Latest news with #FrancoSmith
Scotsman
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors discover 4 Investec Champions Cup fixtures
Scottish clubs in Europe's premier event land fixture list Sign up to our Rugby Union newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Glasgow Warriors will kick off the 2025/26 Investec Champions Cup on opening night after their match away at Sale Sharks was scheduled for Friday, December 5 at 8pm. Franco Smith's side will head to the Salford Community Stadium to take on the Gallagher Prem outfit, who have Scotland internationalists Arron Reed and Gus Warr as part of their squad. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Edinburgh Rugby have been given a home match to kick off their campaign against Toulon from the Top 14. The French side, who Scotland scrum-half Ben White plays for, are due at the Hive Stadium on Sunday, December 7 at 5.30pm in the final match of the first round of fixtures. Edinburgh Rugby close off their Investec Champions Cup pool-phase fixtures away at Finn Russell and Bath. | SNS Group Edinburgh are in Pool 2 of the competition alongside Bath, Toulon, Munster, Castres and Gloucester, while Warriors have Toulouse, Clermont Auvergne, Hollywoodbets Sharks, Saracens and Sale Sharks in Pool 1. Each team plays four fixtures against the clubs who are not in their domestic leagues, so Edinburgh will not face Munster and Glasgow avoid the Hollywoodbets Sharks, who are in the United Rugby Championship alongside them. The top four in the pool qualify for the last 16 of the tournament, with first and second place being at home and third and fourth away. Finishing fifth results in dropping down to the Challenge Cup, while sixth place results in European elimination. After facing Sale Sharks, Glasgow are at home to Toulouse on Saturday, December 13a at 8pm, with Scotland fly-half Blair Kinghorn among the Top 14 champions' star-studded squad due to visit Scotstoun. In round three, they travel to the Stade Marcel-Michelin to take on Clermont Auvergne on Saturday, January 10 (3.15pm) before closing off at home to Saracens on Sunday, January 18 (5.30pm). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A week on from facing Top 14 opposition, Edinburgh head to France in gameweek two to play Castres at Stade Pierre-Fabre on Sunday, December 14 at 1pm. Their third pool match is at home to Gloucester on Friday, January 9 (8pm) before finishing off away at Bath, who have Scotland fly-half Finn Russell in their squad, on Friday, January 16 (8pm).
BBC News
02-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Scottish-qualified stand-off Lancaster joins Warriors on two-year deal
Glasgow Warriors "feels like the best possible" for Scottish-qualified stand-off Dan Lancaster, who has signed a two-year deal at of former England head coach Stuart, the 24-year-old spent last season with French side Racing 92, making 25 appearances - including against Franco Smith's side in born in Leeds, Lancaster, who is comfortable at fly-half and both centres, represented Scotland at U18 level alongside Jamie Dobie and Rory coach Smith said his versatility will be "a real asset" in the said he had "heard many great things" about the club and told his agents it was "where he wanted to go"."It all happened pretty quickly, to be honest," Lancaster told club media."I found out I wasn't being kept on by Racing, and one evening shortly after that I got a call from Franco about potentially coming to Glasgow. After that call, I phoned my agent and told them that Scotstoun was where I wanted to go."I played against Glasgow for Racing last year, so I saw first-hand the intensity that the club brings with and without the ball – they're a proper team. "I've heard so may great things about the club and about Franco and the coaching team, and Lucio [Sordoni] told me how special a place it is, so it feels like the best possible place for me to develop as a rugby player."
BBC News
27-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Darge hopes 'really good coach' Smith remains at Glasgow next season
Rory Darge can understand why Glasgow "really good" head coach Franco Smith is being linked with other jobs, but says the Warriors players are desperate for the South African to remain at is entering the final year of his contract and has been linked with a number of other jobs, most notably the vacant Wales head coach Glasgow's defeat to Leinster in the United Rugby Championship semi-final earlier this month, Smith refused to confirm if he will still be in charge next season, saying he would take time "to reflect a little bit" over the summer."He's a really good coach and showed that with getting the results last year," Darge said."He laid out to us after this year all the positives. It's obviously knockout rugby and when you lose, you have that disappointment. We've maybe brushed over a lot of the big wins that we had over the season."You focus on the next job and usually it's a game the following week, so you don't celebrate those big wins. But he wanted to do that. He wanted to highlight the good work that had gone into last season."He was speaking to us as players in that Monday review and laying out the good stuff that we'd done last season and the work to do next season."But you know, the way professional sport is, you don't know what's going to happen, but as it stands, obviously he's the coach."
Scotsman
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
'The longer he stays, the better' - Franco Smith urged to remain with Glasgow Warriors
Praise for boss who gets the best out of Scotstoun squad Sign up to our Rugby Union newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Franco Smith is contracted for another year at Glasgow Warriors and Ollie Smith hopes the South African stays beyond that point and builds on the success he has already achieved with the club. The URC-winning coach's future has become a hot topic. He was linked with Leicester Tigers before Geoff Parling was appointed and has also been touted as a future coach of both Wales and Scotland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Alex Williamson, Scottish Rugby's chief executive, is in favour of maintaining the status quo and wants Gregor Townsend, Franco Smith and Sean Everitt to remain in post at Scotland, Glasgow and Edinburgh, respectively. Franco Smith, head coach of Glasgow Warriors, has a year remaining on his contract. | Getty Images An emotional Smith, speaking after the Warriors' lost their URC crown to Leinster in the semi-final in Dublin this month, said he needed time to 'reflect a little bit' on his future after three years at the helm. The coach had previously expressed annoyance at the departure of some of his senior overseas players, with Henco Venter, Sebastian Cancelliere and JP du Preez all leaving at the end of the season. Tom Jordan and Jack Mann are also moving on, to Bristol and Gloucester. His namesake, Ollie, said he could understand his boss's frustration. 'He's the same with us as he is with the press,' said the full-back who is part of the Scotland squad which this week departed for New Zealand for the summer tour. 'He's very honest. He'll take the blame when he needs to and he'll also tell us when we're doing something wrong. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Love having him at Glasgow 'It's been really hard for us at the end of this season because there are so many good people leaving. Like TJ [Tom Jordan], who has been instrumental in our success; guys like Seb [Cancelliere] - a massive part in that cup run last year. He was huge in the play-offs. 'It's hard to replace these guys, but we're looking forward to the challenge and I think Franco is the same. He's given a chance to some people and next season is another opportunity to do that. 'Obviously we don't know what goes on behind closed doors, but we love having him at Glasgow. He pushes us and he gets the best out of us and he has done for the last three years, so the longer he stays, the better for us. 'He's instilled a real belief in the squad which is good, because you need that if you're going to have any success.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ollie Smith has not played for Scotland since the 2023 Rugby World Cup. | AFP via Getty Images Ollie Smith, who has not played for Scotland since the 2023 Rugby World Cup after rupturing knee ligaments, returned to the Glasgow side in the second half of the season and is looking forward to vying with Harry Paterson and Kyle Rowe for the full-back role on the tour as the national team take on Māori All Blacks, Fiji and Samoa. With Blair Kinghorn on Lions duty, the Scotland 15 jersey is up for grabs but Ollie Smith is also a contender to play at 13, the position he grew up playing. 'Any involvement I'll be happy with,' said Smith who played five URC games at outside centre for Glasgow after Christmas.
Times
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Times
Horrible manner of loss to Leinster will haunt Glasgow over summer
Glasgow's URC title defence was always likely to come to a shuddering halt at a venue where no Scottish side — club or international — has won in the 15 years since it became the Aviva Stadium. But for the crown to be ripped from their heads in such unseemly fashion was an experience that will haunt Franco Smith's players over what now promises to be a long and regret-filled summer. The Warriors were battered; literally, figuratively and emotionally. Pummelled up front and with little else to commend them elsewhere across the field, for the most part the Scots were every bit as bad as had been the case in their 52-0 Champions Cup defeat on the same pitch eight weeks ago. Two tries in the last eight minutes added some sheen to the scoreline, but cannot paper over any cracks in this wobbly Warriors edifice. Leinster broke through seemingly at will, in between dismantling the Glasgow scrum and otherwise dominating the physical stakes to an almost embarrassing degree. Ryan Baird was named man of the match but the award could easily have gone to about ten other boys in blue. Smith was putting a brave face on it at the finish, urging us to see the bigger picture of a campaign in which a ludicrous quantity of big-name injuries had opened up opportunities for new faces to shine. 'I don't want to make excuses because I definitely felt the team that we named tonight could have won the game,' the South African said. 'So, yes, it would have been good to have had some of those boys back, but I backed the team that we picked. I backed the depth and the growth of the club that we've seen, with more players becoming eligible for Scotland and putting their hands up to play at this level this whole season. 'Numerous people have grown. That is the progression. There are six or seven boys who played in last year's final who weren't available here, that's true, but I'm more proud of the evolution and the growth. So there is a positive to be taken from this. [Leinster are] still a world-class team, nothing's changed. So if we were going to lose the URC Championship title, I'd rather it was against them than anybody else. That said, we're a proud team. I thought we gave it everything. I see this holistically, not just in terms of this game. We defended our title bravely but today we fell short.' On an afternoon when the Dublin weather ran through all the seasons, torrential rain showers being broken up by spells of sunshine then lashings of hail, the game itself was disappointingly one-note. A no-contest that had promised so much more, not least because a still underpowered Glasgow were blessed with several of the key cattle who had missed the European mauling. If the first half of that match had been a real shock-and-awe job from Leinster, the opening period here was much more of an ongoing asphyxiation as the hosts seized control quite literally from kick-off and only tightened their grip thereafter. Bar the exquisite breakaway which led to the George Horne try, Glasgow had so little territory that they were in danger of being declared another San Marino. For almost the entirety of those initial 40 minutes, they found themselves hopelessly pinned by a combination of Leinster excellence and their own inadequacies. The Warriors scrum was a walking — or, rather, back-pedalling — disaster. The recent loss of Zander Fagerson has been grievous, and here Fin Richardson fared exactly as you might expect a club's fifth-choice tight-head prop to when up against a British & Irish Lion in Andrew Porter. All over the park, and in pretty much every phase of the game, Glasgow had no answer to Leinster's power plays, and they further undermined their efforts by trying to force things when they did enjoy some ball in the middle third. Smith's men were error-strewn and ill-disciplined, with even such consistently refined performers as Horne, Sione Tuipulotu and Henco Venter guilty of their own costly imprecisions. A 20-point interval deficit might have been so much bigger: Sam Prendergast had missed three of his four conversion attempts while Leinster had also seen two tries disallowed. Glasgow's way back was already not so much uphill as non-existent. Smith tried shuffling his pack, making six substitutions between the 40th and 51st minutes. These alterations included an all-new front row and Stafford McDowall replacing Adam Hastings so that Tom Jordan could move to fly half and Tuipulotu to inside centre, but with Glasgow still living off painfully pathetic possession rations, everything and nothing changed. There was also no encouragement for the visitors to draw from some of the figures making their way off the Leinster bench: the likes of RG Snyman, Rabah Slimani, Ronan Kelleher and Max Deegan do not tend to weaken a side, never mind one which has already established such a degree of physical dominance. Truth be told, Leo Cullen's men were bossing it in every facet: the technical, the tactical, the aerial, even the attitudinal. When Jamie Dobie crossed to reduce the arrears to 25 points, there was barely a flicker of emotion from anyone concerned. This was Dobie's 24th birthday, but he, like everyone else of a Warriors persuasion, will remember it not for the blowing out of candles but the snuffing out of a dream.
