Former Italy head coach and Springbok assistant Franco Smith’s incredible first season at Glasgow Warriors has left him on the cusp of European Cup glory and perhaps more to come.
Smith has had an incredible first season with the Warriors, leading them to their first European Cup final and now has a chance to make more history when the team line up in this weekend’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarterfinals.
Not only did they dismantle Scarlets in Saturday’s EPCR Challenge Cup semifinal to qualify for an epic first season final against French giants Toulon, but they now have home ground advantage as another big challenge awaits - this weekend against Irish powerhouse Munster.
Smith’s influence on the side has been huge, and has seen a team that was struggling last season under Danny Wilson turn around to play some of the best rugby in Europe and play with a confidence that few sides in their league can match.
Loose forwards Jack Dempsey praised his coach for the way he had shaped their thinking and the outlook that led them to the impressive run.
“Since day one when Franco came in, there has been something kind of growing,” the Scottish international said.
“And whether you are an amateur player or a professional player or whatever it is, that is something which hits you.
“Franco has got plaudits for various things, but the biggest thing was building that depth so that there were opportunities for guys like Matt Fagerson and myself to be managed correctly.
“There are no real excuses. We are just rolling now and picking ourselves up week to week. Franco is smart around the training loads as well, and he knows that going into these big games that we are not going to get heaps fitter at this stage of the season by working really hard.
“It is too late for that. At the end of the season, you are either fit or you’re not, so he is managing us well.”
Glasgow’s date with destiny on May 19 means they emulate Scottish rivals Edinburgh in making the Challenge Cup final.
And while Glasgow fans have been celebrating, Smith has been toning down the rhetoric, and making sure that the Warriors know their job isn’t done yet.
But he did acknowledge that it meant a lot to Glasgow.
“It means a lot to them. Everyone is very excited around that,” he smiled.
“But we know there are still a lot of learnings to take from this, a lot of improvement to be made. We have the ability, we have the skillset – we just need to now use the lessons learnt from this week better.
“The talk at halftime was about settling down. Even some of our internationals were just a little bit too nervous, which shows what this means to them.
“They didn’t want to lose tonight, and I thought we started off so well, but we got a little bit jittery. We calmed it down at halftime. The plan didn’t change. The plan was specific for this week and I thought we stuck to that even though Scarlets did extremely well to unsettle us and rattle us.
“Their line-speed from a defence perspective was very good, and we didn’t manage to get out of our half for various reasons, but it was important to show some resilience before the end.
“It’s about managing the emotional intelligence during the game and going into the next big challenge.”
Smith praised his side’s defence as the basis for the win.
"Defence wins finals," Smith said after Glasgow reached their first European final.
"Attack puts you in a position to win it, but it's defence which ultimately wins you trophies. That is the most important thing for us as a collective. I felt the way we were defending was good enough. It took a really big effort from the guys.
"Solving problems in-game and on the field is something we've been working to all season. It's something I've actually challenged the players on.
Smith praised late replacement JP du Preez, who replaced Richie Gray at the last minute after the latter fell ill.
"That's the best I've seen JP play," Smith said. "I've coached him with the Cheetahs, I've seen him play for Sale, and tonight he was fantastic, absolutely excellent in what he did.
"Richie will definitely be available for Munster. It wouldn't have been the right thing to play him. Hopefully next week at home he gets a chance.
"Munster are lurking, so there's still a lot of work for us to do this week."
And while the thought of another two weeks of playoff is all that stands between Smith and another final, it won’t be easy in any way.
For now though, whatever happens, Smith has been a success in Scotland, and has made the rest of the URC sit up and take notice.