Franco Smith has expressed his pride in Sione Tuipulotu being handed the Scotland captaincy and lavished praise on his 'quality' personality.
Tuipulotu will captain Glasgow against the Stormers after being named Scotland skipper by Gregor Townsend on Wednesday for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series.
It continues Tuipulotu's incredible upward trajectory amid growing calls for a British and Lions starting role next summer and Smith is overjoyed for his influential centre.
“He’s a quality person and we saw that when we handed him the captaincy last season when Kyle was not available,” he said.
“For me, a good leader is someone who doesn’t get fazed by it and sticks to what he does well.
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“Sione is a good speaker amongst the boys but he applies himself best on the field, in the rugby environment.
"I’m really proud of him, proud of him as a person. He’s a quality man and he’s got a big influence on players around him.
"He plays for the team, it doesn’t matter what jersey he wears and I think that’s something the Scotland team and the Scotland supporters will be able to identify with.
"He’s a people’s person, a man for every character in Scotland and will represent that through his qualities as a leader.”
Richie Gray will receive a Warriors send-off with the experienced lock named in Smith’s starting XV for the last time before joining Toyota Verblitz in Japan.
The 35-year-old has entered the twilight years of his career and he was omitted from the Scotland squad despite being considered but Smith paid glowing tribute to the Warriors centurion.
“That will still be Gregor’s choice I suppose, whether it’s his last game in a Scottish jersey,” Smith added.
"From our perspective, fantastic to send him off on his new journey. Like I said before, he’s been a brilliant servant to the club and he’s a top man. If you play 80 Test matches for your country and you represent the club twice for more than 50 games it means there’s something special about you.
“We want to send him off here in a special game against a high quality team. He’s been brilliant on tour.
"I purposefully brought him so the last of his experience would rub off on the boys here and so we can send him off with a good game.”
Glasgow have made a solid start to the URC season and sit third in the table ahead of the second game in their South Africa tour against the Stormers.
The Warriors suffered a narrow defeat against the Sharks last weekend but there were plenty of positives as they picked up two bonus points.
The Stormers clash will be played at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch rather than the DHL Stadium in Cape Town but Smith isn’t overly concerned by the venue change.
“Playing in the Cape Town stadium is massive - it’s a beautiful setting,” he admitted.
“It was built for the 2010 World Cup and it’s been adapted nicely for the Stormers. Playing at the Stellenbosch makes it uncomfortable for them as well as it takes them out of their comfort zone too.
"We are used to playing in front of condensed, smaller crowds. They are still expecting more than 20,000 fans so it will be a good atmosphere. I’ve been involved in a few games there so I know more or less what the environment is like but that won’t change our plan for tomorrow.
“There’s a massive buzz around and we’ve been staying close at the South African sports institute. The Springbok sevens team are based here and 12 of the Springbok players trained in this environment this week ahead of their tour.
"We are in the same hotel. It’s a small town and the people love the game here.
"Dr Danie Craven, who was the father of South Africa rugby, played and developed the game here. There’s a statue of him here and there’s a really good vibe around town but also a sense of tension ahead of the game.”
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