Henry Pyrgos insists lessons will be learned from last season as Glasgow Warriors go in search of their first GUINNESS PRO12 title against Munster on Saturday. This time last year Pyrgos lined up for the Warriors against Leinster, bidding to help Glasgow become the first Scottish side ever to win the PRO12 crown. A 34-12 defeat at the RDS Arena 12 months ago dashed those dreams, but Pyrgos is determined to bounce back in his second successive Final. The Warriors come into the clash at the Kingspan Stadium in good form with just a solitary defeat in their last seven league encounters. Indeed, they have a good recent record against Irish provinces having lost just two of their last nine fixtures with teams from the Emerald Isle – including last weekend’s 16-14 semi-final win over Ulster. One of those defeats, though, came against Munster back in February, but scrum-half Pyrgos insists there is only one loss playing on his mind – and he’s vowed to put the record straight this weekend. “Learning from last year, it wasn’t a case of winning the semi and maybe not turning up for the Final,” said Pyrgos. “Leinster just played very well but we know this week we will have to work extremely hard and recover well because that was a really tough game. “Our goal as a squad is to win a trophy, to be the first Scottish team to win a trophy.” On what will be his last appearance in a Warriors shirt, Canadian winger DTH van der Merwe has been handed a place in the starting XV following his try against Ulster last weekend, with Niko Matawalu moving to the bench. Dougie Hall, who will make his final appearance for the Warriors, replaces Fraser Brown at hooker. Gordon Reid replaces the injured Ryan Grant at loose-head, while Rossouw de Klerk will start his third consecutive game for the Warriors at tight-head. Fijian second-row Leone Nakarawa comes into the engine room in place of Al Kellock. Rob Harley returns to the starting XV for the first since the defeat to the Ospreys at the beginning of May and he'll be joined in the backrow by Ryan Wilson. And if Jon Welsh, Matawalu and Kellock should emerge from the bench, they will make their final appearances for the club. While Glasgow are yet to get their hands on a major trophy, Munster will be chasing a fourth PRO12 title and their first since they won the Final against Leinster at Thomond Park in 2011. That was their most recent appearance in a major showpiece and was their fifth successive victory in the final of all tournaments they have contested. And if the Warriors are in good form then Munster are on the march having lost just once in the GUINNESS PRO12 since New Year’s Day. The Munstermen are unbeaten in their last six encounters and have won both of their games with Scottish opponents in 2015, but have triumphed only once in Belfast in their last eight visits. In total three changes are made for this weekend's starting line-up. Having failed a late fitness test Peter O'Mahony (hip) is unavailable for selection while injury also rules out Conor Murray. The scrum half met with a specialist yesterday and is required to rehab a medial ligament knee injury for the next six weeks. As expected, Andrew Smith, Eusebio Guinazu and Paddy Butler, all of whom stood out of Tuesday's training session, have recovered from their respective knocks to make the starting 15. Good news also for Simon Zebo who has successfully completed his return-to-play protocols to start on the left wing. In O'Mahony's absence, Denis Hurley will captain the side for the seventh time this season. And head coach Anthony Foley admits his side – led by Paul O’Connell, who could be making his last appearance for Munster on Saturday – are reaching their peak. "A lot of these guys are getting to an age of 25, 26, 27 – a good age for a team to start looking to win trophies, to kick on with their careers, to try and get international careers, to look to establish themselves in teams and looking to be very ambitious in what they're doing," he said. "If we can start with that and, hopefully, do something on Saturday, then that would be great. If we don't and we end up losing, it's not all doom and gloom. We've brought through a lot of players, we're in a good position in that everyone has a clear understanding of how we want to play and what are we looking to do around the game.” Note: This game will also see the HawkEye System in operation again, as part of trials with Sky Sports and World Rugby At Kingspan Stadium, Belfast , 6.30pm. Live on Sky Sports/TG4/BBC Sport Scotland Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU, 127th competition game) Assistant Referees: 1) Ian Davies, 2) Sean Brickell, 4) Gwyn Morris, 5) Wayne Davies (all WRU ) Citing Commissioner: Stefano Marrama (FIR) TMO: Derek Bevan (WRU)
