How Franco Smith worked wonders with Glasgow Warriors - and the role of his coaches

What Glasgow Warriors have achieved is unbelievable. To go to South Africa and beat the Bulls on their own patch to win the United Rugby Championship is the biggest Scottish rugby victory in the pro era by some distance, in my opinion. Obviously 2015 was a milestone but this was something else.

How did they do it? Well for one thing, their mindset was bang on. I’ve been chatting to the boys and they didn’t once talk about fatigue or travel issues or altitude all week.

They had an unlimited amount of belief in themselves, particularly after the win over Munster in the semi-final. When you batter Munster at Thomond without necessarily playing that much rugby, it gives you the confidence that you can go anywhere and do it.

Joy for Sione Tuipulotu, right, at full-time as Glasgow Warriors celebrate their victory over Vodacom Bulls in the United Rugby Championship final at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Gordon Arons/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

The Bulls were a team that didn't hold any fears for Glasgow. I know they scored more tries and more points than any other side in the URC this season but Glasgow knew exactly how to play it. They were direct and confrontational in the first half. Scott Cummings' try just before half-time was massive but even if Glasgow had gone in 13-0 down at half-time I don’t think they would have been panicking because the game plan was almost like rope-a-dope. The aim was to be direct, make them tackle, lots of breakdowns, lots of rucks, because Glasgow believed they were the fitter team and they also thought they had better impact players on the bench.

So when the game opened up in the final 20 minutes, Glasgow were the much better side and were able to exploit it better than the Bulls. Franco Smith speaks a lot about ‘the plan’ and because the players have trust in the plan it’s easier to go out and perform.

One of the jobs of a coach is to get your messaging right, almost to indoctrinate people. Your messaging is so important, not just through the week but - in Franco’s case - across the past two years. He’s been consistent in that time with what he’s been saying and the more you repeat something, the more it is believed. You are sitting in team meetings, and no matter how experienced and cynical you might be, it starts to seep into you and the trust grows and you develop that collective mindset.

Franco’s impact has not been underplayed but it’s hard to pinpoint the specifics of why he has been so successful. There’s obviously technical and tactical stuff but a lot of it comes down to him being a good mindset coach and ultimately that’s what defines good leaders.

Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith, right, with his assistants Nigel Carolan, left, and Pete Murchie who helped deliver the club's BKT United Rugby Championship success. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

When it comes to ‘the plan’, a lot of praise has to go to Nigel Carolan and Pete Murchie, Glasgow’s attack and defence coaches, respectively. Glasgow have changed the way they’ve played in the last few weeks – you can’t watch the games and not see that. They were box-kicking 35 metres from the Bulls tryline at the weekend. That would have been unthinkable in a regular league game but there has been a new-found pragmatism in the play-offs.

There were a couple of times in the first half of the final when Glasgow were a little bit impatient and went wide too early but other than that, their attack plan worked, and the defence plan certainly worked. The Bulls didn’t really have an answer. They had a 15-minute spell in the first half when they had a bit of momentum but Glasgow fixed that at half-time and came out and battered them in the second half.

As players, we all had to earn Franco’s trust and it was the same for Nigel and Pete who were both on the coaching staff when he arrived in summer 2022. There was a turning point last season, particularly around our attack, when Franco released his grip a little bit and handed Nige more responsibility. The same has happened with the defence, and credit has to go to Franco because he had faith in Nigel and Pete and allowed the coaches to coach. And credit to Nigel and Pete, too, for the way they’ve gone about it.

Franco is a strong-willed guy and still has a lot of control over a lot of things but what I think we’ve seen over the last couple of months is the other coaches being more forthright in their opinions. Trust has been built up and the circumstances were right for a change of tactics as Glasgow moved through the play-offs.

You only need to look at the Glasgow defence stats this season to see how much they’ve improved. I saw one stat which said that the Bulls missed 41 tackles in the URC final while Glasgow missed 42 tackles in their three play-off games combined. They’ve been incredible.

Franco is a very good man manager and the best example is how he’s used his squad. Pretty much everyone played at some point this season and they haven’t been thrown in when other people have been injured. They’ve been rotated in and played in big games. Then, when Glasgow got to the play-off stage, he picked the same starting XV three games in a row and no-one questioned it. The players not selected are obviously gutted but they accept that this is the team that’s going to win it. Everyone is pulling in the same direction and Franco deserves huge credit for that because it’s easy for players to start getting fractious but that’s not been the case because they’ve all been treated with respect and given an opportunity. It shows how well he has managed the squad, and it shows just how much the players respect and care for each other. They all have just one goal, to be successful as a collective.

After the 2015 team won the championship the squad was kind of dismantled and I don’t think it was really given the proper backing that it should have been. I think it will be different with this squad. There are not too many that are leaving. There’s myself, Oli Kebble, George Turner and a few others but this team isn’t built on ageing players. The core of the squad is young. Jame Dobie, for example, is only 23 but he’s already made over 70 appearances for Glasgow. There is a real opportunity to build and add. We’ve got Adam Hastings coming next season and you’d think they would look to add depth at tighthead and hooker.

They need some back-up for Zander Fagerson. He has been outstanding, an absolute freak of nature, but you can’t be asking your starting tighthead to go 80 minutes every single week. He has been phenomenal for Glasgow and I’m not sure he gets the respect he deserves. Between the 75th and 80th minute of the final he was putting in just as much, if not more, work than anyone else on the pitch and that was the third week in a row he was playing the full 80. Scottish Rugby needs to protect him and look after him for as long as possible. There’s no doubt in my mind that Zander is Scotland’s greatest ever tighthead, and I know that’s a big call when you consider some of the greats we’ve had across the amateur and pro eras but he’s just incredible.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel on Saturday. I woke up absolutely buzzing and genuinely never thought we weren’t going to win. I was doing the radio for the BBC and I couldn’t speak for five to 10 minutes after the final whistle because I was really emotional and I couldn’t quite take in the fact that they had actually done it.

It’s funny, because you don’t know how you are going to feel. I’ve not been able to be a part of it all season because of the knee injury and there’s always a thing in the back of your mind of ‘will I resent it slightly?’ I think that’s human nature but I can honestly say that I was absolutely delighted to see them win. It was so good to watch and it felt really emotional.

The only slight disappointment was that the squad’s friends and family weren’t able to be there because of the short notice and the huge distances involved but I’ve absolutely no doubt when we all get together this week, we will celebrate properly, with everyone!