Franco Smith hails ‘extraordinary’ performance as Glasgow seal knockout berth

Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith praised his players for an “extraordinary” performance as they booked their place in the last 16 of Investec Champions Cup.

Two tries apiece from Huw Jones and Kyle Rowe and another from Josh McKay sealed a convincing 29-5 home victory over Toulon.

Warriors will be away from home when the competition resumes at the start of April and Smith revealed he was always confident they would progress from the pool.

He said: “If you look at the weather conditions, to score five tries with the ball in hand is extraordinary. They (Toulon) didn’t come here just to roll over.

“They defended very well, especially in the first half. This is a very good win for us.

“There are a lot of learnings to take from it but you can never take a European win for granted. I thought the way we built into the game was fantastic. I’m excited to say I was never in doubt that we would qualify for the last 16.”

Jones was named player of the match after being restored to his preferred berth in the centres after filling in on the wing due to an injury crisis in previous matches.

Smith added: “He was brilliant. It was never a case of not wanting to play him in centre. He was fantastic in helping us by playing on the wing. He put the club first which says a lot about the man and what the club means to him. That contribution is well appreciated.

“I’m happy that he and Sione (Tuipulotu) clicked straight away. They’ve been training like this all the time. It was just our injury crisis over Christmas that forced us to play him on the wing. Again his attitude was fantastic.”

Kyle Steyn managed the full 80 minutes on his first appearance since October, putting him in contention for a Scotland place in the Six Nations opener away to Wales.

Smith added: “I thought both Kyles played really well. I was happy to see Kyle Steyn back leading into the Six Nations. To come back and prove to yourself that your fitness levels are alright and that you are back into the swing of things is important.

“We couldn’t play him last week as we felt he needed another week of training but he has done well to play 80 minutes tonight.”