Franco Smith has reacted to the growing speculation surrounding Sione Tuipulotu's future. Tuipulotu will captain Glasgow Warriors against the Sharks tomorrow afternoon in Kyle Steyn’s absence but the 27-year-old his been linked with leaving Scotstoun in recent days.

Tuipulotu - tipped to be a British and Irish Lion next summer - is out of contract at the end of the season and it’s understood that Bath and Harlequins have made enquiries. There’s also interest from French clubs in Tuipulotu but Smith hopes his affection for the Warriors will lead to him staying in Glasgow. 

Asked about his determination to keep the influential centre, Smith replied: “I think it's (down to) how much Sione wants to remain a Warrior - that's important. Obviously, he's shown that in the way he's played. We love him as a player here and I believe that he's happy here.

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“I hope that is the important thing. I think for him to stay here with us would show how much he cares. So I don't want to go into much now, especially not on this tour when we're away from Scotland. So yes, they can make contact and there's probably more than one of our players that's been contacted. The value of the Glasgow Warriors players all went up, so we understand that. But for now, I think the focus should sit on what we want to achieve tomorrow and next week.”

The Sharks have been bolstered by the return of their South African contingent to face Glasgow with captain Siya Kolisi and Springbok record cap holder Eben Etzebeth in their starting XV. Twelve full South African internationals will feature for the Sharks but Smith believes that’s a sign of respect after Glasgow’s achievement in winning the URC and their form this season.

“We are excited about the fact we’re getting the chance to play the best of them,” Smith admitted. “There's definitely some respect shown from that perspective. So, I’m really excited for our boys to run out here in front of this crowd.

“They're going to get a lot of people through the gates tomorrow. So, it's going to be a nice big challenge like we faced in the final. It's going to be a final-like atmosphere. It's going to be a Test-like environment."

On Kolisi’s return, Smith added: “South African people love to have their captain back in the country. And there's a little bit of excitement around him returning to South African rugby. But again, our perspective doesn't matter if he's on that side or not. It is about establishing ourselves, our own process as quickly as possible. And that's what we're going to concentrate on.”

It also appears that Richie Gray has played his last game for Glasgow Warriors. The Scotland international’s impending move to Toyota Verblitz in Japan was confirmed this week and although Gray travelled with the Warriors to South Africa, the 35-year-old wasn’t named in the squad to face the Sharks - he also missed out against Zebre last week.

“We just want to manage him properly to allow him to be the best he can be,” said Smith. “We have Alex here growing and we're making him involved. We're also looking beyond the Richie Gray era. So we want to keep on continuing whilst he's here and we have him as a safety net to continue to add value off the pitch.”