One of Glasgow's assistant coaches says that Franco Smith is "not going anywhere" amid links with the vacant Wales head coach role.
The 52-year-old, who led the Warriors to the United Rugby Championship title last year, is one of the front-runners for the job, along with favourite Michael Cheika and Simon Easterby.
Smith, who has strong links with Wales as his son, Franco Jr, was born in Newport while he was playing for the Rodney Parade club, hardly played down the links on a recent return to Gwent.
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After beating the Dragons recently, Smith admitted in an interview that he would like to return to international coaching at some point - having previously been in charge of Italy between 2019 and 2021
However, Glasgow attack coach Nigel Carolan, says that while it's natural for Smith to attract interest from elsewhere, the head coach still has big plans in place for the Scotstoun club.
“He's done wonderful work since he's been here,” Carolan told the Scotsman. “If his name gets bandied around in the media then good and that's down to the work that he's done and the position of Glasgow Warriors. That's helped Scottish rugby as well.
“He's very coy, and he's committed to Glasgow Warriors. At the moment, as far as we're concerned, he's not going anywhere.
"He's making massive plans here for the future. He has told me his plans are to stay here. At the moment he's 100 per cent committed to Glasgow Warriors.”
Wales are currently searching for a head coach after Warren Gatland stepped down after 14 straight Test defeats. Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt has taken over for the remainder of the Six Nations but, even after overseeing an improved performance against Ireland, he has no desire to take on the job full-time.
The Welsh Rugby Union are also currently searching for a director of rugby, with bosses keen to make that appointment before hiring a head coach.
The expectation is that they will have a director of rugby in place by the end of March, although they didn't rule out hiring a coach first if someone was available.
Smith's contract with Glasgow expires at the end of the next season, with many in Scotland seeing him as the natural successor to Gregor Townsend. Pressure is building on the Scotland coach, whose contract runs out in April 2026.
