Glasgow Warriors’ young guns have been challenged to give Franco Smith a selection dilemma for the United Rugby Championship quarter-final against the Stormers at Scotstoun. The defending champions’ form has dipped in recent weeks but they turned in a much improved performance against Leinster in their last game of the regular season, despite losing 13-5 in Dublin. A Warriors side featuring teenage debutant Seb Stephen and fellow youthful forwards Jare Oguntibeju and Macenzzie Duncan played with great endeavour at the Aviva, giving Smith food for thought ahead of Friday’s play-off tie. Full-back Josh McKay, prop Sam Talakai and back-rowers Jack Mann and Henco Venter are all expected to be available again and Johnny Matthews also has a chance of being passed fit but they won’t walk back into the team automatically, according to Pete Murchie, Glasgow’s assistant coach. “I think if you look at the last performance against Leinster, young guys got an opportunity and stepped up,” said Murchie. “Some of the pack, the way they fronted up in a tough game and showed what they can do….I think when you look at that performance and you get some guys back as well, it's a good mix. “We've got some tough selections for this weekend, which is what you want. You don't want a team that picks itself. Young lads put pressure on some of the older heads or guys who would maybe expect to play, so that can only help at this time of year.” Stephen is only 19 but the Aberdeen-born hooker gave as good as he got up against Leinster's Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher, both of whom were named last month in the British & Irish Lions squad to tour Australia this summer. “Nothing's fazed him since he came in,” said Murchie. “I think he's probably been involved for two or three months and he's been absolutely spot-on. First of all, the shape of him, he looks like a player. He’s physical, obviously, putting those massive shots on Jack Conan in the first couple of minutes. So, there's a decision for sure around that, and he's done himself no harm going forwards and showing what he's capable of. “Same with Macenzzie. Obviously slightly older, but I think he had played one game against the Dragons off the bench. Again, going up against British & Irish Lions in the back row. I think it sends a message to the whole squad of what can be done.” Glasgow’s form has tailed off in recent weeks and having spent the majority of the campaign in second place, they finished fourth after losing their final three games of the regular season. It was still enough to secure a home tie in the play-off quarter-finals and Friday’s match-up with the Stormers is a repeat of last season’s last-eight tie which Glasgow won 27-10 before beating Munster and the Bulls on the road to lift the trophy. That was a superlative effort from Smith’s squad who peaked at just the right time following a similarly so-so end to the league season. Murchie is hoping for a repeat in what are his final days at the club. The defence expert is pursuing his coaching career in Japan and will leave the club at the season’s end. He is obviously hoping the departure comes later rather than sooner but the likelihood is that this will be his final game at Scotstoun, regardless of the result. The self-effacing Murchie said it wouldn’t come into his thinking. “I'm obviously aware of it but it's not something that you try to let come into to your head,” he said. “There are more important things than focusing on yourself.” Instead, Murchie will be plotting a way to stop a Stormers side which won the URC in 2022, were runners-up a year later and reached the quarters last year. This season, they elevated themselves into fifth place by winning their final four games in a row, all at home. “There's a lot of threat there,” said the defence coach. “I guess it's that classic South African style of power and X-factor. So you know their kicking game and what they can do on counter-attack, what they can do off quick throws, quick taps for example. Obviously they can mix it with their big ball carriers as well and get you going forwards. “They've got big players in that pack, who can get you on the front foot. Obviously the physical challenge is huge. You've got to really front up physically all around the park, not just in defence.” Damian Willemse, the Stormers’ World Cup-winning full-back, is suspended after being sent off against Cardiff. By contrast, Glasgow will have Henco Venter available again after the back-row forward served a six-game ban for making contact with the eye of the Leicester Tigers prop Dan Cole in the Champions Cup last 16. Venter hasn’t played since April 5 but Murchie is confident he will be ready to go if required. “You haven't seen him on the pitch but he's been out doing every single session,” he said. “So he's been fully involved. “From his perspective, physically, he's as good as you get. He's been doing the training without getting banged up at the weekend. It's good to add in that amount of freshness, if he's selected.” Jack Dempsey and Zander Fagerson remain sidelined by hamstring and calf injuries, respectively, but it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that one or both of Glasgow’s big dogs return if the club progress through the play-offs. “It still remains to be seen whether they'll be in contention for us,” added Murchie. “The deeper you go in the competition, the more chance you get, but neither of those two for this weekend.”