'Something special': Glasgow Warriors chase history in competition that means so much to them

In the immediate aftermath of Glasgow Warriors’ stunning triumph over the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship final in South Africa, Franco Smith was quick to stress it was the beginning rather than the end of his squad’s achievements.

“This team shouldn’t be done after tonight,” said the head coach. “We’ve got the building blocks to go further still.”

Smith has proved adept at smashing the glass ceiling which has limited Scottish rugby ambitions and the next target is success in Europe. Glasgow open their Investec Champions Cup campaign against Sale Sharks on Scotstoun on Saturday night, the first step on a mission to achieve what no previous Scottish rugby club has, namely lifting a European trophy.

Matt Fagerson, Scott Cummings and head coach Franco Smith during a Glasgow Warriors training session at Scotstoun. | SNS Group

Smith himself took Glasgow to the Challenge Cup final in 2023, his first season in charge, but they were second best against Toulon in Dublin. This year they are back in the top tier and will meet the French side again next week in their second group game but it’s Sale first and Alex Sanderson’s side travel north off the back of an impressive home win over Leicester Tigers.

Racing 92 and Harlequins also await in Pool 3 and Smith is relishing the opportunity to pit his wits against the best of England and France - but he was reluctant to make bold predictions. When it was put to him that Glasgow are considered to be dark horses in this year’s competition, the coach gave a considered answer.

“Well, I don’t want the expectation to influence what we try to do here,” he said. “So, yes, the squad needs to kick on in every game that we play. The quality of the players and the way they've developed and the way that they work at their game and the influence that the internationals have is important and we need to continue evolving and continue growing and continue adding value to the squad in various ways.

“And the Champions Cup obviously is a massive, good competition to play in as well as the URC, but there's something special about playing the French and the Premiership sides.”

Glasgow came unstuck in the round of 16 last season, losing a thriller to Harlequins at the Stoop. Interestingly, Smith cites that match as the spur that drove them on to URC glory.

“We fell last year against the Harlequins in the 78th minute,” he said. “We were still leading and there was a little bit more in us to get across the line. So, yes, I think that hurt inspired us actually in the URC to complete that season properly.

“So, definitely one of the objectives is to perform as best as we can in this competition.”

Warriors landed the URC trophy last term. | SNS Group

Glasgow’s stunning success in Pretoria was rightly recognised this week. It was voted ‘Sporting Moment of the Year’ at the Scottish Sports Awards, beating the impressive Bob McIntyre’s Scottish Open win to the prize. Smith was also rewarded, winning ‘Coach of the Year’ at the Glasgow’s Sport Awards.

It was hot and humid as the Warriors fought back to beat the Bulls at altitude, in stark contrast to the conditions Sale can expect at Scotstoun. Nevertheless, Smith believes Glasgow can take inspiration from the way they handled adversity both in the final and in the semi, against Munster in Limerick.

“Without that we would have been weaker, I'll put it that way,” he said. “So it is an important ingredient and it is important that we can refer back to games like that.

“But Sale will pose a different challenge. It's at home, it's eight o'clock on a Saturday night, the temperature is definitely different. We're in a different part of the season. So, no, we'll take a lot of experience from those league games that we've played and I am sure that we will be a better team again after this one.”

Glasgow shook off the rust of the international break with a patchy win over the Scarlets last week. Smith has brought the big guns back to face Sale which means a return for Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu in the centre as Tom Jordan moves to stand-off. Up front, there are six personnel changes, with Jamie Bhatti, Gregor Hiddleston, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson and Rory Darge all selected.

Jare Oguntibeju retains his place in the second row after impressing on his debut against the Scarlets and Smith wants the former Scotland Under-20 forward to back it up.

Warriors have put their faith in Jare Oguntibeju once more. | SNS Group

Oguntibeju, 22, only took up rugby seriously at 17 after playing football at school in Edinburgh. He has had to overcome adversity in the shape of serious injuries but the South African-born lock has worked hard with Glasgow’s strength and conditioning team to get into the sort of shape required to play at the elite level.

“The S&C has done a great job on him,” said Smith. “And I'm happy to see that, from a rugby perspective, he's also growing. He's a later arrival to the game, but he's learned, he's intelligent and he's trying to step up every day.”

Smith has a track record of bringing through young players and the hope is that Oguntibeju can follow in the footsteps of Max Williamson, Alex Samuel , Euan Ferrie and Gregor Brown. It also helps plug the gap in the second row caused by Richie Gray’s mid-season departure to Japan. Smith had hoped to sign an experienced replacement for Gray but was thwarted in his bid to land his top target, believed to be the Scarlets’ Alex Craig.

Williamson, Brown, Ferrie and JP du Preez are all out injured but they should return in the next month or so. Smith also reported good news on the fitness of Ollie Smith and Kyle Steyn who are close to a return. “Ollie is looking good,” said the coach. “He's been training with us the last three weeks.”

Steyn, the club captain, is also progressing well and should be back before Christmas.

The news on Adam Hastings was less good. The stand-off has had an operation after fracturing his jaw against Scarlets and will be out for eight to 12 weeks, according to Smith.

The coach also confirmed he would like to hang on to full-back Josh McKay who is out of contract at the end of the season.

Adam Hastings is taken off during the win over Scarlets. | SNS Group

The teams

Glasgow Warriors: 15. Josh McKay; 14. Seb Cancelliere, 13. Huw Jones, 12. Sione Tuipulotu (c), 11. Kyle Rowe; 10. Tom Jordan, 9. George Horne; 1. Jamie Bhatti, 2. Gregor Hiddleston, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Olujare Oguntibeju, 5. Scott Cummings, 6. Matt Fagerson, 7. Rory Darge, 8. Henco Venter. Replacements: 16. Johnny Matthews, 17. Rory Sutherland, 18. Sam Talakai, 19. Alex Samuel, 20. Ally Miller, 21. Jack Mann, 22. Jamie Dobie, 23. Duncan Weir.

Sale Sharks: 15. Joe Carpenter; 14. Will Addison, 13. Luke James, 12. Sam Bedlow, 11. Arron Reed; 10. Robert du Preez (c), 9. Gus Warr; 1. Bevan Rodd, 2. Tadgh McElroy, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4. Ernst van Rhyn, 5. Hyron Andrews, 6. Jean-Luc du Preez, 7. Tom Curry, 8. Dan du Preez. Replacements: 16. Harry Thompson, 17. Si McIntyre, 18. James Harper, 19. Ben Bamber, 20. Jonny Hill, 21. Raffi Quirke, 22. Tom Curtis, 23. Sam Dugdale.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy).