'Smith has taken Glasgow to another level'

Former Glasgow flanker John Barclay has heaped praise on head coach Franco Smith for his transformative impact since taking the reins two years ago.

Having led Warriors the Challenge Cup final and URC quarters in his first season in charge, South African Smith has now ended the club's nine-year wait for silverware with a momentous triumph over the Bulls in his homeland.

"They dominated that second half. The stats showed it, double the metres carried," Barclay told Premier Sports.

"So much credit has to go to Franco to turn that team around in the space of a couple of years.

"They had a lot of potential but he's taken them to the next level and made them more resilient, more robust. Tactically, he's tweaked the way they played.

"He said last week there will be no excuses for us not performing. On Saturday night they had more energy, enthusiasm, and more physicality.

"There's this suggestion that, looking at Scotland in the Six Nations, there was an issue. This proves there's been a shift, or that isn't the case. They've done it the hard way.

"You can't look at that team and say it's a soft team mentally, and it's the bulk of the Scotland team."

Smith's men produced a barnstorming second-half performance in Pretoria, with George Turner and Huw Jones adding to Scott Cummings' earlier try, and held on for victory after Tom Jordan's yellow card.

"Utterly incredible. Quality, guts, composure, discipline - time and time again," said ex-Glasgow and Scotland player Chris Paterson.

"They were asked so many questions, they fell behind, had a yellow card late on.

"The physicality, the brilliance in attack. Three tries to one. No missed goal kicks. Everything had to be right."