‘No love lost!’ – Franco Smith takes on his son as Glasgow Warriors seek elusive away win

Glasgow Warriors coach Franco Smith has withheld any fatherly advice in the build up to this week’s match with Zebre Parma which will see him lock horns with his son, Franco junior.

Franco Smith will be up against his son when Glasgow Warriors take on Zebre in Parma. (Photo by Ewan Bootman / SNS Group)

The Italian side have named the 22-year-old centre on the bench for Saturday’s match at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi as Glasgow go looking for their first away win in the league since January.

Franco junior was born in Wales while his father, a former Springbok, was playing for Newport. He was introduced to rugby with the Benetton youth team, later moving to South Africa to attend school and university. He played for the Cheetahs in the U21 Currie Cup before returning to Italy to join Rugby Colorno in the Italian championship and then winning a deal with Zebre.

The young Smith has played seven times in the United Rugby Championship and made his first start this season in mid-October against Scarlets. Injury has kept him out since but he returns on the bench to face his father.

“It was inevitable, I suppose,” smiled the Glasgow coach. “I’m glad for my son that he gets an opportunity again after injury and happy to see him out there but there will be no love lost! He knows it. It’s something that comes along once in a lifetime and I’m really blessed to see him on that side and happy for him.”

Regardless of family ties, Smith senior will be as determined as ever to secure the win, particularly as this represents Glasgow’s best chance of ridding themselves of their terrible away record. Zebre are anchored to the foot of the URC having lost all eight of their matches this season and it is a team the coach knows well from his previous job as head of high performance with the Italian Rugby Federation.

He has kept conversations with his son to a minimum this week lest he be accused to trying to extract inside information on Glasgow’s opponents.

“Obviously I didn’t want to put him in a difficult situation,” added the coach. “I know the Zebre squad, I was involved in around 20 to 25 signings there, so I know what’s coming and who they’ve got. So both of us were happy this week to not speak too much and we will obviously reunite after the game.”

Zebre's Franco Smith Jr, left, in action for Zebre against Munster earlier this season. Photo by Laszlo Geczo/INPHO/Shutterstock

Glasgow are looking to bounce back from the 40-5 defeat by Leinster in Dublin and are bolstered by the return of five of their Scotland internationals who were rested last week following their involvement in the autumn Tests. Zander Fagerson, Richie Gray and Matt Fagerson slot into the pack, with Sione Tuipulotu and Ollie Smith added to the backline. Ryan Wilson is also back after a minor injury but Jack Dempsey misses out due to a groin issue.

Ali Price has been given another week off, so George Horne starts again at scrum-half, alongside stand-off Tom Jordan who has featured in all seven of Glasgow’s URC games this season.

Ross Thompson, his main rival for the No 10 jersey, will find out next week if he requires surgery on his fractured ankle. Smith said one option could be to let it heal itself but this may take longer and a decision is likely to be made on Thursday following consultation with the surgeon.

Zebre Parma v Glasgow Warriors (URC, Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma, 1pm UK. TV: live on Viaplay)

Zebre: Lorenzo Pani; Pierre Bruno, Erich Cronjé, Enrico Lucchin, Simone Gesi; Geronimo Prisciantelli, Chris Cook; Luca Rizzoli, Marco Manfredi, Matteo Nocera, David Sisi (c), Andrea Zambonin, Taina Fox-Matamua, Mj Pelser, Matt Kvesic.

Replacements: Jacques Du Toit, Daniele Rimpelli, Ion Neculai, Jan Uys, Giacomo Ferrari, Gonzalo Garcia, Franco Smith Jr, Jacobus Van Wyk.

Glasgow: Ollie Smith; Sebastian Cancelliere, Sione Tuipulotu, Stafford McDowall, Kyle Steyn (c); Tom Jordan, George Horne; Oli Kebble, Fraser Brown, Zander Fagerson, Sintu Manjezi, Richie Gray, Ryan Wilson, Sione Vailanu, Matt Fagerson.

Replacements: Johnny Matthews, Jamie Bhatti, Murphy Walker, JP du Preez, Lewis Bean, Gregor Brown, Jamie Dobie, Domingo Miotti.

Referee: Tual Trainini (FFR).