‘Nobody is safe’ – Radical Franco Smith has upped the ante at Glasgow Warriors

It’s fair to say Franco Smith has shaken things up at Glasgow Warriors and the head coach’s willingness to radically alter his team selections has led to some feisty training sessions.

Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith is looking forward to returning to Scotstoun after the club had to switch the Perpignan game to BT Murrayfield. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

The extra edge has helped improve results, according to Sione Tuiupulotu who returned to the side for Friday’s Challenge Cup win over Perpignan, Glasgow’s third in a row.

“I think that’s what has contributed to these wins lately, it’s the competitiveness of training,” said the centre. “You don’t want to have a bad game or a bad session because you know that means you might not play the next week. Nobody is safe.

“We’ve got a lot of Scottish internationals back but Franco has made it pretty clear that it doesn’t matter how many times you have played for Scotland, he’s going to pick on form and what they can do for his team. We’ve got to fall into line with how he wants to run this team.”

Smith made ten changes for the Perpignan game and 11 the week before to play Bath and it will be fascinating to see who the coach picks for the first leg of the 1872 Cup derby against Edinburgh on Friday. The game is due to be played at Scotstoun and Smith is confident the Warriors will be able to return to their home ground after having to switch the Perpignan match to BT Murrayfield because their own pitch was frozen.

“We need our supporters and we need to play this game next week at Scotstoun,” said the coach, mindful of the advantage a sold-out stadium would give them after Friday’s game in Edinburgh was watched by just 671 hardy souls. The bonus-point win meant the Warriors emerged unscathed and they also got a feel for the ground ahead of the 1872 second leg, scheduled for Murrayfield on 30 December.

“It is good for those boys who haven’t played there before,” said Tuipulotu who is out to avenge the 28-11 defeat by Edinburgh in May.

“That’s three wins on the trot now so we’re feeling pretty confident. I know Edinburgh have been playing pretty well, they lost to Saracens last weekend but that was a pretty good performance, so we know that they’ll be primed for a big game. We’re looking to get our own back for what happened last year.”