Glasgow Warriors have established a reputation for a number of different things since Franco Smith arrived as head coach in 2022.
They have become a byword for thrilling, attacking rugby, always looking to get the ball into the hands of their backs and cutting rival defences to ribbons as they pour forward at speed to devastating effect.
Smith has also successfully juggled the traditionally near impossible task of producing a team that wins consistently while also simultaneously growing genuine squad depth by gradually introducing burgeoning talent from the club’s academy into the first-team fray. That many of the youngsters bled on his watch have gone on to become full Scotland internationals serves as another feather in Smith’s cap.
One other trait that Glasgow have been accused of fostering is not as positive, however. Recent comments from across the Irish Sea have accused the URC league leaders and Champions Cup second seeds of becoming unsporting gloaters and bad winners, with fingers being pointed that their players, and even some coaches, don’t always operate fully within the spirit of the game.
The complaints arose largely off the back of Glasgow’s recent win over old foes Leinster at Scotstoun. It was another attritional affair, with the defending URC champions having two players yellow carded late in the first half. Warriors took advantage of the extra men by running in four tries to secure the bonus point before half-time.
Leinster came back at them in the second half, however, until George Horne crossed in the corner for his second try late in the match to underline a hard-fought victory.
Adam Hastings was shown a yellow card for his antics in the victory over Leinster
Glasgow at that point could contain their glee no longer. Adam Hastings made an instant beeline over to rival fly-half, Sam Prendergast, to patronisingly rub his head. The Ireland international, naturally, took exception and soon players from both sides were piling in for a bout of pushing and shoving.
Leinster’s Rabah Slimani and Hastings were both shown yellow cards, the latter meandering slowly off the pitch with a massive smile on his face while waving to the cheering Scotstoun crowd as if he had just scored a match-winning try.
Duncan Weir, the former Glasgow No. 10 who joined the coaching staff in recent months, was also pictured jabbing an accusatory finger in Prendergast’s direction.
It was more pantomime than serious drama but it enraged the Irish, most notably former British and Irish Lions forward Donncha O’Callaghan who unleashed an almighty tirade on a podcast in which he said he had been ‘sickened’ by Glasgow’s antics.
‘There’s something I’m starting to like about Scotland but that’s definitely not the case for Glasgow, I couldn’t believe the way they conducted themselves,’ he added. ‘Honestly, I just think they’re an awful shower of p****s’. Blimey. Say what you really mean, Donncha.
The irony, of course, is that O’Callaghan is one name on a very long list of Ireland internationals, past and present, who have never been slow to lean on gamesmanship and similar underhand tactics to rub their rivals’ faces in it when they thought the occasion merited it.
If anything, there’s an argument that the dark arts are something that most Scottish sides have struggled to master over the years, our players too polite and law-abiding to go down a path that most rivals are more than happy to tread.
This Glasgow squad certainly don’t deserve a reputation as troublemakers given it’s a side of their game that has been noticeably less prevalent since Ryan Wilson, a notorious wind-up merchant who loved having a bit of sport with the opposition, hung up his boots a few years ago. Warriors, in fact, sit top of the URC disciplinary charts with just four yellow cards to their name all season.
Smith is a pragmatist, a meticulous planner who leaves nothing to chance, and knows that there is little to be gained from his players being distracted from the task in hand by a desire to cause trouble.
Harbouring vendettas and looking to settle scores tend to have a habit of coming back to bite you further down the line. As O’Callaghan noted, there is every chance that Glasgow and Leinster could meet again in the playoffs and the recent gloating won’t have been forgotten when that day arrives. ‘I see that coming around,’ he added. ‘With all that hurt, I think Leinster could absolutely bop them.’
Little wonder, then, that Glasgow have been quick to extinguish the flames before they threaten to engulf their season. Their attack coach, Nigel Carolan, himself an Irishman forever with a glint in his eye and a history of winding teams up – and more on that to follow – offered up a furrowed brow and a serious tone when asked for his thoughts on the conclusion to that Leinster match.
‘It’s not something we encourage or condone either,’ he said. ‘We don’t want to have to descend into chaos every time we score or they score. It’s not about pushing and shoving but just making it as uncomfortable for the opposition when they come here.
Warriors have impressed this season and are contending in Europe and in the URC
‘Maybe when a few of the staff start to get involved as well, it goes over the edge. We’ll try and refrain from that if we can. At the same time, it’s important that we celebrate the small wins, no matter who we play against. If we can do that within the lines of respectfulness, then it’s a good thing.’
Defence coach Scott Forrest struck a similarly contrite note, revealing that Smith had made it clear to his players that s***housery and other nonsense wouldn’t be a part of the team’s strategy heading into the business end of the campaign.
‘Franco has addressed that within the group, that we don’t really want to be seen like that,’ he said. ‘We want to be confrontational. We want teams to respect and fear us when they play us. But you don’t want it to boil over.
‘When you’re scoring tries, that’s probably not the time where you want to rub it in anyone’s faces. So, hair ruffling is definitely out. We want to be respectful while at the same time showing everyone how tough it is to come to Scotstoun and play rugby.’
That quest to maintain aggression and purpose without straying into the territory of unsporting behaviour will be tested thoroughly this weekend. For if there is one team outside of the Irish provinces that Glasgow has had the most recent beef with it’s the Bulls.
The South Africans are back at Scotstoun for the third time in the space of 12 months, this time with a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup at stake.
The genesis of this rivalry goes back to June 2024 when the unfancied Warriors travelled to Pretoria and defeated the Bulls on their home patch to win the URC Grand Final. A picture soon went viral of Glasgow prop Jamie Bhatti clutching his winner’s medal and pointing and laughing at a sign meant to intimidate the opposition inside Loftus Versfeld that read: ‘Altitude. 1350m. It matters.’
The pain of that loss fuelled the Bulls for the entirety of the following season. Their director of rugby at that time, Jake White, said the rematch with Glasgow in April 2025 was a date they had circled on their calendars as soon as the fixtures came out.
Maccenzzie Duncan of Glasgow Warriors and Rieko Ioane of Leinster go head to head
Carolan helped whip things up a bit, too, insisting their rivals would be arriving in Scotland motivated by a vendetta, colourfully adding that these ‘snorting’ Bulls would be ‘coming to the slaughterhouse’ at Scotstoun.
Those comments just got White’s back up even more, describing Carolan’s take as ‘nonsense’ before adding: ‘I don’t know who he is. I’ve never met the man. I’ve got no idea why he would say that.’ It was all good knockabout stuff.
The Bulls did get their revenge in the end, winning 26-19, only to lose again in the Grand Final two months later, this time to Leinster. A year on and Warriors haven’t been beaten at Scotstoun since, although the Bulls did run them close in another league meeting in October before going down 21-12.
In the Champions Cup, however, the two teams’ journeys to this point couldn’t have been more disparate. Glasgow have been imperious, topping Pool 1 with bonus-point victories over Sale Sharks, Toulouse, Clermont and Saracens, sending a message all around Europe that they deserve to be viewed as serious trophy contenders.
The Bulls, in contrast, scraped through, beaten at home by Bordeaux Begles and Bristol Bears, losing away to Northampton Saints and needing a late try to defeat Pau in the final match and book their place in the last 16.
Glasgow, as second seeds, will start as strong favourites to progress at home but know that the Bulls have what it takes to get under their skin. How the Warriors players respond – or don’t respond – to any provocation should be just as fascinating as the match itself.
