Glasgow Warriors warned against ‘scuffles and verbals’ in quest to burst Munster's bubble

The intense rivalry between the teams has spilled over into acrimony at times but Smith does not want his squad to be distracted from the job in hand and instructed them to ignore any “verbals” from opponents who tend not to be shy in coming forward.

The likes of Peter O'Mahony, Tadhg Beirne and Conor Murray have all been huge players for Munster for a number of years and the first two in particular add an abrasive edge. They are well known to Glasgow’s senior personnel through Scotland-Ireland jousts as well as club matches and such familiarity can sometimes lead to flashpoints but Smith wants his side to concentrate solely on bringing their own undoubted talents to the fore.

“The only way we can win this is by outplaying Munster both sides of the ball, and that means not being influenced by them verbally and to get the niggle out of the game as quick as possible so that we can play the game the way which gives us the best chance,” said the Glasgow coach. “Individual scuffles and individual rivalries are not going to do anybody any good, specifically not in the process that we try to follow.”

Glasgow have already gone further in this season's URC than they did in the first two editions of this trans-hemisphere competition but settling for a semi-final place is not what they’re about.

Munster got the better of Glasgow in last year’s quarter-final at Scotstoun after the hosts had stand-off Tom Jordan red-carded in the 25th minute for a dangerous tackle. Sione Tuipulotu was also sin-binned late on and it’s vital that they retain a full complement this time around. Both will start on Saturday, with Smith picking the same starting XV that beat the Stormers in last weekend’s home quarter-final. The only change is on the bench where Murphy Walker comes is as replacement tighthead for Nathan McBeth who suffered a concussion against the Stormers. Glasgow were impressively disciplined as they overcame the South African side and curbed some of their more cavalier instincts to keep the visitors at arm’s length. They were helped by an off-day for Manie Libbok in front of the posts and the fly-half’s miserable evening contrasted sharply with that of George Horne who knocked over a couple of three-pointers and converted all three of Glasgow’s tries.

The scrum-half will be a key figure again this weekend, with the Warriors likely to take the points if offered rather than kick for the corner which is their preferred option in league games. Knockout rugby tends to focus the mind and Smith knows it’s not the manner of the victory that matters in a semi-final but the final outcome.

This is year two of the Smith project and he says the squad moved on long ago from last season’s loss to Munster in the play-offs.

“We haven’t spoken about last year’s game,” said the coach. “There’s no need to talk about something that went wrong. We learned the lessons straight after that game last year and applied them from day one at the start of this season.

“There’s no need to remind the guys. They know exactly what happened last year and what went wrong. They don’t need any extra motivation. We are focused on what we need to do to win this game, not about what happened in the past. It’s not relevant.”

Munster nullified Glasgow’s driving maul in the 2023 quarter-final but the Warriors got it working again when the sides met in the league in Cork this season. It’s likely to be a key battleground again this time around and in Richie Gray and Scott Cummings Glasgow should have the edge at the lineout. Johnny Matthews, who was this week presented with the URC’s award for top try-scorer of the season, retains his place ahead of Japan-bound George Turner and the Liverpool-born hooker will be looking to be on the end of those lineout drives.

Thomond Park will be jumping for the evening kick-off and ticket sales had already passed the 18,500 mark on Friday. Smith has called for “cool heads” in what is likely to be a febrile atmosphere and asked for his players to “not be intimidated by the surrounding and/or the crowd and things that we cannot control”.

Easier said than done, of course, against a team being roared on by a passionate home support and who are on a winning streak of ten URC games. Smith is a big admirer of Munster in general and O’Mahony in particular but he wants Glasgow to go out and play their own game and not be cowed by what they face on and off the field.

“They have players who have been involved through the years such as Peter O’Mahony,” said Smith. “They set the standard and they demand quality of the players, so again, if we’re going to try and keep them at bay, we will be wrong, because that will be a defensive mindset. We should go out there and go and be us.

“Yes, it’s the second year that this group has been together. If you include the rounds of 16 we’ve played in a lot of play-off games already for a young group that is still on its way somewhere. So if we’re only going to try and measure ourselves against what Munster bring, we’ll fall short. It’s more about how good can we be? And how much will we have to ask the questions to them instead of just having answers for them.”

The prize on offer is a place in the URC final against either the Bulls or Leinster who meet in the first semi at Loftus Versfeld at 3pm. The stadium in Pretoria will host the final if the Bulls prevail but, if Leinster win, the match will be played at Croke Park, the storied Dublin home of GAA. Glasgow can’t stage the final even if they win because they are the lowest ranked team remaining, but Munster would play it at Thomond if they beat the Warriors.

Munster v Glasgow Warriors: URC semi-final, Thomond Park, Limerick, Saturday, 6pm.

Munster: Mike Haley; Shane Daly, Antoine Frisch, Alex Nankivell, Simon Zebo; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman; Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer, Fineen Wycherley, Tadhg Beirne (capt), Peter O'Mahony, John Hodnett, Jack O'Donoghue. Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan, Oli Jager, RG Snyman, Gavin Coombes, Conor Murray, Sean O’Brien, Alex Kendellen.

Glasgow Warriors: Josh McKay; Sebastian Cancelliere, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Steyn (capt); Tom Jordan, George Horne; Jamie Bhatti, Johnny Matthews, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Richie Gray, Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey. Replacements: George Turner, Oli Kebble, Murphy Walker, Max Williamson, Euan Ferrie, Henco Venter, Jamie Dobie, Ross Thompson.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR).