Franco Smith admits Leinster are favourites to reach the United Rugby Championship (URC) final and he isn’t paying any attention to the media noise around the Irish giants.
Glasgow travel to the Aviva Stadium for the third time in two months for a mouthwatering semi-final on Saturday afternoon and Smith accepts that Leinster are favourites.
But the Dubliners have been under intense scrutiny across the last few weeks after a shock defeat at home to Northampton in the semi-final of the Champions Cup.
Leinster’s inability to lift major silverware has led to accusations in Ireland over their mentality and whether they are ‘bottlers’.
Smith, however, holds Leinster in the highest regard and he has refused to read the current questioning of their credentials in the Irish media.
Asked about question marks over Leinster's ‘bottle’, Smith replied: “We absolutely ignore all of that. It's got nothing to do with what's going to happen between the teams there. I realise there’s a lot of talk. If they read it, it's up to them.
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“We expect a team that gave us 50 points earlier this season.
“I'm not going to be lured into any trap regarding that. I know that they would like to perform well, so we expect everything from them.
“I don't want to call us the underdogs. I think they're the favourites. They've been playing well the whole season. We all know what it would mean to them to end at the top of this competition. They've got such a good side. They've got a good budget, a good academy system.
“They've been on top of the game for eight, nine years. We know that they're the favourites. We're just going to go out there and give ourselves the best chance.”
Smith, however, admitted that Glasgow have analysed Leinster’s recent home defeat to Northampton for clues.
The 52-year-old added: “Look, I know Leinster would know that we've also taken notice of it. Yes, we looked at it, but it's already three or four weeks down the line.
“We're very much more focused on our own continuance of what we've seen last week. We did obviously use that in some of our prep, but it was not the main focus at all.”
During his three-year tenure at Scotstoun, Smith has become synonymous with throwing in a surprise selection call and it’s no different this weekend.
Adam Hastings will come in at fly-half with Tom Jordan moving to inside centre and Sione Tuipulotu to outside centre. Leinster are missing several key players, including their two first choice options in the midfield, but Smith insists he had no insight.
“Obviously, we didn't know their team at the start of the week, so it wasn't intentionally done that way,” Smith said.
“I think they've got good enough quality. You've got Jordie Barrett on the other side. Jamie Osborne has played and is tried and tested. I don't think they've got a lack of depth in that part of the game.
“In a final like this, yes, small margins are important, but they've got quality players. They've got depth. They've shown that the whole season by beating everybody else as well with a second group of players. No, I don't think they are weakened at all.”
On starting Hastings, Smith added: “Obviously, the game is all about strategy and tactics as well, so, without giving too much away, I think it's an opportunity for Adam to add value. He's got a different skillset than Tom.
“It just balances a different approach when we play away from home. Maybe this week the challenge that Leinster offers is different. For us, it keeps refreshing it and bringing some energy and that's going to be even more important.”
The other change for Glasgow from the impressive win over the Stormers is Fin Richardson coming in for Murphy Walker.
Smith explained: “Murphy had a bit of an issue at the back end of the game last week which is unfortunate. It's not serious, but we have Fin recovered from his thumb injury.
“He played really well the last time against Leinster and scrummed well against Andrew Porter in the previous game so he merited the opportunity. That is the reason. We have a fit, ready player that's played already in that game and understands what the threat is. Murphy hasn't had much time in the saddle. He played the game last week because of the necessity that Fin wasn't ready to play that game. He stepped up well and did well.
“He carried a bit of an injury at the back end of the start of the week and I just made a call early in the week and said, ‘look, we've got somebody fresh bringing some more energy’. He understands that. It's not due to a lack of his ability. It's just for where we are this season and this game's importance that we've made the decision early in the week.”
