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Premiership giants plotting to lure Franco Smith away from URC champs

Franco Smith, the Glasgow Warriors head coach, looks on during the Investec Champions Cup Round Of 16 match between Harlequins and Glasgow Warriors at The Stoop on April 05, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Glasgow Warriors boss Franco Smith has emerged as a shock contender to replace Michael Cheika if he leaves Leicester Tigers when his one-year contract runs out at the end of this season.

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Former jeans tycoon Cheika, who made millions in the fashion industry, has not agreed to extend his deal with the Welford Road outfit. In a sign that they are not expecting him to stay, they have been actively seeking a replacement.

The 57-year-old ex-Wallaby and Argentina boss is widely tipped to return to Australia, where his family is based, and wait for an opening in the NRL, where he has previously expressed an interest in working.

RugbyPass broke the news two weeks ago that Tigers legend Graham Rowntree, who has been out of work since leaving Munster last October, has been interviewed by his former club.

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However, it has now emerged that an approach is being considered for former Springbok fly-half Smith, who is under contract to the Scotstoun outfit until 2026 after doing an eye-catching job.

Since taking over from Danny Wilson in 2022, the former Italy boss has led Glasgow to a European Challenge Cup final defeat to Toulon and then, in June, their first United Rugby Championship title since 2015 after beating Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.

Smith, 52, who hails from the farming town Lichtenburg in the North West Province and won two Currie Cup titles with the Cheetahs, has been spoken about as a possible replacement for Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus in the future.

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Another possible alternative would be Richard Wigglesworth, who ended his long playing career with the Tigers and stepped into the head coach role when the RFU recruited Steve Borthwick and Kevin Sinfield.

Even though he followed them to Twickenham as an attack coach, he is known to have a close working relationship with Tigers general manager Richard Wilks if a move for Smith becomes too problematic.

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J
JW 4 hours ago
France player ratings vs England | 2025 Six Nations

Sorry my delivery on that joke was a bit bland. But to reply to the couple of good points you make, to me it just seemed like they had no plan with why Gatland was staying on. I mean the plan seemed to be “just get us a win against Italy and we can continue on as we are”, which is just terrible if that’s what Gatland was trying to achieve for Wales imo.


Did it just happen to be Italy that he saw his team weren’t able to achieve his vision of success? I mean Italy are a very good side so its by no means a lost cause to not look like world beaters. Sure his focus should have been on more transient factors like growth and style for a full rebuild, not trying to avoid the wooden spoon.


Which brings me to you main point, that would be exactly what the benefit of dropping down a tier would be. A chance to really implement something, get good at it, then take it up a level again once you’re ready. Even for Italy it must have been an incredibly brutal environment to have been trying to develop as a side.


Not saying of course that the other EU teams would be any better, but it might be better for everyone if say ‘years of tough losses’ are shared between countries, rather than see Wales go through this journey two, three, possible four years in a row. Of course the main reason they don’t want to miss just one 6N season is because it would probably tank the game in their country missing out on all that revenue. I have always said they should look at widening the revenue share, there are plenty of competitions that have systems to keep bottom teams competitive, and the 6N would only make more money if it was a tierd competition with prom/rel.

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