Glasgow's Franco Smith weighs in on rumoured revamp of Champions Cup

Glasgow head coach Franco Smith believes a proposed ‘elitist’ revamp of the European Champions Cup would have an adverse effect on the ability of URC clubs with smaller budgets to compete with the major French sides.

An English proposal to refresh a tournament that drew criticism for some one-sided group games in recent seasons gained traction this week when the body representing France’s Top 14 clubs publicly backed reducing the number of teams.

Yann Roubert, the president of the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR), said officials were looking at ways to make the tournament “maybe a bit more selective, elitist”, with reports suggesting a move from 24 teams to 16 – potentially five each from the English PREM, Top 14 and URC, plus the previous year’s winner.

While acknowledging that less teams may bring a higher level of competition at an earlier stage, Smith – whose side went out in the quarter-finals in each of the past two seasons – said he found it “strange” officials were considering a change.

“The competition structure must be worthwhile and must deliver the best product – that is why it is the Champions Cup,” he said. “The product will obviously be challenged to become even better.

“I think the challenge will also be for clubs with lesser budgets to maintain the quality of the groups [squads] they have if they want to compete in that competition. There is a lot of extra income involved if you are part of the Champions Cup that allows you to carry a different squad during the season.

“That might have an influence on that, but I think it might enhance the product. You will get early competition that is even more elevated than it is now. But I think the Champions Cup as it is now – and for that matter, the European Challenge Cup – has got such a good competition feel to it that it will be strange for me if they want to tinker with the current product.

“I suppose it is all about opportunity for me. I think the stronger teams, the strongest teams financially in the competition, whether that be the French or whoever, will have a benefit if there are less teams – from a commercial value first.

“Obviously you fill out stadiums if you have Toulouse etc come and play at Scotstoun. The URC clubs will be at risk in the long term of having smaller budgets because of the quality of the European Cup games, or the lack of financial ability to compete in the European Cup might lead to lesser URC teams playing in it and it might lead to smaller budgets being retained.”

Glasgow open their Champions Cup campaign in a fortnight with a trip to face Sale Sharks, the same opening fixture as last season when a 26-21 away victory sparked a 100 per cent pool record with subsequent bonus-point wins over Toulouse, Clermont and Saracens.

That opened a potential home route to the final but after beating the Bulls in the last 16, Warriors came unstuck against French side Toulon at Scotstoun in the quarter-finals.

If they are to go further in the competition this season, it is likely Sione Tuipulotu will be at the heart of it. The Scotland captain plays his first game of the season in Saturday’s URC fixture against Ulster, the start of what could be a big 12 months for a player likely to lead his country to the 2027 World Cup in his native Australia.

Smith said Tuipulotu, who played 31 matches for club and country last season on the back of the 2025 Lions tour, had “a proper break” of six weeks after Scotland’s Nations Championship game against South Africa in July and a further “six-week rugby preparation period” before resuming frontline duties.

“I think he has had a decent recovery like everyone else,” Smith said. “There is a lot of expectation around everything this year. I want him to manage that by concentrating on the way he plays, what he wants to improve on and how we are going to make him the best version of himself.

“He is on a journey still and he knows that. There is no extra pressure. I just want him to get rid of his rust tomorrow and start to add value again.”

Smith believes Tuipulotu, 29, deserves to be recognised as one of the world’s best centres but that he still has room for improvement in his game.

“I agree, I think he’s excellent,” he added. “He’s grown a lot in the four years that we’ve been together here. I’ve got to know him very well and he’s a good club person and a team man and obviously a good leader. And he’s grown that in his game. He’s slowly but surely proved that he merits the accolades coming his way.

“But there’s still work for him and still consistency in decision-making and a lot of small things that can contribute to his growth and development to become the best he can be.

“If it’s with the international team or with us, it’s just allowing him to be him. He shouldn’t be put under more pressure than he currently is. He has got to contribute here at the club and become the best version of himself here. That is our challenge at the moment – how can we still improve and make his decision-making and his regular playing ability even more consistent?”

While one of Glasgow’s summer signings, versatile Australian back Bayley Kuenzle, made his debut off the bench in last week’s opening win against Munster, Smith said it might be a while before South African No.8 Ruwald van der Merwe, recently arrived after helping the Pumas reach the Currie Cup final, is involved.

“He’s physically in excellent condition,” Smith reported. “All our S&C guys are really excited about him. But we play a little bit of a different brand than what he was used to. I manage expectation as much as players here, so to make sure he comes and fires on all cylinders and contributes the way we know he can, he’s got to understand the way we play in our systems at the moment.

“The process that we use has got to become second nature to him. So he’s still working on the ‘what’, so that he can then bring his ‘how’ to that component. It’s going to take a bit of time, I think, but we will introduce him when the time’s right.”