Glasgow Warriors give update on Scotland star's status after 48-minute cameo in friendly

The Scotland No 8 has not played since the Six Nations win over Wales on March 8 due to a hamstring injury but came through unscathed on Friday night as Glasgow beat Northampton Saints 40-31 in a pre-season match at Scotstoun.

Dempsey, who played the first 48 minutes before being replaced by Angus Fraser, came through unscathed as the Warriors outscored the English visitors by six tries to five.

“He looks good, he looks sharp, he looks fit,” Franco said of the back-row forward. “The thing that he was worried most about was to get back to full acceleration, so compliments to the medical staff and the strength and conditioning team.

“Obviously, his contribution was good and, from a rugby conditioning perspective, it was easy to work with him in the last month.”

Glasgow’s tries came from Dan Lancaster, Jack Oliver, Gregor Hiddleston (two), Johnny Matthews and Josh McKay. Lancaster added four conversions and Matthew Urwin one.

Smith was pleased with the contribution of the younger players, with the likes of Fergus Watson, Kerr Johnston, Kerr Yule and Macenzzie Duncan all showing up well. Watson, the Scotland Under-20 winger or full-back, was particularly impressive and was named player of the match.

“The young boys, they're very coachable and weren’t fazed by the first 15 minutes [when Northampton were on top] and we clawed our way back. It's easy to go into your shell when you play a team of the stature and the way they start, physically dominant in the scrum and there was dominance from an attacking perspective, so you end up giving it two tries away and it becomes a long evening.

“These boys have worked hard in the pre-season and tonight they showed their character. We won't win all the games, but we'll fight in every game and I think they showed that.”

Glasgow lost Ben Afshar after only five minutes. The scrum-half had to go off for a head injury and failed his HIA. Smith said he would be sidelined for "12 days minimum".