‘We’re going to give it a full go’ – Glasgow Warriors throw down the gauntlet ahead of URC Final against the Bulls

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After notching a shock 17-10 victory in their United Rugby Championship semi-final against defending champions Munster on Saturday, Glasgow Warriors have turned their focus to Saturday’s final with the Bulls.

The Scottish outfit are set to face off with the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria which means that there will be new winners in the competition which as established during the 2021/22 season.

Although Glasgow Warriors have not yet confirmed when they will head off to Pretoria for Saturday’s final, their head coach, Franco Smith, revealed that they are embracing the challenge of going head-to-head with the Bulls despite being underdogs.

The sides met a month ago at Loftus Versfeld during the league phase of the URC and the Warriors put up a brave fight against their hosts, who eventually claimed a narrow 40-34 victory.

Relishing Bulls challenge in Pretoria

Smith said although his players were tired following their heroics against Munster, they are relishing the challenge of taking on the Bulls in their own backyard.

“We watched the first half of the [Bulls versus] Leinster semi-final. It is going to be a good challenge. We didn’t train this hard and work this hard to come up short. We’re going to give it a full go,” he said after Saturday’s win over Munster.

“In this competition, travel forms part of the challenge, but we’re not going to use that as an excuse. We know that it is going to be challenging but we’ve got a plan and we’ll see how we can recover as quickly as possible and get ourselves physically and mentally ready for an important game.

Munster dethroned as Glasgow Warriors set up Bulls clash in United Rugby Championship final

“We will fly out as soon as there is a flight available. We have made plans – flights were kept – but we’ll only be able to confirm that tomorrow morning.”

While there were some outstanding performances from the likes of Zander Fagerson and Tom Jordan, Smith was at pains to emphasise that it was a team effort which set up their victory.

“If I am going to start mentioning individuals I will name the whole team,” he said. “They both stepped up to the plate like they did last week so it’s fantastic to have them doing what they do. But the whole team really stepped up tonight. I include the management, the medical staff.

“TJ [Jordan] is a converted guy. He reminds me a lot of myself when I played. I never knew if I was a 10 or a 12 so that’s maybe why we favour him at the moment. He applies himself physically, he’s a good communicator and I appreciate that he played really well tonight.”

Impressed by young forward duo

Smith was impressed by young forward duo Max Williams and Euan Ferrie’s performances after they came off the replacements bench in the second half and made big contributions, particularly during the game’s latter stages.

“I think Scotland must be excited about that,” he said. “There are a lot of players coming through and that is important for the growth. You mustn’t compromise on results to bring young players through and with grace this year, we got that right.

“Max tonight was brilliant tonight and made some important defensive actions and he did his basics in the set-piece very well. Euan, in the 15 minutes he was on, contributed massively, so yes, that is part of the process to bring players through and not compromise the results.”