Franco Smith names much-changed side for Glasgow’s Zebre trip

Franco Smith has named a much-changed side for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship match away to Zebre as Glasgow bid to bounce back from their Leinster humbling.

Warriors are missing a string of key men through injury while Smith has also opted to freshen things up as the defending champions aim to enhance their prospects of a home quarter-final in the United Rugby Championship play-offs.

There are 10 changes to the side that started the 52-0 Champions Cup quarter-final defeat in Dublin, with full-back Josh McKay and hooker Gregor Hiddleston both returning after injury.

“Zebre are a team that can hurt any team when presented with an opportunity, and we have seen the significant progress they have made across this season both in Parma and on the road,” Smith told Warriors’ website.

“We know that there is little margin for error in a league as tightly contested as the URC, and we know we must be at our best.”

Scotland internationals Scott Cummings, Jack Dempsey, Zander Fagerson, Huw Jones, Rory Sutherland, Sione Tuipulotu and Matt Fagerson, who has undergone surgery on an ankle injury, are among a string of key players currently sidelined.