Why Franco Smith believes 'explosive' South African is ready for Glasgow Warriors debut in Champions Cup

Seeing a player in action for the very first time in a high stakes, competitive environment can bring equal parts excitement and trepidation for rugby fans.

Glasgow Warriors have made five signings over the past few months, with head coach Franco Smith strengthening his first-team squad following the loss of some big names over the summer. One of the first was Jamie Ritchie, the former Scotland captain who is the furthest thing from an unknown quantity, and the most recent came last week as four times capped England hooker Jack Singleton arrived on a short-term deal.

Ruaraidh Hart re-joined the club last month and Bayley Kuenzele has already made a name for himself in Super Rugby with the Brumbies and Western Force. Unquestionably the biggest wildcard amongst the new faces at Scotstoun is South African back rower Ruwald van der Merwe, who the majority of Warriors fans will witness in action for the first time this weekend as he makes his debut in their Investec Champions Cup opener at Sale Sharks.

“I don't pick players for what they've done, I pick them for what they can do” - van der Merwe to make Glasgow Warriors debut in Champions Cup

The 27-year-old, who stands 6ft 3in tall and weighs in at 110kg, was most recently playing for the Airlink Pumas in the Currie Cup having signed there in 2022 on the back of an impressive varsity career with the University of the Free State. He will start Saturday’s match at No 8, with Matt Fagerson unavailable through injury, an inclusion that Smith says he has more than earned through his effort and attitude in training.

“Not all the players that we see often on television come around,” the Warriors head coach explained. “That doesn't mean there's not some good players out there. He's a really strong athlete, he will add his flavour to what we do. I don't pick players for what they've done, I pick them for what they can do, and that is the message to him as well.

“We want to see what you can bring and how you can improve and how you can accelerate your athlete program. The coaching is different from what he was used to, so I hope it will stimulate him to bring something more out of his game.”

The arrival of the South African came following the loss of Jack Dempsey, who proved himself a massive threat with ball in hand for both Warriors and Scotland in recent years. Smith stressed that Van der Merwe was not brought in as a direct replacement for the former Wallaby.

He said: “He's a very good ball player, a good defender, a good set-piece forward. He's just such a good contributor in general that he doesn't have one specific trait.

“I think if you think of Jack Dempsey, you will think of one specific trait straight away. We got Ruwald involved specifically with his ability to do various roles, he can play 6, 7, 8 and maybe lock to allow us to manage everybody.

“One of the reasons we got him was that he's an explosive ball carrier, so we’re looking forward to seeing what he can bring. There's no extra pressure on him, we've spent the previous four weeks to install and integrate him into what we're trying to do.”

“When the time is right” - Jamie Ritchie available for selection but Glasgow boss holding back for now

The other big news in this weekend’s squad selection sees the return of Scotland internationals Zander Fagerson, Alex Craig and club captain Kyle Steyn from injury. All three have been named in the starting XV. Matt Fagerson misses out but the groin issue he picked up against Connacht isn’t a serious one and won’t impact his chance of being named in the Scotland squad for next month’s Nations Championship Test matches.

Two players who were conspicuous in their absence from the 23-man Warriors team are Ritchie and full-back Josh McKay. The flanker has yet to play for his new club but is now fit and available for selection, while the former New Zealand under-20 player has been in excellent form since the start of the season amid speculation of a potential Scotland call from Gregor Townsend.

“I feel another week or two for Jamie in our environment will contribute to his performances going forward.” Smith explained. “When the time is right, I'll introduce him into our way of playing when the expectation is maybe not as big as in the European Cup game from the start.”

On McKay, who is simply being rested as the squad rotates with Kyle Rowe moving to full-back, the head coach added: “I think Kyle Rowe would like to show his part in the 15 jersey and we want to also, in the same breath, make sure that if Josh is not available, somebody else has played at 15 this year. There's a lot of ingredients that go into the decision-making, but it's got nothing to do with who's selected, who might be selected and who's going forward.”

Smith also revealed that prop Rory Sutherland is close to returning, which would leave Ryan Burke, Duncan Munn, Alex Samuel and Charlie Savala as the only remaining players on the unavailable list. However, with the squad locked in for this weekend, the focus is now on Saturday’s trip to the CorpAcq Stadium.

English PREM side Sale are a team that Warriors are very familiar with, having beaten them on their own patch last season and at Scotstoun the year before. “We're just focusing on our process and what everybody can contribute to that,” said Smith.

“We know that Sale is a very accomplished team, they've invested in certain areas of the game, in the forward specifically, a lot. We will just go and try and be the best version of ourselves instead of worrying too much about what they've got.”

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