Franco Smith on what SRU need to do amid Huw Jones exit

Glasgow head coach Franco Smith has urged Scottish Rugby to allow him to replace departing stars Huw Jones and Adam Hastings with similar quality replacements – even if they are not Scottish qualified.

Warriors suffered a double blow this week when it was confirmed fly-half Hastings will join Montpellier next season, while British & Irish Lions centre Jones will head to Toulon, joining the likes of Blair Kinghorn, Ben White and Jamie Ritchie in the Top 14.

Last summer, Glasgow were also unable to retain versatile Scotland back Tom Jordan and No.8 Jack Mann, who joined Bristol and Gloucester respectively in the English Prem.

If financial reality dictates players will always be susceptible to bigger offers elsewhere, Smith was less sanguine about losing experienced squad members such as South African back-rower Henco Venter and Argentine wing Sebastian Cancelliere, as part of a Scottish Rugby policy of having less foreign players at Glasgow and Edinburgh to provide more opportunities for young Scottish talent to flourish.

Smith has done more than most to develop players ready for Test rugby, with Warriors providing 19 players to Scotland’s autumn Test squad, including burgeoning talents such as Jamie Dobie, Gregor Brown and Max Williamson.

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Asked if he hoped to replace Jones and Hastings with players of similar calibre, Smith said: “Definitely. I believe they [Scottish Rugby] will be open to it, or they should be. I think we’re losing a lot of experience in those roles, with both those players having played a number of professional games.

“And the younger boys, the Kerr Yules and Kerr Johnstons and Johnny Ventiseis of this world, that we want to bring through, need guidance. The outcome of a game must never be on the shoulders of the young players, so we need experience.

“We’ve got some good players in our environment, [centres] Sione Tuipulotu and Stafford McDowall, everybody in that backline – the Ollie Smiths and Kyle Rowes and Kyle Steyns – but they need also to be complemented with the next guy.

“They are good to bring the young players through, but all of them are internationals. So, our objective would still be to bring young players through, to manage the internationals, but also to have a winning product.

“That is the three objectives here. To put all the responsibility on young players who have barely graduated from the academy I don’t think is fair, and it would not serve the purpose. So hopefully we’ll get somebody in that will be able to substitute for Huw and allow us to get all these moving parts together.”

Smith said Warriors tried to keep Jones and acknowledged that while it “doesn’t help us lingering on about that”, losing more of top-class players could affect their chances of maintaining their current momentum.
Glasgow currently top of their Investec Champions Cup pool ahead of Sunday’s final showdown with Saracens, and second in the URC, having won it in 2023-24.

“Huw was an integral part of our squad, and he still is, and will be until the end,” Smith said. “I know the man is going to give his very best for us in that jersey until the end, and we are grateful.

“It’s part of, I suppose, professional sport, and we endeavoured to keep him obviously, from the club’s perspective, but I’m sure also from Scotland’s perspective because that plays a role. But we must take pride in creating opportunities for people, and in this case we’re going to rather focus on how we can progress from this than this pulling us down.

“If something like this happens, we must take pride in that as well. We give the ball to somebody else in a better place, and we must just go on and make the next guy become the best version of himself.”

Smith believes there are few Scottish-qualified players capable of replacing Hastings or Jones, so hopes his employers adopt a more flexible approach to recruitment.

“I think all of the players that will play for Scotland at the 2027 World Cup have been identified,” he said. “We know who they are. We know that the programme is developed and planned for that outcome.

“I don’t think there’s an old enough, experienced enough player that’s Scottish qualified, that is out of contract, that will come to us straightaway. So yes, I believe we should throw the net wider. And I hope that Scotland will understand that foreigners are not necessarily sitting in the way of the development. They are there to manage the development of players and to manage the internationals.

“If you have 20, 21 internationals in your environment, they need management. If you lose, you end up using them more. So you need a quality player in here that will allow us to maintain the current product and the current trust from the players in the product.”

Smith has recalled Scotland flanker Rory Darge and versatile back Ollie Smith to his starting side for Sunday’s Scotstoun shootout against Saracens, which will likely determine who tops Pool 1.

Openside Darge takes over from Euan Ferrie – who drops to the bench – in the back row, with Matt Fagerson reverting to blindside flanker.

Smith, whose last three starts have been at full-back, comes onto the left wing, with Dobie rested as part of a player-management programme.

Jones, who marked his comeback from five months out with a trademark try in last weekend’s 33-21 win at Clermont Auvergne, again starts at outside centre, with Stafford McDowall among the replacements on a six-two bench split.

With Hastings still sidelined with a knee injury, Dan Lancaster continues at No.10 while scrum-half George Horne, Glasgow’s all-time record try-scorer with 62, will play his 150th game for the club.

“We are proud to see George reach 150 appearances for the club – he is someone who gives his heart and soul for Glasgow Warriors every time he steps onto the field, and we know how much reaching this milestone will mean to him,” Smith added.

Warriors, who have a maximum 15 points from their opening three pool games, know that victory at Scotstoun would guarantee they are one of the top two seeds heading into the last 16, ensuring home advantage if they progress through the knockout rounds.

But Saracens, who like Glasgow in December, upset six-time champions Toulouse last week, also know that victory on Sunday could see them top Pool 1 and bolster their seeding for the knockout stages.

Glasgow team v Saracens: 15 Kyle Rowe (43 games), 14 Kyle Steyn (C) (101), 13 Huw Jones (82), 12 Sione Tuipulotu (77), 11 Ollie Smith (54); 10 Dan Lancaster (11), 9 George Horne (149); 1 Patrick Schickerling (18), 2 Gregor Hiddleston (37), 3 Zander Fagerson (167), 4 Alex Craig (10), 5 Scott Cummings (151), 6 Matt Fagerson (134), 7 Rory Darge (73), 8 Jack Dempsey (61).

Replacements: 16 Seb Stephen (8), 17 Rory Sutherland (20), 18 Sam Talakai (32), 19 Max Williamson (42), 20 Gregor Brown (45), 21 Euan Ferrie (46), 22 Stafford McDowall (105), 23 Ben Afshar (30).