Listen & yearn
Voice of Rugby’s my success soundtrack
Franco Smith’s try-scoring Springboks debut against Scotland was all the more special for having the ‘Voice of Rugby’ chronicling it.
And Glasgow Warriors’ new head coach admits the late Bill McLaren’s magic on the mic continues to inspire him as he sets about starting at Scotstoun with as big a bang.
Smith, then 25, savoured a score in a record 68-10 win over Scotland in December 1997, his first of nine caps for South Africa.
None of the rest was as special for him as that Murrayf ield match, which he kept a tape of and watched from time to time to hear the Scot’s iconic voice describe his try.
He said: “It was a fantastic period of my career and even more special when Bill McLaren was commentating on it.
“I really enjoyed that game. It was an important part of South African rugby and I’m proud to have been a part of it.
“I scored a try and sometimes when you need a bit of inspiration and you’ve gone through troubled times in your own career, it’s good to look for something to just give you that little bit of a push and motivation again. That was one of the moments I’ll always cherish and remember.
“As a young kid, all the Five Nations games were broadcast in South Africa and it was always good to hear these type of voices on television. To then score a try when Bill was commentating was special.”
Smith came off the bench that day and found himself lining up against Gregor Townsend. It was the start of a friendship between the new Warriors boss and former one, with Toony now in charge of Scotland.
Smith, 50, said: “Gregor and I have competed a lot. He was the flyhalf in that game and since then we’ve followed each other’s career.
“We’ve got friendly over the years at all those events we got to meet each other. We’ve kept in contact.
“I followed him when he was at Glasgow. We have similar styles.
“He has done a great job here in Scotland. I think he brought a very important mindset to what Scottish rugby is about.
“If we have only two franchises, like in Italy, it’s very important to have a brand and a style everybody enjoys and buys into. And he’s done an excellent job in that regard.”
Townsend led Warriors to Pro 12 glory in 2015 before they returned to the final four years later under Dave Rennie, losing out to Leinster.
Times have been tougher since, leading to Danny Wilson’s sacking.
Smith, facing a URC opener away to Benetton on September 16 after coming in from a post as head of high performance for Italy, added: “It’s going to be tough. We talk about Leinster, that’s still this side of the equator. We have four very difficult sides in South Africa we have to go play against. The benefit is I at least know them well. But the competition standard has gone up with the addition of the South Africans.
“It’s going to be tough, I realise that. Therefore a bit of patience from everybody here will be important. We need to make a big step up physically and mentally.”