Franco Smith backs 'new heroes' to emerge as Glasgow Warriors unfazed by Toulon’s scrum-half superstars

Step forward, Ben Afshar who has been thrust into the limelight for Saturday’s quarter-final against Toulon at Scotstoun. With George Horne and Jamie Dobie ruled out through injury it is Afshar who will be at scrum-half against the French side who have a storied history in this competition.

The Warriors No 9 signed a new contract this week, a further show of faith in the Edinburgh-born 23-year-old who came off the bench for the ailing Horne after half an hour of last weekend’s last-16 tie against the Bulls and played with a maturity which belied his relative inexperience.

Afshar has played just 35 games for Glasgow, starting 10 of them, but Smith trusts him and replacement scrum-half Jack Oliver to stand up against the three-time winners.

A clever decision

“I think we've made a clever decision to trust the boys that we've got,” said Smith, who confirmed that Horne’s ankle injury is not too serious and that he would be part of the Glasgow touring squad which heads to South Africa next week for URC games against the Lions and Stormers.

“I think both Ben and Jack have proven over the last six, seven months that they are ready to take that baton, and I'm very excited about that.

“To play in a quarter-final for these boys, it's obviously the next ingredient, as it is for Dan Lancaster [who will start at 10 against Toulon]. To get this experience, to play in play-offs, where it's obviously a different atmosphere and pressure, it's an experience that they will take forward in their career.

“So we're really excited. Honestly, I've got all the confidence in the world. Jack has been pushing hard for a starting berth as well, so both of them have made this big step up. And yes, I think I'm excited to see the progression. It will lead to some new heroes, hopefully, that can take the baton.”

The contrast with Toulon in that particular position is sharp. The French side have selected Scotland’s first-choice scrum-half Ben White to start the match, with France international Baptiste Serin on the bench. Smith is not fazed by the differences in experience between his nines and Toulon’s and played down the sense that they were in direct competition.

Smith’s great strength

“Scrum-halves don't obviously play each other,” he said. “They hardly tackle each other. That happens maybe once in a game, if that. It's more about how those players deal with the challenges and the pressures that I think influences the game. Experience, I think, will not come into the conversation.”

Outwardly at least, Smith is saying all the right things but there is no denying that both White and Serin are hugely influential players for Toulon. To put it in perspective, the youthful Oliver has played just 59 minutes of competitive rugby for Glasgow in five appearances off the bench while his Toulon counterpart, Serin, recently won his 50th cap for France.

Among Smith’s great strengths, and one of the chief reasons why he is such an outstanding coach, is his ability to imbue his young players with the confidence they can compete at these exalted levels. Knockout rugby is an unforgiving environment but Glasgow tend to find a way to win under Smith, particularly when they play at Scotstoun.

Continuity is key for the coach this week and, aside from the enforced alteration at scrum-half, he has made only one other change to his starting side. It’s in the second row, where Jare Oguntibeju takes over from Max Williamson who drops to the bench in a reversal of the roles the pair had against the Bulls.

“I think Jare is fresh and he's eager to contribute,” said Smith, also noting that, “to have some firepower from the bench will be important for us.”

Oguntibeju, who will partner Alex Samuel against Toulon, came late to rugby but has been a fast learner under Smith who revealed that the player had to work hard to overcome a physical issue which affected his scrumming ability.

Hurt toe after kicking pavement

“When he came in here two years ago, he basically couldn't bend his toe,” said Smith. “After an incident as a young boy, he kicked it into the sidewalk and he didn't rehabilitate it.

“That toe remained stiff, so it was tough for him to scrum off that. He scrummed off the side of his foot. To get that mobility going and to move better took a lot of diligent work from himself and our medical team.

“There was pain sometimes, especially at scrum time, but now he's pushing off that toe and he's progressed so well, he's running freely. He's slowly but surely becoming an athlete. He also is somebody that - like Ben Afshar - has got all the potential to step up and to look for more responsibility, and in games like this, they will learn and experience and it will help their development.”

Smith feels his side can produce better than they did in last week’s win over the Bulls but he refused to entertain the notion that Toulon were a team in trouble despite their fall to 11th place in the Top 14. They remain a real threat in Smith’s eyes and he also referenced Toulon’s win over Glasgow in the 2023 European Challenge Cup final.

“I think anybody that plays now in a quarter-final of a competition is dangerous. This is another team that's going to come here and try and upset everything. I think they would have had in their mind what they did to us the last time we played in a final against each other. They'll take motivation from that.”

Glasgow have come a long way since that heavy defeat in Dublin three years ago and should have enough to beat the French visitors and set up a mouthwatering Murrayfield semi against Leinster or Sale.

How they’ll line up at Scotstoun

Glasgow Warriors: 15. Josh McKay; 14. Kyle Steyn (c), 13. Stafford McDowall, 12. Sione Tuipulotu, 11. Ollie Smith; 10. Dan Lancaster, 9. Ben Afshar; 1. Patrick Schickerling, 2. Gregor Hiddleston, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Olujare Oguntibeju, 5. Alex Samuel, 6. Matt Fagerson, 7. Rory Darge, 8. Jack Dempsey. Replacements: 16. Seb Stephen, 17. Jamie Bhatti, 18. Sam Talakai, 19. Max Williamson, 20. Euan Ferrie, 21. Angus Fraser, 22. Jack Oliver, 23. Adam Hastings.

RC Toulon: 15. Melvyn Jaminet; 14. Gaël Drean, 13. Nacho Brex, 12. Jérémy Sinzelle, 11. Setariki Tuicuvu; 10. Tomas Albornoz, 9. Ben White; 1. Jean-Baptiste Gros, 2. Teddy Baubigny, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Corentin Mezou, 5. David Ribbans (c), 6. Junior Kpoku, 7. Charles Ollivon, 8. Mikheil Shioshvili. Replacements: 16. Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17. Daniel Brennan, 18. Beka Gigashvili, 19. Matthias Halagahu, 20. Zach Mercer, 21. Baptiste Serin, 22. Esteban Abadie, 23. Mathis Ferte.

Referee: Karl Dickson (Eng).