The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Warriors wounded... but optimism is there
GLASGOW: Head coach fully focused on new season as side unveil signing
The disappointment from last season’s Pro14 final defeat still lingers but Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie is feeling optimistic about the new season.
The Scotstoun side continued their preparations for the new campaign by training on Aberdeen Sports Village’s new £250,000 full-size indoor artificial pitch yesterday.
The Warriors enjoyed a memorable 2018-19 campaign which culminated in an 18-15 defeat by Leinster in the Pro14 final at Celtic Park.
Rennie said: “We were disappointed as we are a better side than we showed on the final day.
“But we have made good strides. “We have established massive depth and there is genuine competition for places.
“There are a number of Scotland internationals under threat for their positions each week.
“We have a mantra that you have to earn the right to play through how you train and play.
“We are playing a really good brand of footy and we have a much better understanding of the type of game we want to play.
“We were pretty with happy with our effort and performances in the final six weeks of play.
“Leinster are a good side and it was incredibly disappointing but we have made good strides.
“It was the first time the club have made the play-offs in both Europe and Pro14. We are moving in the right direction.”
That depth of squad is going to be vitally important for Rennie at the start of the forthcoming Pro14 campaign.
The New Zealander will be missing a large chunk of his squad who will be representing Scotland at the World Cup in Japan.
He said: “We have 22 boys involved in World Cup preparations. We will be without most of those guys.
“Nine of our stage 3 academy boys are training with us and we have half a dozen sevens players so we still have a big squad.
“We have 42 training and about eight injured.
“That is the nucleus of our squad for the first six or eight weeks of the competition.
“One thing we have done very well over the last couple of years is we have blooded a lot of good young kids.
“We have a lot international players who are away a lot and that creates opportunities for the young ones to play.
“We take a lot of confidence from that.”
Meanwhile, Warriors have signed Sean Kennedy on a one-year partnership contract with Stirling County’s Super6 team for the new campaign.
The scrum-half returns to Scotstoun following a successful loan spell during the 2012-13 season, when the 28-yearold made seven appearances for the club.
He has also represented Edinburgh and London Irish, after coming through the ranks at Alloa RFC and Stirling County.
He made 66 appearances for Richard Cockerill’s Edinburgh side during a seven-year spell, which came to an end last season.
As part of the deal he will be available to play for Stirling County’s Super6 team when he’s not selected for the Warriors.
Capped by Scotland at U20 level, Kennedy made his Glasgow debut in a home win over Zebre in September 2012 and came off the bench in the win over Northampton Saints at Scotstoun in the Heineken Cup in January 2013.
While yet to earn a cap at senior 15-a-side level, Kennedy has represented his country with distinction in the abbreviated form of the game, running out for Scotland 7s at 11 World Rugby Sevens Series tournaments.
He said: “It’s been really good to get back involved with the boys.
“Training has been going really well – I’ve enjoyed getting to know all of the boys, as well as Dave and Jason.
“I’m lucky I know Kenny and I’ve worked with John Dalziel with Scotland 7s.”
We have a mantra that you have to earn the right to play through how you train and play. DAVE RENNIE