Franco Smith insists the fact Glasgow Warriors have already beaten Stormers at Scotstoun will count for nothing when they visit again next week.

Warriors ended up finishing fourth in the URC table and it means they will take on fifth place Stormers, who beat Lions in the final match of their campaign on Saturday afternoon.

Glasgow defeated the South African side 20-9 in November with Johnny Matthews getting a double and Sione Tuipulotu scoring the other.

They will battle it out for a place in the semi-finals at Scotstoun next Saturday night but Smith insists no matter who they’d have faced in the last eight they’d have to be at their best to qualify for the final four.

It’s been a very competitive URC this season and home advantage will play a huge part in things but Smith is wary of his side getting distracted by the opportunity and not just playing the game.

He said: “It definitely would be. But if you look at the log, the top four is tight and even in the middle part as well. So it doesn’t matter who ends up coming here, we’re going to have to be at our best.

“That confidence and that assertiveness is going to be the main theme this week. We need to make sure that we are not distracted by the opportunity - our focus must be on what we need to do to get to the other side.”

Glasgow lost at this stage last year when they faced Munster at Scotstoun with a 14-5 victory for the Irish side.

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It was a disappointing result but Smith felt that they still played very well in that game and just needed a bit of extra luck to get across the line and things could have been different.

It’s nine years since Glasgow won the Pro12 and they will be chasing it again but they’re going to have to do it without home advantage in the semi-final and final, unless there is some big shocks before that.

He continued: “We played really well against Munster last year. Really well. We just needed the extra pair of hands towards the end. We created opportunities, we had the most running metres, the most linebreaks, the most carries, the most passes in the game - we just needed another pair of hands.

“Munster at that stage were also fighting and holding on for dear life. We’re excited to know that we’ve got an important week ahead, and we’re going to use all the experiences we have gained to make sure that the players are level-headed, calm and confident in their execution.”