We’ve turned the page on Dublin fiasco
Smith: Warriors upbeat for Leinster return
THE climax to last season proved to be so disastrous for Glasgow Warriors that Franco Smith was always going to draw a line under matters and seek to start afresh when he took the job as head coach.
Prior to his arrival in the summer, Glasgow had just been thrashed 76-14 by Leinster in the quarterfinals of the United Rugby Championship.
It was a humiliation which ultimately cost Danny Wilson his job, with Smith’s predecessor sacked after a run of results the club described as ‘not acceptable’.
Smith is right, then, to distance himself from that debacle in Dublin given that it predated his time in charge of the Warriors.
But it might be more difficult for the players to shrug it off quite so easily. They return to the scene of the crime today undoubtedly with a point to prove.
Leinster have once again started the season in imperious form, winning all seven of their opening games to sit top of the URC table.
But Smith insists his Glasgow players are eager to give a far better account of themselves at the RDS Arena.
The South African is confident the squad have turned a page and won’t suffer any psychological scars from that mauling in June.
Asked if the players are keen to set the record straight, he said: ‘Yeah, I’m sure that goes without saying. I think that was the motivation during pre-season for these guys.
‘We specifically didn’t refer to that game this week. We’re trying to write our own story now. This is a new book — we’ve turned the page on that period.
‘It’s going to be a different theme out there. We don’t want to carry the burden of that game with us.
‘We’ve turned that page, we’ve used that motivation — the players know that without me saying.
‘So I hope there’s enough motivation taken out of that individually to make it a good collective performance.’
Glasgow’s away form has been a long-standing issue, something which became a mental block as much as anything else last season.
They were guilty of blowing leads in games on a number of occasions, before then capitulating altogether in the season finale against Leinster.
Smith admitted it’s something they really need to address if they are to make progress over the new campaign.
He said: ‘This is a massive challenge, but it’s good for everybody in the squad to measure ourselves against Leinster.
‘The away form is the elephant in the room that we don’t want to talk about, but we know we need to work on our performance away from home.
‘The challenge this week is to repeat the quality of the games here at Scotstoun. Can we take it on the road?
‘We’ve come through a growth process. All teams that start with a new coaching structure, a new direction, always find their way in the beginning.
‘Our theme was let’s find our way quickly, and now it’s time to be tough together.’
He added: ‘We’re going there with less expectation. It’s a game that Leinster should win on paper. We’re going to try and be the best we can be, and that is the message to the players.’ Smith has rested the majority of his Scotland stars following their involvement in the Autumn Nations Series. The likes of Ali Price, the Fagerson brothers — Matt and Zander — along with Sione Tuipulotu sit this one out, while Richie Gray is suspended following an incident in Scotland’s match against the All Blacks earlier this month.
Smith insisted, however, that it was his decision and his hand wasn’t forced by any SRU protocols around player-rest periods.
Insisting that he could have played the Scotland contingent had he wanted, he said: ‘It was not enforced. This is by choice.
‘Scotland did not ask me not to play them. We have an important vision at this club, that we want to be competitive consistently, not just in one or two games.
‘The players we have picked this week are the players who have been training with us the whole time, they haven’t been in a different environment.
‘They come in here and know exactly what we want. It is the best chance to make the step up in a very important game for us. I feel it is the best team we can put out right now for what we need.
‘If I was an average coach and just looking through a small microscope, I probably could have (picked Scotland players).
‘But for now, if we want to have success continuously over the next ten weeks, it is important that we manage every player properly.’