GLASGOW Warriors will face one of the biggest pack of forwards ever assembled when they take on Racing 92 tonight, according to Gregor Townsend. But the head coach has warned his men that the French side will still be capable of doing a lot more in the Champions Cup pool match than sticking the ball up their jumpers.

Racing have changed half their team from the one that lost 23-14 to Glasgow in Paris at the weekend, and have gone for bulk wherever possible. Former Warrior Leone Nakarawa, who is about 17 stone, has moved from second row to No 8 to let an even heavier man take over in his usual position.

But Townsend knows that the big Fijian is a good example of a heavyweight who can also play a bit, so he expects Racing to try to outplay his team as well as attempting to steamroller them. “I think they’ll look to do both,” he said. “Last week they played a lot of rugby.

“So maybe they’re looking to mix that up with having a pack that’s more direct, more set-piece focused, with a back line that can still move the ball. They’ve brought in exciting wingers.

“They’ve probably picked the biggest set of forwards ever to be assembled. They’ve gone for Ben Tameifuna, who could be one of the heaviest tightheads. Playing Leone at No 8 adds it up.

“He’s going to be a very dangerous player. That’s the first time I’ve coached against him, and when you see him out there you do think ‘Let’s hope the ball doesn’t go to him. What a player he is’. We did a really good job last week on him and we’ll have to do that tomorrow night.

“You can be big and still move pretty well. Size doesn’t mean you’re going to be slow. But it does mean they’ll put more weight on things like lineout drive and scrum and ball-carrying.”

Townsend has only made one change to his starting 15, bringing Josh Strauss into the back row for his 100th appearance in place of the injured Simone Favaro. The Italian international had an outstanding game last week, but the coach is confident that Strauss and Ryan Wilson, who moves to Favaro’s No 7 position, can combine well.

“Josh coming in is a big boost for a number of reasons. It’s his 100th cap, he made a really good impact [off the bench] last week. And not having Simone, it’s up to someone else to be the crazy guy tackling everybody, so I’m sure Ryan will step up to that. And having Chris Fusaro back from the bench really helps bring that energy on.”

Racing may have made a lot of changes, but their half-backs are the same as last week - French international Maxime Machenaud at scrum-half and 2015 World Player of the Year Dan Carter at stand-off. They will rely on that pair to spark a recovery as they try to avoid a third defeat in three Pool One matches.

Glasgow Warriors (v Racing 92 at Scotstoun, tonight, 7.45pm, live on BT Sport 2): S Hogg; T Seymour, A Dunbar, S Johnson, L Jones; F Russell, A Price; G Reid, F Brown, Z Fagerson, T Swinson, J Gray, R Harley, R Wilson, J Strauss. Substitutes: C Flynn, A Allan, S Puafisi, B Alainu’uese, C Fusaro, H Pyrgos, M Bennett, S Lamont.