2023–24 Glasgow Warriors season

The 2023–24 season will see Glasgow Warriors compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup.

Season overview
This year's academy intake saw a number of GHA players included. Finlay Burgess was transferred from Glasgow to the Edinburgh Rugby academy.

Coaches

 * Head coach: Franco Smith
 * Assistant coach:  Peter Murchie
 * Assistant coach:  Peter Horne
 * Assistant coach:  Nigel Carolan
 * Scrum Coach:  Alasdair Dickinson
 * Head Strength and Conditioning Coach: Cillian Reardon
 * Senior Athletic Performance Coach: Damien O'Donoghue
 * Sport Scientist: Robin Reidy
 * Lead Performance Analyst: Greg Woolard
 * Asst. Performance Analyst: Eilidh Wright
 * Asst. Performance Analyst: Aidan FitzGerald

Staff

 * Managing Director: Alastair Kellock
 * Chairman: Charles Shaw
 * Advisory Group: Walter Malcolm, Douglas McCrea, Alan Lees, Paul Taylor, Frank Mitchell, Scott Mathieson
 * Rugby Operations Manager: John Manson
 * Assistant Operations Manager: Martin Malone
 * Kit & Equipment Manager: Dougie Mills
 * Head groundsman: Colin McKinnon
 * Team Doctor: Dr. Jonathan Hanson
 * Clinical Manager and Lead Physiotherapist: Andrew Boag
 * Senior Team Physiotherapist: Hene Branders
 * Senior Team Physiotherapist: Michael Clark
 * Junior Physiotherapist: Christina Finlay
 * Communications and Marketing Manager: Cameron MacAllister
 * Marketing manager: Claire Scott
 * Event Manager: Duncan Seller
 * Content Producer: Robyn Struthers
 * Administrator: Jana Tobin
 * Communications Manager: Craig Wright
 * Communications Assistant: Molly Mitchell
 * Commercial Manager: Jamie Robertson
 * Lead Account Manager: Omar Muhyeddeen
 * Partnership Account Manager: Catherine Bunch
 * Sponsorship Co-Ordinator: Megan Kennedy
 * Community Manager: Stuart Lewis
 * Business Club Manager: Adam Ashe

Scottish Rugby Academy Stage 3 players
These players are given a professional contract by the Scottish Rugby Academy. Although given placements they are not contracted by Glasgow Warriors. Players graduate from the academy when a professional club contract is offered.

These players are assigned to Glasgow Warriors for the season 2023–24.

Academy players promoted in the course of the season are listed with the main squad.


 * Tom Banatvala – Prop
 * Callum Norrie – Prop
 * Callum Smyth – Prop
 * Ryan Burke – Lock
 * Harris McLeod – Lock
 * Ruaraidh Hart – Flanker
 * Jonny Morris – Flanker
 * Matthew Urwin – Fly-half
 * Ben Salmon – Centre
 * Johnny Ventisei – Centre
 * Kerr Yule – Centre
 * Amena Caqusau – Wing
 * Logan Jarvie – Wing
 * Kerr Johnston – Wing
 * Fergus Watson – Full Back

Back up players
Other players used by Glasgow Warriors over the course of the season.


 * Craig Miller (Ayrshire Bulls) - Prop
 * Corey Tait (Boroughmuir Bears) - Hooker
 * Fraser Allan (Howe of Fife) - Hooker
 * David Andrew (Marr) - Lock
 * Connor Gordon (Stirling Wolves) - Flanker
 * Mark McCornick (Newton Stewart) - Flanker
 * Tom Smith (Stirling Wolves) - Flanker
 * Eric Davey (Stirling Wolves) - Scrum Half
 * James Imrie (Glasgow Hawks) - Scrum Half
 * Connor McAlpine (Watsonians) - Scrum Half
 * Findlay Thomson (Watsonians) - Centre
 * Luca Bardelli (Ayrshire Bulls) - Wing
 * Aidan Cross (Southern Knights) - Wing
 * Jack Blain (Heriot's Rugby) - Full Back
 * Ollie Horne (Ayrshire Bulls) - Full Back
 * Andy Stirrat (Ayrshire Bulls) - Full Back

Player statistics
During the 2023–24 season, Glasgow have used 45 different players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and points scored by each player.

Personnel out
Peter Horne to Scotland (Asst.) (from November 2023)

Academy promotions

 * Duncan Munn from Scottish Rugby Academy
 * Ben Afshar from Scottish Rugby Academy

Munn is on a partnership contract with Boroughmuir Bears and Glasgow Warriors Afshar is on a partnership contract with Stirling Wolves and Glasgow Warriors

In

 * Henco Venter from Sharks
 * Kyle Rowe from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London Irish
 * Logan Trotter from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 London Irish
 * 🇺🇸 Greg Peterson from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Newcastle Falcons
 * Richie Simpson from Ayrshire Bulls
 * Grant Stewart from Ayrshire Bulls

Out

 * 🇳🇿 Cole Forbes to 🇳🇿 Bay of Plenty
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Lewis Bean to 🇫🇷 Montauban
 * Ryan Wilson released
 * Simon Berghan released
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Cameron Neild released
 * Sam Johnson to 🇫🇷 Brive
 * Rhys Tait to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Doncaster Knights
 * Archie Smeaton to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Doncaster Knights
 * Finlay Burgess to Edinburgh
 * Ross McKnight to Stirling Wolves
 * Christian Townsend to 🇦🇺 Warringah
 * Jamie Drummond to Ayrshire Bulls
 * Andy Stirrat to Ayrshire Bulls
 * 🇦🇷 Domingo Miotti to 🇫🇷 Oyonnax
 * Ali Price to Edinburgh (season-long loan)
 * 🇦🇷 Enrique Pieretto to 🇦🇺 New South Wales Waratahs (loan)

Simpson is on a partnership contract with Ayrshire Bulls and Glasgow Warriors

Pre-season and friendlies
Glasgow Warriors announced on 23 June 2023 a pre-season friendly match with Zebre Parma in September. The 6pm kick off was chosen so as not to clash with the Scotland versus Romania match. Zebre provided cap numbers with their player line-ups.

With 16 players at the World Cup, the Warriors fielded an experimental side with a host of academy players involved. In addition, the 22 year old scrum half Jamie Dobie was named as captain. The Warriors head coach Franco Smith explained: Tomorrow sees us take the next step in our pre-season preparations, as we take on a Zebre Parma team that will test us across the field. The players have worked hard since returning to Scotstoun, and everyone is looking forward to getting back out there.

We’re also pleased to give an opportunity to some of our academy players, who have earned their opportunity with their efforts in pre-season so far. The growth of our squad and Scottish rugby overall is a priority for us, so we’re excited to give these young players their chance.

It’s good to work with players we might not have the opportunity to work with so closely over the rest of the season. So it’s a huge opportunity to work with these young players, the next generation of Scottish players and Glasgow Warriors players, and expose them to our environment. We’re excited about getting back out there - the players more than I am. Everybody is ready for the next step.

[Jamie Dobie] leads more by example, which we always appreciate more than just someone leading by his voice. The leadership qualities that he’s presented over the last year have been extraordinary, so he’s been rewarded for his manner, the way he goes about his business, and influencing the players around him. Through his contribution he merits this chance - he’s definitely part of our leadership group going forward.

Franco Smith was happy with the run out for Glasgow Warriors. He was also pleased to see his son play well from the bench for Zebre. Kyle Rowe has shown tonight that there’s some class about him. I think he’s definitely going to be important for us. But all of these players are going to be important.

We’ll have this big group coming back from the World Cup who will need to be managed physically, emotionally and mentally. So to keep everybody at their best we’re going to have to look to our depth and that’s what we are working hard on at this stage.

It was fantastic to see [Franco Jnr.] and he did well. He can be happy with what he brought to it in the second half.

The away fixture to Cavan to play Ulster proved just too much for the young Warriors side. Franco Smith was nevertheless happy with what he saw from the players: I think without the ball we were really good. We probably made between 220 and 230 tackles which is what is necessary from a fitness perspective, from a character perspective, from a team-building perspective.

In that regard I’m really happy with the players attitude.

I’m obviously disappointed we didn’t get anything going in attack. I think Ulster deprived us well of ball at the breakdown specifically so there’s a lot of work to do but that’s in our DNA so I don’t have too much concern about that.

Look, again, there’s a young bunch of players, players that didn’t get the opportunity last season that have worked hard in preseason.

Match 1
Glasgow Warriors: 1. Nathan McBeth, 2. Angus Fraser. 3. Lucio Sordoni, 4. Alex Samuel, 5. Euan Ferrie, 6. Gregor Brown, 7. Ally Miller, 8. Henco Venter, 9. Jamie Dobie [captain], 10. Ross Thompson, 11. Kyle Rowe, 12. Tom Jordan, 13. Duncan Munn, 14. Sebastian Cancelliere, 15. Facundo Cordero Replacements: 16. Corey Tait, 17. Tom Banatvala, 18. Callum Norrie, 19. Ruaraidh Hart, 20. Jonny Morris, 21. Ben Afshar, 22. Duncan Weir, 23. Ben Salmon, 24. Kerr Johnston, 25. Luca Bardelli, 26. Ollie Horne

Zebre: 15. Jacopo Trulla (41), 14. Simone Brisighella (0), 13. Fetuli Paea (0), 12. Enrico Lucchin (55), 11. Simone Gesi (20), 10. Giovanni Montemauri (0), 9. Gonzalo Garcia (2), 8. Giacomo Ferrari [Captain] (7), 7. Bautista Stavile (0), 6. Luca Andreani (29), 5. Leonard Krumov (88), 4. Matteo Canali (0), 3. Juan Pitinari (15), 2. Giampietro Ribaldi (18), 1. Alessio Sanavia (7) Replacements: 16. Giovanni Quattrini (0), 17. Muhamed Hasa (13), 18. Riccardo Genovese (5), 19. Andrea Zambonin (34), 20. Nicola Piantella (0), 21. Davide Ruggeri (11), 22. Iacopo Bianchi (43), 23. Thomas Dominguez (0), 24. Tiff Eden (17), 25. Franco Smith Jr (14), 26. Ben Cambriani (0)

Match 2
Glasgow Warriors: 1. Nathan McBeth, 2. Angus Fraser, 3. Lucio Sordoni, 4. Max Williamson, 5. Alex Samuel, 6. Gregor Brown, 7. Ally Miller, 8. Henco Venter, 9. Jamie Dobie [Captain], 10. Duncan Weir, 11. Kyle Rowe, 12. Tom Jordan, 13. Duncan Munn, 14. Sebastian Cancelliere, 15. Josh McKay Replacements: 16. Gregor Hiddleston, 17. Oli Kebble, 18. Enrique Pieretto, 19. Ruaraidh Hart, 20. Thomas Gordon, 21. Ben Afshar, 22. Ross Thompson, 23. Facundo Cordero, 24. Corey Tait, 25. Ben Salmon, 26. Kerr Johnston, 27. Ollie Horne

Ulster: Will Addison; Robert Baloucoune, James Hume, Jude Postlethwaite, Jacob Stockdale; Jake Flannery, Nathan Doak; Andrew Warwick, Tom Stewart [Captain], Greg McGrath, Marcus Rea, Kieran Treadwell, Dave Ewers, Matty Rea, David McCann Replacements: John Andrew, Billy Burns, Ben Carson, Reuben Crothers, Angus Curtis, Cameron Doak, Ben Griffin, Cormac Izuchukwu, Ethan McIlroy, Connor Mckee, Stewart Moore, Ben Moxham, Shea O’Brien, Aaron Sexton, David Shanahan, Harry Sheridan, Nick Timoney

Match 3
Glasgow Warriors 'A': Allan Dell, Gregor Hiddleston, Enrique Pieretto, Max Williamson, Alex Samuel, Euan Ferrie, Thomas Gordon, Ally Miller (C); Conor McAlpine, Ross Thompson, Logan Trotter, Duncan Munn, Ben Salmon, Luca Bardelli, Jack Blain Replacements: Grant Stewart, Tom Banatvala, Murphy Walker, Callum Norrie, Callum Smyth, Ruaraidh Hart, Tom Smith, Connor Gordon, Eric Davey, Amena Caqusau, Kerr Johnston

Edinburgh 'A': 15. Harry Paterson, 14. Finn Douglas, 13. Liam Richman, 12. Grant Hughes, 11. Lewis Wells, 10. Cammy Scott, 9. Charlie Shiel, 1. Robin Hislop, 2. Adam McBurney, 3. D’Arcy Rae, 4. Jamie Campbell, 5. Jamie Hodgson (C), 6. Wallace Nelson, 7. Freddy Douglas, 8. Ben Muncaster Replacements: 16. Paddy Harrison, 17. Robbie Deans, 18. Luan de Bruin, 19. Euan McVie, 20. Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, 21. Finn Burgess,22. Marcus Holden, 23. George Barber

Match 4
Boroughmuir Bears: Callum McFeat Smith, Arthur Allen, Marin McGinley, Max Laboda, Jack Fisher [vice], Myles Lowe, Lewis Calder, Liam Habib, Ruairidh Swan, George Paul, Rowan Stewart, Scott Robeson [captain], Ronan Kerr, Matt Reid, Euan Muirhead Replacements: Corey Tait, Luca Alessandri, Callum MacGregor, Berti Taylor, Ewan Guy, Josh Beveridge, Andrew McLean, Alex Thom Glasgow Warriors 'A': Tom Banatavula, Angus Fraser, Callum Norrie, Ruaraidh Hart, Harris McLeod, Gregor Brown, Jonny Morris, Jack Mann, Ben Ashfar [captain], Richie Simpson, Logan Trotter, Duncan Munn, Ben Salmon, Aidan Cross, Fergus Watson Replacements: Fraser Allan, Callum Smyth, Craig Miller, Jonny Ventisei, James Imrie, Matt Urwin, Kerr Yule, Kerr Johnston

Match 5
Ayrshire Bulls: Marcus Kershaw; Thomas Glendinning, Jamie Shedden, Robert Beattie, Luca Bardelli, David McCartney, Reiss Cullen, Jamie Drummond, James Malcolm, Calvin Henderson, Ed Bloodworth, Rory Jackson, Lewis McNamara, Tim Brown, Blair Macpherson Replacements: Alex McGuire, Craig Miller, Rhodri Tanner, Oscar Baird, Seth Rae, Fergus Johnston, Chris Elliot, Mason Cullen Glasgow Warriors 'A': 15 Fergus Watson, 14 Ben Salmon, 13 Duncan Munn, 12 Kerr Yule, 11 Logan Trotter, 10 Richie Simpson, 9 Ben Afshar, 1 Callum Smyth, 2 Angus Fraser, 3 Callum Norrie, 4 Ryan Burke, 5 Sintu Manjezi, 6 Ruaraidh Hart, 7 Jonny Morris, 8 Jack Mann Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Murphy Walker, 19 David Andrew, 20 Mark McCornick, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Matthew Urwin, 23 Amena Caqusau

United Rugby Championship
Glasgow Warriors hit the ground running with a bonus point victory over Leinster. George Horne became a club centurion from the bench. The first of five away defeats this season in the league came playing Connacht. “We’re not happy with our performance at all.” said Henco Venter.

Scotstoun remained a fortress throughout the league season. Teams came and were conquered, one by one. The most visiting teams could do were to prevent a bonus point victory for Glasgow Warriors. The Stormers, Edinburgh in the first 1872 Cup match, Cardiff and the Sharks managed this feat in the regular season. Every other visiting URC team failed.

The Glasgow Warriors away form was decent but there were 4 other away losses in the league. A defeat by Munster at Thomond Park still left Warriors with a try bonus point. A loss at Murrayfield by Edinburgh couldn't prevent Glasgow taking the 1872 Cup home. And late in the season 2 losses to the Bulls and the Lions at altitude proved costly, although the Warriors got close to the Bulls; winning the second half and getting 2 bonus points in the loss.

Glasgow Warriors were looking handsome at the top of the league before those away South African losses. At the end of the regular season, those losses meant the chasing teams caught up with Glasgow, despite the Warriors winning a bonus point victory against Zebre in the final match. Instead of finishing first, the Glasgow Warriors finished fourth in a congested top 4. Only 3 points stood between Munster in first and Glasgow in fourth.

Finishing fourth meant a home quarter final against Stormers. Like before in the season, the visiting South Africans were dispatched; aided in this by Manie Libbok's poor kicking in windy conditions. This set up an away semi-final at Thomond Park. Munster advertising a home final at Thomond Park between them and the Bulls before the match gave Glasgow extra incentive to win. This was a match that Glasgow out-fought Munster and they were deserved winners with tries by Kyle Steyn and Sebastian Cancelliere.

The final against the Bulls at their home in Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria was at 1350 metres above sea level. It was difficult for the Warriors to book flights for everyone in the squad together in such short notice, so parties were split into batches and travelled at different days. It also meant that very few of the Warrior Nation could travel to Pretoria for the final, and the stadium was almost sold out by expectant Bulls fans. However Franco Smith promised no excuses for the team. The Bulls at their home were heavy favourites and bookmakers gave Glasgow long odds for winning.

In the match, Glasgow matched the Bulls physicality in the first half, and outshone them in the second half. The Bulls raced to a 13–0 lead before the Warriors converted a try by Scott Cummings at the end of the half. And like the last match against the Bulls, Glasgow Warriors knew that they could win the second half. Tries followed by George Turner and Huw Jones. The Bulls could only score a further penalty in the entire game. A controversial disallowed try from Jack Dempsey gave the Bulls a chink of hope at the end of the game. Glasgow's defence was stout and despite Tom Jordan being yellow carded two minutes from time, the Warriors held out for a famous victory by 21 points to 16.

European Champions Cup
The format of the Champions Cup changed for the 2023–24 season. There is to be four pools of six teams. Each pool of six will have 2 URC sides, 2 French sides and 2 English sides. However, in the pool stage, no teams from the same league play one another. This meant that Glasgow Warriors will play only the French and English sides in their pool.

The draw was announced on 21 June 2023. Glasgow Warriors are in Pool 3 along with Munster, Toulon, Bayonne, Exeter Chiefs and Northampton Saints.

Competitive debuts this season
A player's nationality shown is taken from the nationality at the highest honour for the national side obtained; or if never capped internationally their place of birth. Senior caps take precedence over junior caps or place of birth; junior caps take precedence over place of birth. A player's nationality at debut may be different from the nationality shown. Combination sides like the British and Irish Lions or Pacific Islanders are not national sides, or nationalities.

Players in BOLD font have been capped by their senior international XV side as nationality shown.

Players in Italic font have capped either by their international 7s side; or by the international XV 'A' side as nationality shown.

Players in normal font have not been capped at senior level.

A position in parentheses indicates that the player debuted as a substitute. A player may have made a prior debut for Glasgow Warriors in a non-competitive match, 'A' match or 7s match; these matches are not listed.

Tournaments where competitive debut made:

Crosshatching indicates a jointly hosted match.

Sponsorship

 * SP Energy Networks – Title Sponsor and Community Sponsor
 * Scottish Power – Official Kit

Official kit supplier

 * Macron

Official kit sponsors

 * Malcolm Group
 * McCrea Financial Services
 * Denholm Oilfield
 * Ross Hall Hospital
 * Story Contracting
 * Leidos

Official sponsors

 * The Famous Grouse
 * Clyde Travel Management
 * Harper Macleod
 * Caledonia Best
 * Eden Mill Brewery and Distillery
 * David Lloyd Leisure
 * Crabbie's
 * CALA Homes
 * Capital Solutions
 * Martha's Restaurant
 * Sterling Furniture

Official partners

 * A.G. Barr
 * Benchmarx
 * Black & Lizars
 * Cameron House
 * Glasgow Airport
 * Healthspan Elite
 * KubeNet
 * Mentholatum
 * MSC Nutrition
 * Smile Plus
 * Lenco Utilities
 * Scot JCB News Scotland
 * HF Group
 * Primestaff
 * Village Hotel Club
 * The Crafty Pig
 * Kooltech
 * Savills
 * iPro Sports
 * RHA