- Glasgow’s South African coach admits his side deserve their celebrations
- It’s Warriors’ first title since their Pro 12 success back in 2015
- Scots side came from behind to beat South Africa’s Bulls 21-16
Franco Smith told his Glasgow Warriors to enjoy the party in Pretoria after they claimed a stunning victory over the Bulls in the Grand Final of the United Rugby Championship.
The Warriors shocked the South Africans by roaring back from a six-point deficit at half-time to win 21-16 in a pulsating encounter.
Tries from Scott Cummings, George Turner and Huw Jones propelled Glasgow to victory, with George Horne successfully converting all three scores.
The result will go down as the greatest in Glasgow’s history, topping their win over Munster in the old Pro12 back in 2015.
It is also a huge testament to Smith as head coach that he has transformed the club from also-rans into champions in the space of just two seasons.
Normally such a reserved character, the South African, who was back on home soil as a former Bulls player in Pretoria, told his squad to lap it up and raise a glass to toast their success.
Warriors celebrate at the final whistle after holding on for a famous win in Pretoria
Head coach Franco Smith has transformed his team from also-rans to champions
‘I did promise the boys that we’ll have a wee dram of whisky and a cigar,’ said Smith. ‘We’ll enjoy it tonight.
‘The players have just drowned me in champagne. They deserve to enjoy it tonight.
‘When I started two years ago, one morning at seven o’clock I rolled out some whiskies for everyone. Just to give them a wee taste of what it would be like to have a wee dram.
‘I told them to savour it and keep it in their minds. One day, when we win something, we can enjoy another one of these with a cigar. I’m so proud of the guys.
‘They have played well, really bought in. The half-time chat was easy. We knew we had a good plan for the second half.
‘We let them [the Bulls] in through our own errors, like last week against Munster. The boys stuck to the script. I’m really proud of them.’
Insisting that the best is yet to come from Glasgow, Smith added: ‘There’s a lot to be said about the hard edge of the European teams and we brought it tonight, especially in the last 10-15 minutes.
‘We defended our line well and applied a lot of pressure to the maul. The boys fronted up to a very strong South African team with 50,000 people behind them. They can be very proud.
‘This team shouldn’t be done after tonight. We’ve got the building blocks to go further still.’
It is Warriors’ first league title since 2015, when the competition was known as the Pro12
Glasgow back-rower Matt Fagerson, who was named man of the match, said: ‘Words cannot describe how we’re feeling right now.
‘It’s something we’ve been working towards all season and to do it in a place as historic as this in front of all these fans is… I can’t put it into words.
‘I think in the last three or four games, we’ve really taken a liking to knockout rugby in a sense of we’re not overplaying the ball, and when you’ve got a kicker like George Horne it makes things so much easier.
‘We went the hard way but we wouldn’t change it for the world.’
Warriors try-scorer Jones, meanwhile, added: ‘I have no words. It’s incredible. What a shift from the boys, that’s such a cliche but I don’t know what to say.
‘This is everything. Coming away to South Africa — we don’t complain about travel. This is a tough place to play regardless.
‘The Bulls were immense. What a game. We had to dig deep in those defensive sets. We pulled through and kept them out.’
