Franco Smith is committed to bringing through young Scottish talent at Glasgow Warriors but has stressed the importance of foreign players in that regard. Moves are afoot to reduce the number of non-Scottish-qualified players at the two pro clubs but Smith is wary of losing too many. The departure of the experienced South African back-rower Henco Venter to Brive at the end of the season has already been announced and it also looks as if Sebastián Cancelliere will depart Scotstoun, with the Argentine international wing being linked with a move back to the Hindu club in Buenos Aires. Both have played important roles in the development of native talent at the Warriors and head coach Smith has made his feeling on the subject known to David Nucifora, the performance director appointed last year by Scottish Rugby to improve the pipeline of players flowing into the national side. “Look, there are three things I think foreigners are used for, which I've discussed with David [Nucifora] before,” said Smith. “If they help your team to win, and to manage your internationals, and bring young players through, then I think they're an asset. That is my philosophy. If they tick those boxes, then I think it's a necessity. “Henco Venter helped a lot bringing young loose forwards through like Jack Mann and Euan Ferrie. They all got enough playing time, even when he was in the building. Seb Cancelliere helped with us bringing through young wings. Kyle Rowe got established. “When our internationals were away [with the Scotland squad], we were still competitive. We won five games when they were not involved. Those are the games we need to win to be competitive at the back end of the season. “Then we have guys like Josh McKay. It allowed us to manage the players, and we brought some young players through. Winning in the end is not just to get great Scottish-qualified players, but also winning Scottish-qualified players. “Part of the job here is to convert these guys into international players for Scotland.” Smith is in his third year in charge of Glasgow Warriors and has put the development of young players at the heart of his philosophy. The coach’s key achievement has been to do it while putting out a successful team on the field. Glasgow’s United Rugby Championship triumph of last season was one of the great Scottish sporting success stories and the club are through to the quarter-finals of this year’s competition. Smith is proud of how they reached the play-offs with four games to spare and Glasgow will complete their regular season against Leinster in Dublin on Saturday. It’s a daunting final league fixture but Smith is again using it as an opportunity to blood young players. There is debut for the Aberdeen-born hooker Seb Stephen and a first start for back-rower Macenzzie Duncan. Lock Jare Oguntibeju also comes into the starting side after all three impressed in last Saturday’s win for Glasgow Warriors U23 over Benetton U23 in Italy. “We said from the start we're going to bring people through this season,” said Smith. “Obviously, this week is important but Seb has shown in the last four months since he's joined us a lot of improvement. He's a quality rugby player and he's going to play a lot of games for the Warriors going forward.” Glasgow were taken apart on their last visit to the Aviva, losing 52-0 to Leinster in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup last month. They will be helped this time by the long-awaited return of Sione Tuipulotu who starts in the centre alongside sidekick Huw Jones in what will be the former’s first game since January 10 following surgery on a chest muscle injury. “The emotional rollercoaster that he's been on the last 14 weeks was tough for the man,” said Smith. “And we’re obviously, excited to have him back.” Leinster v Glasgow Warriors (URC rd 18, Aviva Stadium, Saturday, 7.35pm) Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Tommy O’Brien, Robbie Henshaw, Jordie Barrett, Jimmy O’Brien; Sam Prendergast, Fintan Gunne; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Thomas Clarkson, RG Snyman, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Scott Penny, Jack Conan (capt). Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Jack Boyle, Tadhg Furlong, Diarmuid Mangan, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Ciarán Frawley, Jamie Osborne. Glasgow Warriors: Kyle Rowe; Sebastian Cancelliere, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Steyn (capt); Adam Hastings, Ben Afshar; Jamie Bhatti, Seb Stephen, Fin Richardson, Jare Oguntibeju, Alex Samuel, Macenzzie Duncan, Rory Darge, Euan Ferrie. Replacements: Gregor Hiddleston, Nathan McBeth, Murphy Walker, JP du Preez, Scott Cummings, Stafford McDowall, George Horne, Tom Jordan. Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU).