Why Glasgow Warriors v Bulls feels like a play-off as new signing ruled out until March

Quite a rivalry has grown between the sides in recent years and the fixture has developed into one of the league’s spiciest.

Both teams have title aspirations and while nothing will be settled at Scotstoun, it’s a chance to put down an early marker.

Glasgow’s cause will be strengthened by the return of Jack Dempsey who has not played a competitive game for the club since January 18 due to hamstring and groin injuries but the fixture comes too soon for fellow Scotland forwards Zander Fagerson and Rory Darge.

Beef with the Bulls

The Warriors famously beat the Bulls in their own backyard to win the URC final in 2024 and Glasgow head coach Franco Smith wasn’t shy about bringing it up in his pre-match press call.

Any beef with the Bulls is reciprocated and the South African franchise exacted a measure of revenge last season when they came to Scotstoun and won, a rarity for any visiting team. It was all the sweeter for them because Nigel Carolan, one of Glasgow’s assistant coaches, had warned the Bulls they were coming to “the slaughterhouse”.

Smith felt Glasgow beat themselves that day and is looking forward to renewing rivalries with a club he was linked with in the summer when they decided to part company with experienced coach Jake White. He also thinks both sets of players will be spurred on by the fast-approaching autumn internationals.

“It's on the eve of Test series and I'm sure the players on our team would like to play and prove that they can start in the Test matches that are coming up,” said Smith.

New coach at the helm

“The Bulls want to win on the road, they've got a new coach. They’ve played three finals, lost against us in a final at home and I'm sure that's at the back of their minds. So yes, it's going to have a final-like feeling.”

The Bulls have lost all three URC finals they’ve played which went some way to sealing White’s fate. He has been replaced by Johan Ackermann, the former Springboks lock who served as a consultant during the Junior Boks’ triumph at the World Rugby U20 Championship in the summer, a campaign which included a 73-14 thrashing of Scotland.

Smith detected a little subterfuge from the Bulls this week and was not surprised to see them select most of their Springboks in their 23, including Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, new captain Ruan Nortje, Willie le Roux and Kurt-Lee Arendse.

“I've seen all the tricks in the book before,” smiled Smith. “I realised that they’d probably pick their Springboks and it's just basically [Jan-Hendrik] Wessels and [Wilco] Louw who are not involved [from the Boks squad]. It's a really good team that they've brought over and I'm excited.

Nine-match ban for Bulls hooker

“Most of them would have played in the URC final last year. They've played in three finals already, so they must have a lot of experience.”

It emerged later that hooker Wessels had been handed a nine-match ban for a genital-grabbing incident in last week’s win over Connacht.

Smith, meanwhile, said Dempsey was “very excited” ahead of his return. The No 8 has not played competitively since Scotland’s Six Nations match against Wales in March during which he developed a hamstring problem.

He had a full pre-season and played the first 48 minutes of Glasgow’s friendly match against Northampton Saints on September 12 at Scotstoun. He appeared to come through unscathed but Dempsey injured his groin during the warm-up for the URC opener against the Sharks a fortnight later and was unable to play any part in the match.

“He was so relieved to have heard that it wasn't a long-term injury,” Smith said. “We're excited for him and I hope he can find form quickly.”

Warriors fly-half out until March

The coach was more evasive around Zander Fagerson’s potential return. Gregor Townsend said this week that he hoped the prop would be available for Scotland’s autumn Test against New Zealand on November 8. If that is to be the case, it will be Fagerson’s first for over seven months because he is unlikely to be fit for the autumn opener against the USA the week before.

“He's still a couple of weeks away,” said Smith. “He's still a time away. I'm not sure what his re-entry date would be if he was with us. He's not ready to play this week.”

Smith also said that Charlie Savala, who joined the club in the summer from Northampton Saints, is unlikely to be available until March. The former Edinburgh stand-off arrived at Glasgow with an ACL injury.

Glasgow Warriors v Vodacom Bulls teams

Glasgow Warriors v Vodacom Bulls (URC round 5, Scotstoun, Friday, 7.45)

Glasgow Warriors: Josh McKay; Kyle Steyn (capt), Stafford McDowall, Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Rowe; Adam Hastings, George Horne; Jamie Bhatti, Johnny Matthews, Murphy Walker, Max Williamson, Scott Cummings, Gregor Brown, Matt Fagerson, Jack Dempsey. Replacements: Seb Stephen, Nathan McBeth, Sam Talakai, Alex Samuel, Alex Craig, Euan Ferrie, Ben Afshar, Dan Lancaster.

Bulls: Willie le Roux; Sebastian de Klerk, David Kriel, Harold Vorster, Stravino Jacobs; Keagan Johannes, Embrose Papier; Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, Mornay Smith, Cobus Wiese, Ruan Nortje (capt), Marcell Coetzee, Reinhardt Ludwig, Jeandre Rudolph. Replacements: Juann Else, Etienne Janneke, Francois Klopper, JJ Theron, Nama Xaba, Paul de Wet, Stedman Gans, Kurt-Lee Arendse.

Referee: Craig Evans (WRU).