Franco Smith counts the cost after bruising URC clash
SPOTLIGHT: Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith has some injury concerns to deal with ahead of his team’s Challenge Cup semifinal against the Scarlets in Llanelli.
The Warriors are coming off a 29-27 win over Connacht in a bruising final-round United Rugby Championship encounter.
Star centre Huw Jones suffered a concussion in the match, while Jamie Dobie and Cole Forbes also suffered knocks.
Sione Tuipulotu, George Turner and Sebastian Cancelliere were among a host of players who missed that match due to injury.
However, according to The Herald (Scotland), those players are expected to be available for either the Challenge Cup semifinal or the URC quarterfinal against Munster a week later.
Jones is probably the biggest concern.
“He hasn’t had problems in the past with head injuries so we’ll see how he progresses during the week,” Smith told the Herald.
“Huw has started the return-to-play process and it’s quite positive for him.
“Jamie Dobie has a knee issue and is being assessed but hopefully it’s not too serious.
“Cole Forbes had a tweaked hamstring.”
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On that URC quarterfinal against Munster, Smith said his team’s win over the Irish giants in Ireland last month will have little bearing on the play-off which will be played at Scotstoun Stadium.
“They came back from a 50-point loss to the Sharks in the Champions Cup to draw with them in the URC on Saturday, so we know they can turn around performances and results,” he said Smith.
“They have quality in their squad, and they know how to play play-off rugby – they’ve been in the play-offs forever.
“So, our result there doesn’t count. It will not even be something that we bring up in our conversations.
“We’ll use some of the video footage from that game, but we know it’s going to be a one-off battle here.”
Source: The Herald (Scotland)
