Franco Smith knows his appointment as Glasgow Warriors head coach in August last year was not greeted with cheers on the banks of the River Clyde. “Most fans probably didn’t know who I was,” he says with a shrug.

“They wanted a big name. Everyone seemed to want Scott Robertson [who will take over as All Blacks coach in 2024]. They wanted someone who had won competitions. But why would someone who won anything want to come coach here? What other people say has never bothered me. I know the fans are all on board now.”

Of course they are. On Friday, Smith’s Warriors will fight to become the first Scottish club to lift a major European title when they take on Toulon in the Challenge Cup final. They have already secured Champions Cup rugby next season after finishing fourth in the United Rugby Championship while topping their conference. It has been a remarkable debut season for a coach who has actively sought the path of most resistance.

“I’ve always wanted to take difficult jobs where budgets are smaller or the culture needed work,” he explains, citing a CV that includes stints with the Cheetahs in his native South Africa, with Benetton Treviso in Italy, as well as the Italian national side where he helped develop a generation of future stars.

“I want to be significant, not just successful. The fact that critics wrote me off from the start shows how success is down to perception. But perception is fickle. I do hope the naysayers now won’t judge a book by its cover anymore.”

Smith’s presence at Scotstoun is further evidence of the South Africanisation of Scottish rugby. His thick Afrikaans accent is not out of place in a dressing room that includes five South African-born players, with another on the way next season in the form of the 1.94m, 107kg (6ft 4in, 16st 12lb) back-rower Henco Venter. Up the M8 in Edinburgh, six more compatriots ply their trade, including the hot-stepping power runner Duhan van der Merwe.

This has been a symbiotic relationship. Scotland’s pack is bolstered by South African muscle, with Pierre Schoeman and WP Nel playing crucial roles in the front row. These players, who might not have played Test rugby had they stayed at home, are part of a team on the rise with a realistic shot of upsetting the Springboks in their World Cup group game.

“It’s a credit to everyone that it’s worked so well for both parties,” Smith says. “The players have come here and they’ve recognised they didn’t have a future in South Africa so they’ve given everything they have for Scotland. And credit to Scotland and the people who are so welcoming of foreigners and are so warm. It’s a great connection that’s developed between the two countries.”

That influx in personnel has naturally shifted strategies on the pitch. Last year Scotland’s coach, Gregor Townsend, substituted his entire front row at the same time, replicating South Africa’s “Bomb Squad” strategy. For his part, Smith has selected a six-two split between forwards and backs on the bench in all but one of 27 games this season.

Though this may feel like a departure from Scottish rugby’s traditional strengths, Smith is quick to emphasise the legacies of Iain Milne and Doddie Weir, two legends, as he calls them, “who were some of the hardest men in rugby history.” Some perceptions evidently need recalibration from time to time.

Victory in Dublin would shift the discourse in a sport that is increasingly favouring teams with deeper pockets. French clubs have €10.7m (£9.3m) to play with – more than double the amount available to Smith – and Toulon have used that to sign the Wales fly-half Dan Biggar and the South African flyer Cheslin Kolbe. They are the fourth most successful club in Europe with a hat-trick of Champions Cups between 2013 and 2015 and have competed in four Challenge finals (though they have lost them all).

With this sort of pedigree and that bursting war chest it is obvious why they kick off as favourites. Smith does not mind. “Maybe they think they deserve to win this one,” he says with a dismissive tone. “They rested their star players against Racing last week [as they were beaten 43-7 in Paris]. This is the one thing they’ve got on their mind. We’ll be ready for them.”

Smith has already won over a sceptical city, turning doubters into believers. One more victory would catapult him into Scottish rugby folklore and ensure his name will never be forgotten.