Franco Smith extends stay as Glasgow Warriors head coach, ends Bulls speculation

The respected South African coach has seen his name thrown into the ring for both the Scotland and Wales Test jobs in the past few months, prior to Gregor Townsend's contract extension and Steve Tandy taking over at the Principality, while Smith was also understood to be a front-runner to replace Jake White at the Bulls before the appointment of Johan Ackermann.

Smith took over as Warriors boss back in August 2022, becoming the 10th permanent head coach in the process.

The former Springbok has overseen an incredibly successful period in the years since his arrival at Scotstoun. In his first season in charge, Glasgow reached the EPCR Challenge Cup final, the first European final in the club's history, before going onto win the URC title a year later in heroic circumstances at Loftus Versfeld.

Glasgow have also reached back-to-back URC semi-finals in the past two seasons, and won three successive 1872 Cups against Edinburgh.

Commenting on his new deal, Smith said: "I'm incredibly proud and grateful to extend my journey with this club. From day one, I've believed in the vision we share to build something special, to push our limits, and to grow together as a team and as a community.

"The players, the people, and the supporters have created an environment full of trust and ambition, and that inspires me every single day. There's still so much more we can achieve, and I'm excited to keep working hard to take this club to the next level."

Scottish Rugby CEO Alex Williamson added: "Franco is rightly acknowledged as one of the leading coaches in world rugby right now and so it was important for us to retain his services so Glasgow Warriors and its players can continue to progress and develop under his leadership.

"We want all our representative and professional teams to be competitive and the role our pro teams play in our eco-system is crucial to our wider success. Securing Franco through until 2028 is a clear sign of intent that we will invest in our high-performance teams and we look forward to working with him again this season and beyond."

Also commenting, outgoing Glasgow Warriors managing director Al Kellock said: "The club is absolutely delighted to have Franco commit his future here. 

READ MORE: Gregor Townsend extends tenure as Scotland head coach