Glasgow head coach Gregor Townsend has named his side to play RaboDirect Pro12 new boys Zebre on Friday night and could hand six players their debuts.
New signing Josh Strauss from South Africa is in the starting line-up at number eight. Fijian scrum-half Niko Matawalu and Tonga prop Ofa Fainga’anuku, who also joined the club recently, are on the bench.
Byron McGuigan and Elite Development duo Fraser Thomson and Sean Kennedy will also make their competitive debuts.
In all, Townsend has made 13 changes from the team that won 27-17 against Connacht last week.
"First and foremost, we've picked a team that we strongly believe has the right attributes to win Friday's game against Zebre,” the coach said.
"There's real experience in the shape of players like Graeme Morrison, Ruaridh Jackson, DTH van der Merwe, Tom Ryder, Tim Swinson, Angus Macdonald and Josh Strauss, while the younger players we've included have all made a great case for selection with the attitude and ability they've consistently shown since pre-season began back in June.
"The nature of modern professional rugby is such that you need to have a large group of players all capable of stepping up and delivering when the situation demands.
"We're fortunate this season to have such a good amount of strength in depth, and the players we've brought in this week have all been chomping at the bit to get out there and prove they're worthy of regular selection.
"Our aim is to be competing at the business end of both the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup season, and as such we have to manage the workload of our players while maintaining a high level of consistency on the pitch regardless of the team we send out.
"We have a lot of faith in the side that will take the field on Friday, both individually and collectively."
"Zebre are yet to win in the RaboDirect Pro12, but they pushed Connacht very close and we know how tough a match we had with the men from Galway."
