URC: Dragons v Glasgow: Warriors cruise to victory as Franco Smith discusses appeal of Wales head coach role

02/16/2025 01:23 PM

Dragons 20

Glasgow Warriors 45

HAMISH STUART @ Rodney Parade

GLASGOW WARRIORS head coach Franco Smith's credentials for the vacant Wales job were on display with this comfortable win, and he admitted afterwards he would be interested in the role.

The seven tries to two  victory strengthened Glasgow's hold on second place in the URC, while a man-of-the-match performance from No 8 Jack Mann will have boosted his hopes as he headed off to join the rest of the Scotland squad in Spain ahead of next Saturday’s Six Nations round three match against England at Twickenham.

"I think most coaches in the world work to do a national job, I have been involved with Italy before and a stint in South Africa as an assistant coach, so I have had experience of it," Smith said after the game. "Everyone would want to coach internationally again, but for now I am focused on Glasgow Warriors.

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"There are good players in Wales, some of the actions we saw from the Dragons tonight are good quality, I think there is work to be done and a road to follow but there are enough positives to be taken for Wales.

"[Warren] Gatland did a great job for many years, so I hope they find the positives. Italy was in the same position when I took over as Wales are now, they had a big turnover of players and I was brave enough to pick the young players to get them going.

"It was a good challenge for me, I learned from it, that is a skill that I have developed and a pressure I have had.

"Wales has got so much passion for the game, there are a lot of good ingredients in Welsh rugby to find their feet again. I don't think everything is lost, maybe now is another opportunity for them to bounce back."

The admission that he would listen if Wales came calling was after Welsh rugby fans had a first hand look at what a Smith-coached team can do.

Despite the absent internationals and a spirited opening from the Dragons, a mix-and-match side was totally dominant for most of the match, with young players to the fore and with an exhilarating style of rugby.

The changes meant a slow start as they went 10-0 down early on, but the beauty of Glasgow's game-plan is that they do not really need a foothold in the game to strike.

Sebastien Cancellierre was typically dangerous down the right and his kick through resulted in replacement hooker Johnny Matthews showing his eye for the line to get the first try.

A forward effort saw Mann show his Scotland squad credentials with the try, before a Fin Richardson break from the kick off led to a George Horne try.

Skipper Duncan Weir got the bonus point score after Mann and Cancelliere had done the hard work.

Glasgow opened up strongly in the second half, replacement prop Nathan McBeth and Horne the scorers from close range, while Cancelliere added the seventh before the close.

In a week when Smith's name has been all over the sports pages in Wales, this performance will have only added to his prominence on any list of prospective Wales coaches.

Teams –

Dragons: H Anderson; R Dyer, H Wilson, A Owen (capt), J Rosser (S Williams 56); L Evans (W Reed 66), D Blacker (C Hope 56); J Reynolds (R Jones 40), J Benjamin (B Coghlan 25), C Coleman (P Latu 61), J Davies (B Langton-Cryer 47), G Nott, R Woodman, G Young S Lewis-Hughes (E Minto 47).

Glasgow Warriors: J McKay (K Johnston 53); S Cancelliere, O Smith, D Munn, F Cordero (G Horne 53-64); D Weir (Capt), G Horne (B Afshar 49); J Bhatti (N McBeth 40), G Stewart (J Matthews 13), F Richardson (P Schickerling 40), J Oguntibeju (A Miller 49), A Samuel, E Ferrie, H Venter, J Mann (M Duncan 64).

Referee: Peter Martin (IRFU).

Scorers –

Dragons: Try: Benjamin, Lewis-Hughes; Cons: Evans 2; Pens: Evans 2.

Glasgow Warriors: Tries; Matthews, Mann, Horne 2, Weir, McBeth, Cancelliere; Cons; Weir 5.

Scoring sequence (Dragons first): 3-0; 8-0; 10-0′ 10-5; 10-7; 13-7; 13-12; 13-17; 13-22; 13-24; 18-24; 20-24 (h-t) 20-29; 20-31; 20-36; 20-38; 20-43; 20-45.

Yellow cards –

Dragons: Blacker (37 mins)

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