Inside Glasgow Warriors' safari as Smith's men aim to tame Lions after dehorning of rhinos

Table-toppers go on safari ahead of Ellis Park clash

Glasgow Warriors went on safari this week as a group of players found out about the conservation work going on to protect rhinos from poachers across South Africa.

On Saturday, the squad will turn their attention to the Lions of Johannesburg and the aim will be less about preservation and more about taming the hosts in their own lair. Franco Smith’s side know that if they can take maximum points from this match and also their final game of the league season at home to Zebre then no-one can catch them at the top of the United Rugby Championship and they will have home advantage in the play-offs all the way to the final, should they make it that far.

These are heady times to be a Warriors supporter and Smith deserves great credit for the improvement he has wrought in his two seasons in charge. But Glasgow will have the weight of history against them this weekend as they seek a victory at Emirates Airlines Park, aka Ellis Park. The Warriors’ last 15 matches against South African opponents have all been won by the home side, highlighting just how difficult it can be to adjust to the conditions when you travel from northern to southern hemisphere and vice versa.

Kyle Steyn on the attack for Glasgow Warriors against the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria. Glasgow conclude their trip to South Africa with a game against the Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday. (Photo by SteveHaagSports/INPHO/Shutterstock)

Glasgow produced an excellent late flourish at Loftus Versfeld last week to pick up two bonus points at altitude against the Bulls. They lost 40-34 but it was a stirring fightback and meant they kept their position at the URC’s summit. Temperatures were close to 30 degrees in Pretoria and it has been unseasonably warm again this week in Joburg but Smith takes some comfort from the later kick-off time of 4.05pm (3.05pm in the UK).

“When I left the captain’s run it was 29 degrees,” said the Glasgow coach. “It’s strange weather. Even being South African, I find it strange. It’s always in one’s thoughts but Saturday’s game is much later and in the shade the temperature drops quite a bit. At four o’clock the field should be completely covered by shadow and we will be closer to normal temperatures, around 21-22 degrees.”

Smith has made five changes. Grant Stewart, the hooker, and Seb Cancelliere, the winger who scored a fine interception try against the Bulls, both drop out to nurse “some bumps and bruises”. The coach is not unduly concerned about them but sees no need to take risks. Angus Fraser, who spent a year at Stellenbosch University in South Africa as a recipient of Scottish Rugby’s Macphail Scholarship, comes in for Stewart, while Kyle Rowe replaces Cancelliere. Elsewhere, Oli Kebble takes over from Jamie Bhatti at tighthead prop, Euan Ferrie comes in for Matt Fagerson as blindside flanker and Henco Venter starts ahead of Jack Dempsey at No 8. Bhatti, Fagerson and Dempsey are on the bench and likely to have a big role in the match, just as the replacements had against the Bulls.

Smith says the two weeks together in South Africa has been good for morale and he joined the squad on safari. “Somebody had to hold their hand!” he smiled. “You don’t want to allow them out in the wild that easily. My wife was here so the two of us accompanied the group to share in the dehorning of a rhinoceros. It’s something that we do every day here in Africa, but this time it was quite special to go with the boys.”

Emirates Lions v Glasgow Warriors: URC, Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg, Saturday, 3.05pm UK. TV: live on Premier Sports.

Emirates Lions: Quan Horn; Rabz Maxwane, Erich Cronje, Marius Louw (capt), Edwill van der Merwe; Gianni Lombard, Morne van den Berg; Morgan Naude, PJ Botha, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Willem Alberts, Ruan Delport, JC Pretorius, Emmanuel Tshituka, Francke Horn. Replacements: Jaco Visagie, JP Smith, Ruan Dreyer, Reinhard Nothnagel, Ruan Venter, Hanru Sirgel, Sanele Nohmaba, Jordan Hendrikse.

Glasgow Warriors: Josh McKay; Kyle Steyn (capt), Stafford McDowall, Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Rowe; Tom Jordan, George Horne; Oli Kebble, Angus Fraser, Murphy Walker, Gregor Brown, Scott Cummings, Euan Ferrie, Rory Darge, Henco Venter. Replacements: Johnny Matthews, Jamie Bhatti, Zander Fagerson, Max Williamson, Matt Fagerson, Jack Dempsey, Jamie Dobie, Duncan Weir.

Referee: Craig Evans (WRU).