Franco Smith says Glasgow must 'take every benefit' in Bulls semifinal

Franco Smith hopes Glasgow can capitalise on playing in relatively familiar surroundings when they face South African side Bulls in next Saturday’s United Rugby Championship semi-final.

Warriors booked their last-four berth with a 33-21 win over Connacht on Friday, while Bulls made it through with a 45-14 triumph against Munster the following day.

Glasgow are unable to use their Scotstoun home for the final stages of the play-offs as it has been taken over by the Glasgow 2026 organisers ahead of this summer’s Commonwealth Games, so they will instead play their remaining matches at the national stadium in Edinburgh, where several of their squad have played regularly for Scotland.

“We’re going to train at Scotstoun on Monday and Tuesday and then on Thursday we’ll have a training session at Murrayfield,” said head coach Smith.

“So we’ve just obviously got to make that home advantage count where we can. I think recovery in this week is going to be very important, like it always is, but we’ve got one benefit – the team that we play will travel this week and we don’t.

“It is going to be my job to make sure that we take every benefit and every home advantage that we can.”

Smith is reluctant to look beyond the Bulls match but admits the possibility of playing the final at Murrayfield is a big incentive.

“What a privilege it would be,” he said. “But, again, I want to, from the start of this week, give emphasis on getting across this hurdle.

“It would be fantastic. Imagine playing the final in Murrayfield. It will be just unbelievable. But, hopefully, that is the last word this week spoken about it.”