Franco Smith lays down clear Glasgow Warriors transfer message to Scottish Rugby after another exit

The Glasgow Warriors head coach was hit by a double blow this week when it was announced that Jones and Hastings would be leaving the club at the end of the season to pursue new opportunities in France.

Jones, the British and Irish Lions Test centre, has agreed a move to Toulon while his Scotland team-mate Hastings is to join Montpellier.

Glasgow and Edinburgh are finding it increasingly difficult to hold on to their best talent in the face of big-spending French and English predators and the moves for Jones and Hastings follow the departures last summer of Tom Jordan, Jack Mann, Henco Venter, Jamie Ritchie, Ali Price and Dave Cherry.

Scottish Rugby, under the leadership of performance director David Nucifora, has placed more emphasis on developing native talent and wants the pro clubs to follow suit but Smith thinks there is a case to be made for looking at foreign-born options to replace the experienced Jones and Hastings who between them have won 93 Scotland caps.

“I think all of the players that will play for Scotland at the 2027 World Cup have been identified,” said Smith who believes experienced foreign players can help young Scottish talents develop.

“So 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 straight away. 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.”

Jones will give best for Glasgow

Smith, who led Glasgow to the URC title in 2024, continues to make great strides and deserves his pleas to be listened to.

The loss of Jones is a particularly savage blow given the player's contribution to Glasgow across two spells and his centre partnership with Sione Tuipulotu which has borne fruit for not only the Warriors but also Scotland and the Lions.

“It's a done deal so it doesn't help us lingering on about that,” reasoned Smith. “Huw was an integral part of our squad, and he still is, and he will be until the end. 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. But we must take pride in creating opportunities for people, and in this case we're going to focus on how we can progress from this rather than this pulling us down.”

Smith’s more immediate concern is going for a fourth win in a row in the Investec Champions Cup pool stage when the Warriors play their final group game on Sunday against Saracens at Scotstoun. A bonus-point victory against the three-time European Cup-winners would guarantee Glasgow a top-two ranking in the knockout stage which would give them home advantage up until the final in Bilbao, should they make it that far. It’s a huge incentive and underlines the progress the club are making under the South African coach.

He has made two changes for the Saracens match, with Rory Darge coming into the back-row in place of Euan Ferrie who drops to the bench and Ollie Smith replacing Jamie Dobie on the wing. The latter is taking a well-earned rest after a run of five consecutive 80-minute appearances for Glasgow.

Smith was keen to keep changes to a minimum. “Continuity is important for this current situation where we are, the current competition,” he said.

Having already beaten Sale, Toulouse and Clermont - all with a bonus point - Glasgow are going for a full house in Pool 1 but are wary of a Saracens side who themselves defeated Toulouse last week.

“They will be buzzing after that,” said Smith. “They also know that if they beat us here, they will obviously qualify first as well, and have some home advantage. So I think they will come out all guns blazing.”

Glasgow Warriors v Saracens teams and details

Match details: Investec Champions Cup Pool 1 round 4, Scotstoun, Sunday, 5.30pm

Glasgow Warriors: 15. Kyle Rowe; 14. Kyle Steyn (c), 13. Huw Jones, 12. Sione Tuipulotu, 11. Ollie Smith; 10. Dan Lancaster, 9. George Horne; 1. Patrick Schickerling, 2. Gregor Hiddleston, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Alex Craig, 5. Scott Cummings, 6. Matt Fagerson, 7. Rory Darge, 8. Jack Dempsey. Replacements: 16. Seb Stephen, 17. Rory Sutherland, 18. Sam Talakai, 19. Max Williamson, 20. Gregor Brown, 21. Euan Ferrie, 22. Stafford McDowall, 23. Ben Afshar.

Saracens: 15. Elliot Daly; 14. Max Malins, 13. Lucio Cinti, 12. Owen Farrell, 11. Rotimi Segun; 10. Fergus Burke, 9. Ivan van Zyl; 1. Eroni Mawi, 2. Jamie George, 3. Marcus Street, 4. Maro Itoje (c), 5. Hugh Tizard, 6. Theo McFarland, 7. Juan-Martin Gonzalez, 8. Ben Earl. Replacements: 16. James Hadfield, 17. Rhys Carre, 18. Marco Riccioni, 19. Andy Onyeama-Christie, 20. Tom Willis, 21. Charlie Bracken, 22. Olly Hartley, 23. Noah Caluori.

Referee: Luc Ramos (Fra).