Franco Smith has called on his Glasgow Warriors team to make a significant step up as they prepare for a hostile reception in the Vodacom URC final at a sold-out Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The Vodacom Bulls confirmed on Friday morning that all tickets had been sold for the URC final against Glasgow Warriors, with over 50,000 fans expected to make their way to Loftus Versfeld.
TEAM: Steyn to lead Saffa-fueled Glasgow
Glasgow have already experienced the pressures of playing at a full house as the away team, in the Vodacom URC semi-final victory over Munster at Thomond Park in Limerick.
“We’ve learned a lot from last week’s game,” Smith said. “There were 20,000 Irish supporters at Thomond Park. It could’ve been intimidating, but we’ve taken a lot from that experience in our preparation for this week.
“We know that we will face a pretty hostile crowd over here as well. It’s just double the number that we saw last week. It’s just about focusing on the task at hand and not getting engulfed by the occasion.”
While Glasgow produced a superb defensive performance to dethrone the defending champions, Smith said his side would need a big improvement if they want to go on to claim the title against a Bulls team that beat a star-studded Leinster side.
“I don’t think what we did last week will be good enough to beat the Bulls here. We are going to have to make a step up,” Smith said.
“This is going to be a tough challenge. I’m South African, so I know how the blood goes through their veins and how they desperately want to succeed.
“This is going to be another challenge. There will be comparables, but we definitely see this as a different challenge if we want to be competitive until the end of the game.”
Glasgow’s last visit to Loftus saw the Scottish side suffer a 40-34 defeat in May, as they almost pulled off a shock result after falling 37-10 down in the second half.
South African-raised wing Kyle Steyn, who will captain Glasgow on Saturday, is confident that the visitors have learned from their mistakes in the previous match.
“We certainly won’t erase it. It was only a month ago, but there were lots of valuable lessons that can help us tomorrow,” Steyn said.
“We’ve just tried to take those lessons and make sure that we grow as a team and grow in the decisions that we make.”
Photo: @GlasgowWarriors/Twitter
The post Smith’s Warriors braced for ‘hostile’ Loftus appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
