Glasgow boss Franco Smith directly addresses the Jamie Ritchie rumours

Glasgow head coach Franco Smith stopped short of confirming Jamie Ritchie will be at Scotstoun next season but conceded the former Scotland captain would be a “class” addition to the Warriors squad.

The 29-year-old flanker, who spent 11 years at Scottish rivals Edinburgh before joining Top 14 side Perpignan last summer, is understood to be returning to Scotland to be closer to his two young children, who stayed in Edinburgh.

Ritchie, who has won 62 Scotland caps, was made captain by Perpignan and remains a key figure in their fight to avoid relegation from the top flight this season, with an ‘access match’ decider to come against the loser of the Pro D2 promotion final.

“I read and heard that Perpignan is saying that he’s not going to play for them next season, I saw that,” Smith grinned. “I think Perpignan would have been upset with him leaving so early. It’s probably not good timing for them.”

Pressed on what attributes he might bring to Warriors, Smith said: “Look, he’s a class player, with the amount of Test matches he’s played, he’s led Scotland.

United Rugby Championship

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

Stormers

16

12

4

0

56

2

Glasgow

16

11

5

0

55

3

Lions

16

10

5

1

53

4

Leinster

16

10

6

0

53

5

Munster

16

10

6

0

51

6

Cardiff Rugby

16

10

6

0

50

7

Bulls

16

10

6

0

49

8

Ulster

16

9

7

0

47

9

Connacht

16

8

8

0

44

10

Sharks

16

6

9

1

36

11

Ospreys

16

6

8

2

35

12

Edinburgh

16

6

10

0

33

13

Benetton

16

6

8

2

33

14

Dragons RFC

16

3

10

3

25

15

Scarlets

16

4

11

1

24

16

Zebre

16

2

14

0

15

“I think he’s somebody that specifically leads well with his ability and with his way of doing things. He’s been a thorn in our side in a lot of the games we’ve played against Edinburgh. He’s been excellent in some of the games he’s played in the Six Nations. I think he’s a good player.”

Ritchie will provide further experience in an area where Glasgow will lose Scotland No.8 Jack Dempsey this summer, but Smith said Ritchie’s arrival would not necessarily mean versatile fellow Scotland back-rower Matt Fagerson spending more time at No.8, where he has started 37 of his 63 Tests for Scotland.

Glasgow have also signed back-rower Ruwald van der Merwe, who can play at No.8, from South African side Pumas.

“I don’t look really at the number on the player’s back,” Smith said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s six, seven, eight. You’ll notice that sometimes from scrums, Jack Dempsey will be on the side and Sione Vailanu will have his head at eight. It doesn’t matter for us much.

“Those roles have changed. I’ve moved away since I came here from having specific numbers on the back, especially in the back row. And that’s why (centre) Stafford (McDowall) can do that job as well.

“For me, a number on the back is just a starting point from set-piece, so what’s expected of all back-rows are exactly the same.”

Smith’s penchant for deploying players in different positions will take another twist on Friday with back-rower Ally Miller starting his first game for the club at lock in their vital URC fixture against Cardiff at Scotstoun.

With Scotland quartet Scott Cummings, Gregor Brown, Max Williamson and Alex Craig all unavailable, and academy lock Ryan Burke suffering a knee injury on his first start against Stormers, Warriors’ second-row resources have been stretched to the limit.

All of Miller’s previous 18 starts, in 46 matches, under Smith have come in the back row but the head coach likened Miller’s skill-set to that of experienced Toulon and France forward Charles Ollivon, who has moved between the second and back rows for club and country this season.

“He’s looked fantastic [in the second row],” Smith said of Miller, who turns 30 on Sunday. “He is a very detailed rugby player and a very good rugby player.

“As we get close to the [play-off] finals, an important part is to find the right ingredients. Ally Miller offers us another line-out option. He moves so well and to have an extra player, an Ollivon-like player that we can put into the second row as well as the back row, is good. I’m excited to see what that extra player – not just with a specific role – will do for us.”

Miller is one of 10 changes, one positional, to the Warriors side that suffered a third straight defeat – 48-12 – against the Stormers in Cape Town last time out, a week after another hefty loss (54-12) to the Lions in Johannesburg.

Those two setbacks, following a home Champions Cup quarter-final defeat by Toulon, have left Glasgow needing victory against Cardiff – who are only five points behind them in sixth place – to shore up a home URC quarter-final in the play-offs, with a tough trip to face Ulster in their final match of the regular season.

Smith has recalled Josh McKay at full-back, Stafford McDowall at centre – Huw Jones is omitted from the 23 – and moved Kyle Rowe to the left wing, with Dan Lancaster taking over from the suspended Adam Hastings at No.10 and a fit-again George Horne back at scrum-half.

Prop Jamie Bhatti and hooker Johnny Matthews come into the front row, with Gregor Hiddleston and Patrick Schickerling rotating to the bench, while fit-again Matt Fagerson and Rory Darge, who missed the South Africa tour to attend the birth of his first child, return in the back row.

Glasgow: 15 J McKay; 14 K Steyn, 13 S McDowall, 12 S Tuipulotu, 11 K Rowe; 10 D Lancaster, 9 G Horne; 1 J Bhatti, 2 J Matthews, 3 Z Fagerson, 4 A Miller, 5 A Samuel, 6 M Fagerson, 7 R Darge, 8 J Dempsey

Reps: 16 G Hiddleston, 17 P Schickerling, 18 S Talakai, 19 J Oguntibeju, 20 M Duncan, 21 S Vailanu, 22 B Afshar, 23 O Smith.