Rennie delivers vote of confidence in Glasgow project

GLASGOW: Dave Rennie gave Scottish region Glasgow Warriors a welcome boost on Tuesday by agreeing a one-year extension to his present contract to June 2020, the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) announced.

The 55-year-old New Zealander -- who will need a new assistant and scrum coach as Eric Blair and Jonathan Humphreys are leaving at the end of the season for the Scotland and Wales backroom teams respectively -says he is excited at the potential of the squad and what they could do next term.

Rennie, who established his coaching reputation guiding the New Zealand under-20 team to three successive world titles between 2008-10, guided the Warriors to a European Champions Cup quarterfinal this season and are live contenders for the Pro14 trophy.

"It's a different challenge for me and there are really good people at the club, so it was an easy decision to stay," Rennie told glasgowwarriors.org.

"We didn't quite get to where we wanted last season, but we've got a better side this season and I think the squad we're building will be even better next season and I'm really keen to be a part of that."

Rennie, who coached New Zealand franchise The Chiefs to successive Super Rugby titles (2012/13), believes there is enough strength in depth to make up for players away on World Cup duty and then the 2020 Six Nations.

"We're going to have a lot of guys away at the Rugby World Cup and then our Scotland players will play in the Six Nations, so we won't see a lot of those men, but we've got good depth," said Rennie.

"It'll be a great opportunity for others during that period, so there is so reason why we can't kick on."

Mark Dodson, SRU chief executive, said Rennie had been instrumental in developing fresh young talent.

"Dave is doing a great job in Glasgow and we're delighted he is staying to continue building Glasgow Warriors into one of the top teams in Europe," said Dodson.

"He has helped develop a number of young players over the last couple of years and got them into the knockout stages of theChampions Cup and Guinness Pro14.

"We're looking forward to seeing the team continue to develop under Dave and his coaching team next season." AFP