Franco Smith makes bold Glasgow Warriors claim as he looks to burn candle at both ends

Glasgow Warriors' George Horne broke the club's try-scoring record during the win over the Emirates Lions. | SNS Group

A thumping win over the Emirates Lions has set up Glasgow Warriors for the final four games of the United Rugby Championship’s regular season and Franco Smith believes his squad are in better shape now compared to last year when they claimed the title.

Their 42-0 victory over the South African visitors on Saturday night was a masterclass in playing to the conditions. The Warriors, with a 50mph wind at their backs, scored all their points in the first half and then weathered the storm in the second period to shut out the Lions.

The six-try win moved Glasgow back into second place, eight points behind Leinster who they will meet in Dublin in their final game of the regular season. Three of their four remaining fixtures are away, with trips to Italy to face Zebre and Benetton sandwiching a mouthwatering game against Jake White's Bulls at Scotstoun on April 25 in what is a repeat of last season’s URC final.

Glasgow Warriors' George Horne broke the club's try-scoring record during the win over the Emirates Lions. | SNS Group

The league now goes into a two-week hiatus as the European competitions take centre stage. Glasgow will host Leicester Tigers in the last 16 of the Investec Champions Cup this Saturday.

Smith is taking nothing for granted but believes his squad is well equipped to fight on two fronts, particularly when the likes of Huw Jones, Jack Dempsey, Josh McKay and Sione Tuipulotu return from injury.

“Look, we can't start getting ahead of the game,” said the coach. “There's some good teams there and we still have four games in the URC. We've still got to go to Italy twice and both those Italian teams are hard to beat at home now. And you have the Bulls coming here. I think Jake already mentioned that after the final. So they will be up for that game and then we've still got to go to Leinster. So nothing's a done deal.

“We've got the European Cup now and to burn the candle at both ends is hard.”

Adam Hastings landed six from six conversions but had to enlist the help of George Horne to cope with the wind. | SNS Group

Pressed on whether Glasgow were in a better position to challenge this season compared to last, Smith didn’t hesitate.

“Yes, definitely,” he told Premier Sports. “I think every season we've progressed and during this season we've progressed. I feel we're still growing as a group and we're still getting better.”

George Horne took the plaudits on Saturday night, and rightly so. The effervescent scrum-half touched down after 30 minutes and in doing so became Glasgow Warriors’ leading try-scorer of all time. His 55th try in his 133rd game for the club led to some emotional scenes and Horne received a well deserved ovation when he was subbed off towards the end.

“He's a through and through Glasgow Warrior, he's played most of his rugby career here and he's accumulated some beautiful tries,” said Smith.

“He's a bundle of energy and what you see out on the pitch is exactly how he is around the club every day and it's a real pleasure to work with him.”

Jamie Dobie, playing on the wing, set up Horne for his try and scored two himself to take the player of the match honours. Glasgow’s other tries came from Nathan McBeth - scoring for the fourth consecutive game - Adam Hastings and Grant Stewart. Hastings converted all six tries which was some feat given the conditions on an evening when Glasgow had the wind in their sails.