Glasgow Warriors URC preview: many exits and few new faces but one factor overrides all

The head coach has been more sought after than a Fabergé egg, with Wales, Leicester Tigers and the Bulls all keen on the man who guided Glasgow to United Rugby Championship success in 2024. As if that wasn’t enough, Smith himself revealed that England had also come calling, with an unspecified role at the RFU dangled in front of him.

He rebuffed them all to sign a new contract with Glasgow which runs until 2028.

Smith is many people’s idea of Scotland’s next head coach but the here and now for the South African is trying to regain the title Leinster took from his Warriors side last season.

No-one can say they didn’t deserve it. The Dublin side overpowered everyone in the URC and certainly had the measure of Glasgow, beating them three times in the space of eight weeks to end their interest in both the Champions Cup and the URC.

Prospects for new season

It leaves the rather vexed question of how on earth can the Warriors (and everyone else for that matter) stop Leinster? They seem so far ahead of their rivals, sweeping aside Glasgow in the semis and then the Bulls in the final.

But that doesn’t mean the Warriors aren’t up for the fight. The mantra coming out of Scotstoun is that they are relishing being underdogs again. After a season as champions when they had a big fat target on their backs, they can go back to being disruptors or, in the words of assistant coach Nigel Carolan, “the hunted becomes the hunter”.

Jack Dempsey, their influential No 8, agrees. “We've almost gone back under the radar now as a club,” he said. “Last season everyone was coming here to beat us and every week, we’d go on the road and people were gunning for us as champs

“Now Leinster have gone on and done their thing, we can kind of go back to being naturally what we prefer.”

There’s plenty of new season optimism around Danes Drive and Smith is particularly enthused about the young talent coming through. Whether it will be enough to compensate for the loss of players like Tom Jordan, Jack Mann and Henco Venter remains to be seen.

Who’s new

Glasgow’s recruitment has focused on quality not quantity, with only four new senior players added to the squad. Unfortunately, one has a long-term injury already, with Charlie Savala ruled out until next year with an ACL.

The former Edinburgh fly-half/centre joined from Northampton Saints and was not the only 10-12 hybrid to be signed. Dan Lancaster was also snapped up, from Racing 92, and is keen to push his case for a Scotland call. In the meantime, he’ll battle it out with Adam Hastings for the stand-off role.

In the pack, Alex Craig has joined from Scarlets to strengthen the second row, helping fill the hole left by club great Richie Gray’s move to Japan last season. And hooker Tavi Tuipulotu has signed from NSW Waratahs to join older brother Sione in the west end of Glasgow.

Among the academy recruits are Jack Oliver, son of the late Scotland scrum-half Greig Oliver, who has joined from Munster. He was part of the Ireland Under-20 set-up but was born in Scotland.

Who’s gone

Where do we start? A lot of star quality has walked out the Scotstoun exit including overseas stalwarts Henco Venter, Sebastian Cancelliere and JP du Preez. All three had a big part to play in the 2024 success and their departures caused Smith to butt heads briefly with the top brass at Murrayfield.

The Glasgow coach said the policy was to have fewer foreigners, with more emphasis on developing native talent. Smith insisted the experienced imports played a huge role in the progress of the young Scots.

An uneasy truce has been reached and Smith seems re-energised by the prospect of helping the likes of Jare Oguntibeju, Macenzzie Duncan, Seb Stephen, Fergus Watson, Matthew Urwin, Kerr Johnston and Kerr Yule develop into Warriors regulars and ultimately Scotland players.

Having also lost Jordan and Mann to Bristol and Gloucester respectively, Glasgow will need their young guns to step up.

Key player

Glasgow lost big players at big moments last season and Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Jack Dempsey, Matt Fagerson, Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones and Adam Hastings were all missing for long stretches. But perhaps the biggest loss was that of Sione Tuipulotu whose influence on and off the pitch is huge.

The effervescent centres personifies the Glasgow spirit and should be suitably emboldened by his summer exploits when he became the first Scotland player in 28 years to score a Test try for the British and Irish Lions.

Rising star

It promises to be a big year for Fergus Watson who has spent the summer working on his physique and showed in the pre-season win over Northampton Saints that he can mix it with the game’s heavyweights. A great option on the wing or at full-back for Glasgow.

Points machine

George Horne weighed in with 72 points in the URC last season, 10th best in the league. More significantly he became Glasgow Warriors' all-time top try-scorer in March when he reached the total of 55 with a score against the Lions, overtaking DTH van der Merwe. He scored four more before the season’s end and now stand proudly on 59 at the top of the club’s records list.

In the coaching box

Smith is staying but one of his trusty lieutenants, Pete Murchie, has gone. Glasgow’s defence guru has flown the coop and will take up a new job in Japan. Murchie, who was a big part of the 2024 success, is replaced by Grant Forrest who steps up from working at the Warriors academy. Also joining the team is Roddy Grant, the former Edinburgh player with a strong coaching track record as an assistant at Ulster and a stint in Georgia. Grant’s brief is to work with the forwards with particular focus on contact and breakdown.

Last four URC finishes

2021-22: Quarter-finalists (8th in league, lost 76-14 to Leinster in QF)

2022-23: Quarter-finalists (4th in league, lost 14-5 to Munster in QF)

2023-24: Champions (4th in league, beat Bulls 21-16 in final)

2024-25: Semi-finalists (4th in league, lost 37-19 to Leinster in SF)

Most likely to…

Attract a 30,000-plus crowd to Hampden for the first leg of the 1872 Cup where they will dismantle Edinburgh before losing a dour return match at Murrayfield.

Least likely to…

Invite David Nucifora round for a roll and sausage to discuss the finer points of foreign players helping nurture young Scottish talent.

Prediction

Will finish top of the table in the regular season as Leinster prioritise Europe but are then edged out in a tense final at Murrayfield by the Dublin behemoths who blow it (again) in the Champions Cup and seek salvation in the URC.