Guest Blogger: The Rennie Report

Guest blogger and Glasgow fan 'The Pen' provides a report on Dave Rennie's opening three games in charge of Glasgow Warriors.

The dust has now settled on the first 3 Warriors games of the season and we find ourselves 3 wins from 3 without having really clicked as a team yet.

The win in Connacht was superb under atrocious conditions which were not conducive to flowing attacking rugby. The Ospreys game was not a classic but the team were able to exploit the errors made by the Welsh side and run out convincing winners in the end an in Cardiff? Well there was more than a hint of luck about the victory in the end.

So what have the Warrior Nation learned so far? Rennie appears to want to play the same style of rugby that Gregor Townsend bred into the side. Fast paced, offloading and always looking for a point of attack.

In defence, while the Warriors have conceded only 2 tries, there have been too many slipped tackles and defensively they have looked somewhat suspect at times but the opponents have not been good enough to take advantage. While Swinson, Turner and Ashe have made a huge number of tackles so far this season, Cardiff scored a try off a missed tackle by Alex Dunbar and the Ospreys score came from Dan Evans skipping through a hole in the Warriors defence. Jonathan Humphries has a lot of work to do to get the side shored up and ensure that these errors and deficiencies are eliminated or the better sides such as Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Scarlets will happily take advantage and not be as wasteful. 66 missed tackles so far is a real concern and one that needs immediate addressing.  One thing that has improved greatly is discipline and there have so far been no yellow cards for the Scotstoun side. 29 penalties conceded in 3 games is also not to bad a stat but of Leinster, Munster, Scarlets, Ulster and the Warriors, only Leinster have conceded more so this count needs to be reduced to stay competitive. 57 turnovers conceded across 3 games however, is far too high and that will have to be cleaned up significantly.  On the plus side, of 23 scrums the Warriors have won 22 and that’s with a relatively inexperienced front row.

 At the other end of the pitch though, the Warriors have crossed the whitewash 8 times but the team is not yet firing on all cylinders in my opinion. In challenging Galway conditions they did superbly to score twice but against a poor Ospreys side they had the chance to lay a bigger marker down and the same goes for the Cardiff game. There is no point comparing against the 3 big Irish sides or Scarlets as they’ve played South African and Italian opponents and racked up big scores. Rennie has had a look at a number of options as he seeks his perfect line up. It’s only natural that a new coach, and especially one who had so little time to look at his new squad before the season started, experiments with his side and chops and changes but it would be nice to see him start to settle the side down as soon as possible and give players a chance to cement partnerships.

In the season ticket holders meeting before the start of the campaign, Rennie was engaging and funny but there is one thing that is for certain: he is deadly serious about his rugby. He wants to win every single game and he wants his team to play in his style. The club and the SRU has given Rennie quite an armoury to choose from. They’ve renewed several star name contracts and they have backed him with several new signings. In the short amount of time the Warriors fans have seen them, they seem to have been suitably impressed. Callum Gibbins is a monster and he will easily become a fans favourite in no time at all. He’s abrasive and just the right line of the law (most of the time) and gives the Warriors a real edge at the crucial 7 position. And what’s even better is that he won’t be called up to international squads. Oli Kebble is another who has impressed early on and he will win many a scrum penalty on his own this season. At 10, Adam Hastings signing has given competition/back-up to Finn Russell and that’s something that has been sorely needed in many people’s opinions. Add Huw Jones, Samuela Vunisa and Siosiua Halanukonuka to that mix and suddenly you have a seriously strong squad to select from.

One of the things that’s been very encouraging to see is the amount of young players not just promoted to the squad but starting and taking their opportunities. Matt Smith, Matt Fagerson, George Horne and Jamie Bhatti have all shown themselves to be very capable and Rennie must be pleased to see these guys grabbing their chance. With Scotland suffering from an impending crisis in the front row, it’s possible Bhatti could even find himself in the autumn international squad.

The other thing the Warriors fans are seeing is a resurgence in form from players who seemed to have lost their way. Adam Ashe is a prime example of this. His carrying and tackling has picked up dramatically and he looks fitter and leaner than last season. He’s also given George Turner a chance on loan from Edinburgh and he has been one of the Warriors best players in their opening games so the Rennie effect has definitely kicked in at the club.

For me this season is always about transition. It’s new players and new coaching ideas fitting together and the signs are that slowly but surely things are clicking into place but it will take time. The Warriors next 3 games will take them to the European break. In that period they play Munster, Treviso and the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein. This is a crucial group of games and Rennie will want to win them all. Munster have started on top form and they will be the most difficult of the 3 to defeat. A win in that game and Glasgow would put themselves top of their conference and could sit there through to the start of November. Treviso should be beatable but they showed in Edinburgh that they can provide a surprise or 2 and the Cheetahs away is very much an unknown prospect. They defeated Zebre at home by a huge score but have taken heavy losses against Munster and Ulster on their travels. If they are to be serious contenders, 3 from 3 has to be the target, with a couple of bonus points thrown in there as well. The Munster game is huge as after 4 heavy defeats to the Irish side last season, they are very much in the ascendency. They represent a psychological barrier as much as a physical barrier and the Warriors will have to find a way of smashing that down if they are to be victorious.

The report card so far is sitting at around a B minus. Things are progressing and there is no cause for concern but it could be argued that in other areas they must do better. I believe that Rennie will get this side firing on all cylinders sooner rather than later…

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