Darge full of praise for Warrior Smith

Rory Darge. www.inpho.ie

Scotland star Rory Darge says Franco Smith extending his stay with Glasgow Warriors is great news for the club.

Former Springbok Smith - the man who masterminded the 2024 United Rugby Championship title triumph - had been linked with coaching jobs in England, Wales and his homeland of South Africa.

But, while flattered by the approaches, in the end he opted to make a long-term commitment to Glasgow, signing a new contract through until 2028.

Giving the players’ perspective, flanker Darge said: “It’s great knowing that Franco is staying on and there’s an amount of continuity there with the coaches.

“There have been young boys stepping up, knowing he’s going to be here long term.

"The way Franco goes about giving young guys opportunities, there's competition for places in every position.

“The whole environment at the start of the season has been really positive. I think Franco signing on helps with that. It's exciting times.”

Giving his thoughts on the clamour for his services, head coach Smith said: “It was a compliment for me. I appreciated that people approached me.

“I am grateful to everybody that made contact.

“There were some very good opportunities and they all make one think.

“But a contract offer doesn’t always come to make you think what else is out there; it also makes you think what you’ve got.

“We’ve put the ship on the water now from a club perspective. Maybe it’s good for me to stay a little bit longer on the boat.

“It was making a decision about are we going to continue this journey, trying to leave the club in a better place than I got it. That was the main focus in the off season, thinking about how are we going to progress, what needs to be done.

“When the boys came back in for pre-season, they had to know what the future holds, whether I am leaving or I am staying. If they know I am going to be here, they know what the direction is going to be.

“There is a vision to keep growing the brand. I feel I can still contribute to that and maybe grow my own experience a little bit more.”

Glasgow celebrated Smith staying on board by opening their URC campaign with a 35-19 bonus point victory over the Hollywoodbets Sharks at Scotstoun.

The Player of the Match award went to openside Darge, who scored one of their five tries and had a 100% tackle success rate.

“It was the perfect challenge for us in the first game of the season, going at a quality outfit like the Sharks,” said the 25-year-old.

“It was tough opposition at home, a physical team with lots of attacking threats. We've had a few battles with the Sharks and this was another battle.

"In the first half, we weren't getting the results we wanted - just little detail not quite on it. It was about sticking to what we knew would work and executing it.

“To get five points is a great way to start the season. We know every league point counts

“There was loads of good stuff but loads of stuff to work on.

“That’s game one and, for some of us, there were no pre-season fixtures. It was my first game in a while.

“It feels great to be back. The atmosphere was outstanding and it was a great win.”

Next up for Glasgow is a trip to Italy to take on Benetton Rugby this Saturday.

"Our attention now turns to Treviso, which hasn't been easy for us in recent years,” said Darge.

“If we go there and get a win as well, we'll be in a really good place."

Adding his assessment of the win over the Sharks, Smith said: “I thought there was some really good stuff.

“We wanted to be fast, we wanted to be first.

“I am happy with the way we solved problems and applied ourselves. I was also really happy from a physical application point of view, and there were some good outcomes from a scrum point of view.

“I thought we played really well. Hopefully it’s a good base and we can kick on from this.”

SATURDAY

Benetton v Glasgow Warriors

Stadio Monigo, Treviso – KO 5.30pm IRE & UK/6.30pm ITA & SA

Referee: Ben Connor (WRU, 4th league game)

AR 1: Franco Rosella (FIR) AR 2: Lorenzo Pedezzi (FIR)

TMO: Aled Griffiths (WRU)

Live on: Sky Italia, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv