Success can bring its own problems and Glasgow Warriors are finding that some of their top talents are attracting covetous glances from elsewhere. It was announced on Monday that Pete Murchie, their highly regarded defence coach, is to leave the club at the end of the season, with a move to Kobe Steelers in Japan on the cards. The following day the news broke that popular back-row forward Henco Venter would also be heading to pastures new, having agreed a deal to join Brive. Tom Jordan’s transfer to Bristol Bears from next season was confirmed in November and Jack Mann is reportedly joining Gloucester. Franco Smith joked yesterday that it was enough to make him cry but the Glasgow coach knows the interest in his players and coaching team is a direct consequence of the Warriors’ stunning triumph in the URC last season. Their win over the Bulls in the final in South Africa caused the rugby world to sit up and take notice. It also led to an increase in the value of their players who are now able to attract better contract offers. Smith, who side return to URC action at home to Munster on Friday, expects to have the same budget next season but he envisages working with a smaller squad because the funds don’t stretch as far as they used to. “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,” said Smith of the imminent departures. “We're trying to become the best we can. If other opportunities arise, fantastic. That's part of the game. “For now, we've got the squad reasonably decided for next year. It will be smaller due to the fact that the players' value went up with all of the good stuff that was happening. “Some people accepted the offers that we could give them and some got better offers. I think the squad will be good enough to continue growing and developing. It's also going to be an opportunity to bring some of our young academy boys through, like we've been doing, to grow the bigger pool for Scotland.” “It's not a smaller budget,” Smith added, “it's the same budget. The players' value has just gone up so much that it becomes more and more difficult to keep everybody on the same budget.” The good news for Glasgow is that several key players have re-signed for next season, notably Sione Tuipulotu, Zander Fagerson, Kyle Steyn and Stafford McDowall. But uncertainty continues to surround Smith himself. The coach has been mentioned in connection with the vacancies at Leicester Tigers and Wales, and also been linked with Scotland. He is contracted until the end of next season and isn’t giving much away. “At the moment, it's status quo,” he said. “We want to win this next game on Friday night. That's the main objective for me. There's 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. But for now, like I said, I'm here at the Warriors. We're going to climb in and make the best of every minute that I'm here.” Glasgow welcome back two key players for the Munster match, forward Sione Vailanu and captain Steyn. Vailanu has not played since injuring his knee against Edinburgh in December 2023, an absence of 15 months, while Steyn returns on the wing after recovering from the knee issue which forced him to miss the Six Nations. It wasn’t all good news on the injury front. Smith expects Jack Dempsey to be out for four to six weeks after suffering a recurrence of an old hamstring injury while on Scotland duty which has required him to see a specialist. In addition, Huw Jones picked up head and ankle injuries against France on Saturday but Smith is hopeful he will soon be available. Glasgow Warriors v Munster (URC, Scotstoun, Friday, 7.35) Glasgow Warriors: Kyle Rowe; Sebastian Cancelliere, Ollie Smith, Stafford McDowall, Kyle Steyn (capt); Adam Hastings, George Horne; Jamie Bhatti, Johnny Matthews, Patrick Schickerling, Jare Oguntibeju, Alex Samuel, Euan Ferrie, Sione Vailanu, Jack Mann. Replacements: Grant Stewart, Nathan McBeth, Sam Talakai, JP du Preez, Gregor Brown, Matt Fagerson, Ben Afshar, Duncan Weir. Munster: Ben O'Connor; Seán O'Brien, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Andrew Smith; Tony Butler, Paddy Patterson; Jeremy Loughman, Diarmuid Barron (capt), Stephen Archer, Fineen Wycherley, Tom Ahern, Alex Kendellen, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes. Replacements: Danny Sheahan, Josh Wycherley, John Ryan, Brian Gleeson, Ruadhán Quinn, Ethan Coughlan, Gordon Wood, Rory Scannell. Referee: Morne Ferreira (SARU).