Gregor Townsend is urging his fringe players to stand up and be counted as Glasgow Warriors bid to get back to winning ways in the RaboDirect PRO12. Glasgow’s 100 per cent record to the campaign came to a shuddering halt last time out as Munster left Scotstoun with a 13-6 victory – the Irish side leaping to the top of the table in the process while the Warriors slipped down to third. And Townsend’s troops head to Connacht on Saturday as they bid to bounce back immediately from their first RaboDirect PRO12 defeat of the season. Veteran hooker Dougie Hall will make his 150th league appearance after replacing Pat MacArthur for the trip to Galway. Niko Matawalu comes in for Sean Maitland at full-back, while Byron McGuigan and DTH van der Merwe continue on the wings. Mark Bennett and Gabriel Ascarate form the centre partnership, while Duncan Weir and Chris Cusiter continue at fly-half and scrum-half respectively. In the pack Gordon Reid and Jon Welsh complete the front-row, while Jonny Gray and Tom Ryder combine in the second-row. Rob Harley, Chris Fusaro and Josh Strauss make up the back row. The Warriors have won all three of their away games in the RaboDirect PRO12 this season and have won on two of their last three visits to Ireland, something Townsend is keen to continue this weekend. "We were all disappointed with the defeat to Munster last weekend and we're determined to pick ourselves up for what will be another tough game tomorrow night,” he said. "Connacht are playing very well under Pat Lam and came very close to beating Saracens and Leinster in recent weeks, so we know how difficult this game will be. "Due to the upcoming autumn tests we've made a few changes, which is an opportunity for a number of other players in the squad." Meanwhile, Pat Lam makes four changes to his Connacht side that narrowly fell to a 16-13 defeat to Leinster last time out. Dave McSharry returns at inside centre for his first start in ten months, the 23-year-old having marked his return from injury last month by coming on as a replacement in the 33-6 Heineken Cup victory over Zebre. Joining McSharry in the centre is 20-year-old Darragh Leader, while Connacht's leading try scorer Fionn Carr is named on the right wing in a back three featuring Gavin Duffy and Matt Healy. Up front, Jason Harris-Wright will start as hooker in his 25th appearance for the province. Connacht’s bench includes veteran prop Nathan White, who returns after a three-week absence due to injury, and Mick Kearney is also included in the match day squad and could earn his first appearance of the season. Head coach Lam said: "I'm delighted to be able to give Dave McSharry a start after a long road to recovery for him. “And with our regular outside centres unavailable, young academy back Darragh Leader gets a chance to start which we're all looking forward to. "Once again, it's been a disruptive week with more players being added to our ever growing injury list. “Losing Sean Henry, Andrew Browne, Aaron Conneely, and Danie Poolman to injury and Robbie Henshaw to Ireland camp has meant that we've had to dig deep as a group. "On a positive note, it's a big boost to have Jason and Nathan back in the squad. We've been really pleased with the form of our props Rodney and Brett in the last number of weeks and so they'll start again tomorrow with Nathan on the bench.” At Sportsground , 5pm. Referee: Neil Paterson (SRU, 55th competition game) Assistant Referees: Leo Colgan, Ken Imbusch (both IRFU) Citing Commissioner: Denis Templeton (IRFU)
