Glasgow Warriors coach Franco Smith admits the reigning Vodacom URC champions are unable to retain or replace their best players.

South African flank Henco Venter (CA Brive), New Zealand-born Scotland flyhalf/centre Tom Jordan (Bristol Bears) and No 8 Jack Mann are all set to leave the Scottish club at the end of the season, while the contracts of other first-choice players like Matt Fagerson, Josh McKay, Kyle Rowe and Sebastian Cancelliere expire at the end of the season.

Smith will also say goodbye to defence coach Pete Murchie, who’s set to join Dave Rennie’s Kobe Steelers in Japan.

“You’re going to make me tearful here!” Smith said when asked about the looming departures. “It’s sad but also a huge compliment to everybody that’s worked hard to give other people an opportunity to become better versions of themselves and maybe sign a bigger contract.

“We must be proud of ourselves for that. If other opportunities arise for them, then fantastic. We must feel part of that contribution that we’ve given to them. That’s part of the game.

“Currently our squad, due to budget size, is going to be smaller next year. Even if we find the right people to replace them, it’s whether we can afford them that’s the biggest problem.

“It’s not a smaller budget. It’s the same budget. The players’ value has just gone up so much that it becomes more and more difficult to keep everybody within that.

“We’ve got the squad reasonably decided for next year. Some people accepted the offers that we could give them and some got better offers. That’s basically what the situation is.”

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Smith remains in contention for the vacant Wales head coach job and to replace Gregor Townsend as Scotland coach when Townsend’s contract expires next year, but said he was concentrating on the job at hand with Glasgow.

“For now, it’s status quo. There are 12 possible games left in this season. That’s the focus for now. If we’re going to get distracted with other things, we might fall short. I’m here at the Warriors. We’re going to climb in and make the best of every minute that I’m here.”

Glasgow are currently second on the URC log, having won eight out of 12 matches and will host Leicester in an Investec Champions Cup round-of-16 playoff on 5 April.

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