Franco Smith says Thomond cauldron the perfect prep for Glasgow

Franco Smith believes Glasgow's stunning semi-final win at Munster has set them up perfectly to handle the "hostility" they will face from the Bulls' home crowd in Saturday's United Rugby Championship Grand Final in South Africa.

The Warriors triumphed 17-10 over the holders at Thomond Park last weekend and now they must win away at another of the URC's most intimidating venues when they run out at the 51,000-capacity Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

Smith feels their recent experience in Ireland will stand Glasgow in good stead for their biggest game of the season.

"I think we've learned a lot from last week's game," said the head coach, a former South Africa international.

"There were 20,000 Irish supporters at Thomond Park and it could have been intimidating but I think we've taken a lot from that in our preparation for this week.

"We know we will face a pretty hostile crowd over here as well. It will be double the number of last week but again it's about just focusing on the task at hand and not getting engulfed by the occasion."

"There have definitely been a lot of lessons learned."

Smith is leading his side into a second final in two seasons at the helm after losing to Toulon in last year's Challenge Cup showpiece in Dublin. The head coach feels his team has evolved since then as they bid to end a nine-year wait for silverware.

"Last year we had another final opportunity, and this one is obviously the pinnacle of this season so we're really looking forward to being a part of it," he said.

"There have definitely been a lot of lessons learned. From the quarter-final match at home to Munster last year and the Challenge Cup final against Toulon, we've learned a lot and we've taken some of those learnings into our pre-season and