Image source, SNSImage caption, Glasgow Warriors lost to Toulon in 2024
ByTom EnglishBBC Scotland's chief sports writer- Published44 minutes ago
Those with half-decent memories will recall the dark days of the Glasgow Warriors, the endless seasons of irrelevance in Europe, the heavy beatings, the sense of fatalism, the feeling that contending for the biggest prize in European rugby was for others - the sharks and not the minnows.
Now, thanks to the brilliance of Franco Smith's coaching, they are among the great whites themselves.
Toulon, their visitors in Saturday's Champions Cup quarter-final at Scotstoun, have won this tournament three times, but Glasgow are the favourites. Red hot and irresistible.
Between Europe and the bread and butter of the United Rugby Championship, Glasgow have played 19 games this season and have won 16 of them, 14 with four-try bonus points. Attacking rugby is in their DNA. There isn't a jugular they won't go for.
But, while their ambition and their elan is the thing that defines them, it's not the only thing. If it's true that a team reveals its heart and soul in the strength of their defence then Glasgow are in the rudest health.
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Yes, they've played five and won five and have landed five bonus points in their Champions Cup campaign, but they've also conceded the fewest number of tries.
These guys are not rugby's Harlem Globetrotters even though they have showbiz throughout the ranks. They are a beautifully balanced team of bludgeon and rapier. They are thrilling and tremendously physical in equal measure.
They have won seven times in a row in Europe at Scotstoun, a proper fortress.
Toulon are in the midst of a lousy season where their away form has been a massive issue. In all competitions, they've played 12 matches on the road and have won only two.
For Toulon, who are in 11th place in France's Top 14, this is their one shot at glory. That desperation is something Smith spoke about on Friday after he named his team. Toulon's rage to save their season is not lost on him.
Definitely lost for Warriors is George Horne, the heartbeat at scrum-half, who has not recovered from an injury he sustained when beating the Bulls last weekend. Ben Afshar is in and 22-year-old Jack Oliver is on the bench. Oliver has seen about an hour's action this season.
Horne's absence could be a problem, but Smith talks like it's an opportunity. If you're expecting the South African to exhibit even a scintilla of concern about his injured nine then forget about it. He didn't blink when asked. Not once.
"As much as we tried to get him [Horne] ready for this week we've made the clever decision to trust the boys that we've got," he said, before revealing that Horne could be fit again in the next week or two.
"Both Ben and Jack have proven over the last six, seven months that they're ready to take that baton and I'm very excited about that. I've honestly got all the confidence in the world [in them]."
Glasgow have never had home advantage at this stage of the Champions Cup. Their previous quarter-final appearances being heavy defeats away from home.
"Last year, we learned the hard lesson about how much it means to have that [home] advantage," Smith said. Last season was a 52-0 loss to Leinster in Dublin.
Toulon? Well, there's history there. Good and bad. The worst of it was the Challenge Cup final in Dublin in 2023, when the French side took Glasgow to the cleaners.
Toulon have a European pedigree that is the envy of most teams - one Challenge Cup and three European Cups in a row from 2013. Those were the galactico days - Jonny Wilkinson and Bryan Habana, Ali Williams and Bakkies Botha, Cheslin Kolbe and Sergio Parisse.
They were triumphs built on the back of foreigners rather than domestic players, a philosophy that's anathema to Smith. Their 2013 Champion Cup winners had just three Frenchmen in their starting line-up, the same again in 2014 with the 2015 vintage having four in the first XV.
The side that walloped Glasgow in 2023 had seven, so an improvement, but still weighted heavily on the side of the imported star. They have plenty of those now, but not as many marquee ones. This season has been a surprising struggle.
"One of the big challenges of coaching in France is temperament." Smith said. "The French mentality sometimes is different. There's some really good teams and it's a long year - they start in August and then they hardly stop."
Smith was born wary, though. "They're dangerous. They would have in their mind what they did to us the last time we played in a final [Toulon have had a big turnover in players since then, in fairness] and they'll take motivation from that."
They'll certainly take motivation from the names that are not in this Glasgow team. There's no Horne - and, so, no Horne versus Ben White duel to drool about - but also, for reasons of choice and injury, no Huw Jones, no Kyle Rowe, no Jamie Dobie, no Scott Cummings, no Gregor Brown, no Alex Craig.
Image source, SNSImage caption, Huw Jones misses out on selection for Glasgow
Jones is fit but just not selected in the 23, the same decision as the one made last weekend against the Bulls. It's not to do with Jones joining Toulon next season, Smith said.
"It's about continuity." Wearing the 13 jersey against the Bulls, Stafford McDowall shot the lights out.
Smith has also promoted Jare Oguntibeju to a starting role with Max Williamson now on the bench. It's a classic Smith move - utilising his whole squad, trusting every last one of them.
"He's fresh and is eager to contribute," he said. "To have some firepower from the bench [Williamson] will be important for us. With Alex [Craig] being injured and Scotty [Cummings)]and Gregor Brown recovering, it's important that we share the workload."
He told a story about Oguntibeju's rise this season. "When he came here two years ago, he basically couldn't bend his toe after an incident as a young boy when he kicked it into the sidewalk and he didn't rehabilitate that well," he explained.
"That toe remained stiff, so it was tough for him to scrum off that. He scrummed off the side of his foot and through diligent work from himself and our medical team he's got that mobility going. He's running freely.
"I don't think Jare knows what the ceiling is for him. I asked him often 'what's the length of a rope?' And it's the length that you determine it is."
Glasgow's run to this point has been a thrill and, unless an upset happens at Scotstoun, there's more to come. Smith would rather a firm shoeing than project beyond Saturday, but if they get the job done, there's a semi-final to come, probably against Leinster at Murrayfield. These are the headiest days in Glasgow's history.
"The individuals are getting better," Smith said when asked to explain what has improved since recent seasons. "They understand me better, they understand what we want as a coaching group and they've learned through experience.
"We've got enough examples of where it went wrong. It's maybe the European Challenge Cup final or it's maybe last year [against Leinster]. We had a lot of young players and injured players in that quarter-final. That young group is now much richer for that experience."
Richer, classier, hungrier, more aggressive, more resilient, harder to beat and very easy on the eye. They're making history with a first home quarter-final.
Toulon will take some beating, but the smart money - and the dumb money - is on Glasgow creating more milestones in the weeks ahead.
