RUGBY UNION
Franco Smith has done a superb job at Glasgow, says Toulon’s Richie Gray
Gray is now at his third top-flight French club having coached with South Africa and Scotland
DAVID GIBSON/PHOTOSPORT/REX FEATURES
Whatever happens in Dublin on Friday night, one Richie Gray will be a winner. Glasgow have the 6ft 10in lock forward (albeit on the bench), Toulon the version who has cornered the market when it comes to the methodology, training equipment and elite-level coaching of the breakdown and contact area.
Toulon are the Gala man’s third Top 14 employers after three years under Vern Cotter at Montpellier and a season with Lyon, the club who saw off the rouge et noir in last year’s Challenge Cup final, the very last match before Gray and the head coach Pierre Mignoni moved to the Stade Mayol.
Mignoni, the former France scrum half, grew up metres from Toulon’s gloriously atmospheric home and was in charge of the backs
