atmosphere. Now nobody will be new to it,” said Evans.
“Personally, there’s not many teams who do the blitz defence as well as the Ospreys do it, and it’s something I relish as a player.
“It’s an added challenge because it can quite intimidating but there are ways through and around it.”
Ed Kalman is preferred to Kevin Tkachuk to bolster the Warriors scrummage against the powerful Ospreys front row who demolished the Dragons in that area to clinch their home semi last week.
Tim Barker returns for Richie Gray, while Fergus Thomson and Rob Dewey continue at hooker and on the wing respectively.