Franco Smith opens up on his future after end of Glasgow Warriors’ reign as URC champions
Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith looks on.
Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith has revealed that he needs time to contemplate his future after his side’s reign as United Rugby Championship (URC) champions came to an end at the weekend.
The Scottish outfit suffered a 37-19 defeat against Leinster in their semi-final at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday and the South African could not guarantee that he would remain in his current role.
Smith has been in charge of the Warriors since the start of the 2022/23 URC campaign and under his guidance they have gone from strength to strength over the past three seasons.
Impressive stint as Glasgow Warriors coach
After guiding Glasgow to the quarter-finals in 2023 – where they lost to that season’s eventual winners Munster – Smith‘s troops finished the 2024 campaign as champions and his fine work with the side has led to him being mentioned as with several high-profile jobs including at Leicester Tigers and Wales.
Since then, Geoff Parling has been appointed as the Premiership side’s new boss.
Smith’s name has also been in the conversation when potential successors to Gregor Townsend as Scotland head coach have been discussed.
His budget as Glasgow Warriors boss has been reduced while he has also lost the services of some of the players born outside of Scotland in his squad due to a Scottish Rugby directive to have fewer foreigners in the country’s professional club squads.
After his side’s defeat to Leinster, Smith was asked about his future plans but said he needed some time to make a decision on that.
“I need to reflect a little bit,” he told The Scotsman. “I can say I put my heart into this. That hasn’t changed.”
And when he was asked a direct question about his future, Smith replied: “We’ll see. I was hoping we would be going to South Africa this week [for the URC final].
”I’m just proud of the season that’s gone’
“I’ll sit down now and reflect a little bit. For now, I’m just proud of the season that’s gone.”
Smith also revealed that he expected a replacement for Pete Murchie as the Warriors’ defence coach to be announced within the next few days.
Murchie is leaving the club to further his career at a Japanese club.
Smith also mentioned the “budget restraints” which will be affecting his club and the pressure they could be under next season.
“Our squad’s been reduced,” said the 52-year-old. “We’ve lost some of the foreigners. I’ll be as honest as possible: that’s going to put a lot of pressure on every aspect of our environment.”
