Sione Tuipulotu has earned his accolade but Glasgow Warriors face wait to unleash new signing

The Scotland skipper, who had an excellent individual season for club and country across the 2025/26 campaign, returns to the team for Warriors’ first home game of the new URC season on Saturday. Ulster are the visitors to Scotstoun with last season’s beaten semi-finalists looking to make it two wins from two following their opening round victory away to Munster.

Smith praised the growth of Tuipulotu during his time with the club and agreed with the sentiment that he was currently amongst the very elite in his position anywhere on the planet. However, he also added that the 29-year-old is capable of achieving even more with further hard work and dedication.

“There’s still work for him” - Franco Smith outlines how ‘excellent’ Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu can improve

“I agree,” said Smith when asked about Tuipulotu’s reputation as one of the best centres in world rugby. “I think he's excellent, he's grown a lot in the four years that we’ve been together here.

“I’ve got to know him very well and I think he's a good club person and a team man and obviously a good leader. He's grown that in his game, he's slowly but surely proved that he merits the accolades coming his way.

“But there's still work for him and there's still consistency in decision making and a lot of small little things that can contribute to the growth and development to become the best that he can be. So, for now, I think everybody must just allow him to be him and this is from all aspects of the game.

“If it's with the international team or with us, it's just allowing him to be him and he shouldn't be put under more pressure than he currently is. He has got to contribute here at the club, he's got to become the best version of himself here and for me, that is our challenge.”

Tuipulotu did not feature in either of Warriors’ pre-season friendly fixtures, or in their round one win at Munster. The 2025 British & Irish Lion was heavily involved for Scotland over their summer Test matches and returns to club duty rested and ready to go.

“He had a proper break of six weeks and he has had almost a six-week rugby preparation period,” added Smith. “I think he has had a decent recovery like everyone else.

“There is a lot of expectation around everything this year. I want him to manage that by concentrating on the way he plays, what he wants to improve on and how we are going to make him the best version of himself. He is still on a journey and he knows that, so there is no extra pressure, I just want him to get rid of his rust tomorrow and start to add value again.”

‘It’s going to take a bit of time’ - new Glasgow Warriors signing is fit but not quite ready to play in Smith’s system

Also back in the squad is flanker Rory Darge, who takes a spot amongst the replacements, while Kyle Steyn, Zander Fagerson and Jamie Ritchie remain unavailable and Alex Samuel is out until December. New signing Ruwald Van Der Merwe has arrived in Scotland and is training well, but Warriors fans may have to wait before seeing the South African back rower in action.

“He's physically in excellent condition,” explained Smith. “All our S&C guys are really excited about him, but we play a little bit of a different brand than what he was used to.

“I manage expectations as much as players here. So, to make sure that he comes and he fires on all cylinders and contribute the way we know he can, he's got to understand the way we play in the systems at the moment. Our process is not systems like that but the process that we use has got to become second nature to him.

“He's still working on the ‘what’ so that he can then bring his ‘how’ to that component. It's going to take a bit of time, I think. But we will introduce him when the time's right.”

One player who could make his Warriors debut this weekend is academy graduate Callum Reidy. The scrum-half was on the bench for the win over Munster but did not see any action.

“He has worked really hard in the last 16 or 17 months,” said Smith. “He has presented himself in really good form and he merits the opportunity, if the right opportunity occurs.

“Last week when it was tight, you ask yourself ‘is this the right time to introduce a young player?’ Hopefully this week there is a better opportunity.”

Glasgow Warriors team to face Ulster: 1 Patrick Schickerling, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 3 Fin Richardson, 4 Gregor Brown, 5 Max Williamson, 6 Ally Miller, 7 Angus Fraser. 8 Matt Fagerson, 9 George Horne, 10 Dan Lancaster, 11 Jamie Dobie, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 13 Stafford McDowall (captain), 14 Kyle Rowe, 15 Josh McKay. Replacements: 16 Seb Stephen. 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Rory Darge, 21 Macenzzie Duncan, 22 Callum Reidy, 23 Bayley Kuenzle.

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