Nakarawa ready to end three-year Glasgow absence at Sale

Leone Nakarawa will be back in a Glasgow jersey for the first time since 2016 as Warriors bid to beat the odds and reach the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals.

The Fiji lock will face Sale in the final pool match on Saturday as Dave Rennie makes five changes following their 31-31 draw with group winners Exeter.

Nakarawa held signing talks with Sale after being sacked by Racing 92 for returning late from the World Cup but he opted to return to Scotland.

Glasgow are in need of a win against already-eliminated Sharks, and also favours from other clubs as they are outside the three best-performing second-placed teams in the five groups.

Tom Gordon celebrates his first Scotland call-up by being recalled to the back row while Aki Seiuli, scrum-half Ali Price and winger DT Van der Merwe also come back.

(Continue reading below…)

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Rennie said: “Leone gives us a great ball-carrying option in the back-row. He’ll commit a lot of defenders and can create space for others, and we’re excited to give him a crack on the side of the scrum.

“Tom is a great athlete, who offers us a genuine ball-carrying option. He’s made good shifts around his physicality, his work post-tackle, and he’s gone really well for us over the last couple of months.

“The most frustrating thing (under Gatland) was that I had never been told why I wasn’t a part of the squad."

– @chrisjonespress talks to @WillGriffJ ??????? #sixnations https://t.co/rhoKZCJxqt

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 15, 2020

“Sale are very direct, but they’re also very innovative. They’re a lot tougher to face down there. We’re expecting them to go full tilt.”

– Press Association 

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