Glasgow Warriors cite URC anomaly and remain confident of silverware
Coach looking forward to getting back to ‘cold and rain’
Franco Smith remains convinced Glasgow Warriors can still win the United Rugby Championship despite suffering a second heavy defeat in South Africa.
The Scottish tourists went down 48-12 to the Stormers in Cape Town, a result that saw them dislodged from the top spot in the standings with two rounds remaining of the regular season.
The setback follows on from last weekend’s 54-12 loss to the Lions in Johannesburg and means Glasgow have conceded 14 tries and 102 points during their trip to South Africa.
Nothing is won by finishing top of the URC, with the top eight sides going through to the play-off phase and Smith is mindful of his team’s triumph in 2024 when they finished the regular season in fourth place and went on to beat the Bulls in the final in Pretoria.
In the four-year history of the URC no team which finished top of the table has gone on to lift the trophy.
Three defeats in a row in all competitions
Asked if they could still win the silverware, Glasgow coach Smith said: “I've got no doubt, I've got no doubt. I know the Stormers still have to go on tour [to the UK where they will play Ulster and Cardiff]. The Lions must also tour now in the next two weeks [to Ireland to play Leinster and Munster]. So, you never know what happens there.
“And I will also remind myself and then everybody else that the log leaders have never won this competition. So, we never know.”
Nevertheless, it is now three defeats in a row for Glasgow in all competitions, with Toulon having eliminated them from the European Champions Cup a fortnight ago.
They were always chasing the game against the Stormers who led 24-12 at half-time through two tries from Ntuthuko Mchunu, one from Evan Roos and nine points from the boot of their excellent fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Glasgow countered with tries from Ollie Smith and Gregor Hiddleston but the hosts pulled away after the break, scoring 24 unanswered points via tries from Ruan Nel, Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Keke Morabe, all converted by Feinberg-Mngomezulu who added a second penalty.
‘We need the cold and rain’
The Warriors had Jack Dempsey and Adam Hastings yellow-carded while the Stormers had Cobus Reinach sent to the bin in what was a full-blooded affair.
“To come down here was always going to be tough,” said Smith, who said the squad were looking forward to returning to Scotland. They don’t have a game next weekend but host Cardiff at Scotstoun on May 8 then play Ulster away a week later.
“I think we need the cold and rain for a bit,” said Smith. “We haven't seen that for a while. And to sleep in our own beds and maybe see our wives and girlfriends. We are looking forward to getting back to Scotland.
“Again, the South African teams are good teams. You give them half a sniff, they take it away. It's not just about us. I think we weren't allowed to play the way we wanted to play in the last two weeks. Compliments to the South Africans.”
Glasgow picked up two more injuries against the Stormers. Kyle Rowe, the full-back, failed a head injury assessment and Euan Ferrie, the flanker, hurt his shoulder.
“It's to be assessed, but I think Kyle is definitely going to be on a 12-day protocol for an HIA,” said Smith. “Euan was in a sling when I saw him in the changing room, so that's usually not a great thing to see. We'll see. We'll have a better update once I've seen the specialists.
“I think it's the same shoulder [he injured previously]. He obviously had to play today with it, but it's the same one that he had last week.”
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