KIWI CLASH

coaching Bay of Plenty,” said Rennie. “He did a great job there, had a stint at Crusaders and then moved to Clermont.

“He is a tough operator and he will be demanding physicality from his team. But he is an innovative thinker around the game as well. Montpellier have some great resources in their midst so it should be a hell of an occasion.”

It doesn’t take an expert on the intricacies of rugby strategy to see the obvious theme of tonight’s encounter as Glasgow will look to repeat what they did to Racing 92 last season and use pace and tempo to counter the physical threats coming their way.

“They have a massive team and have a huge backline,” said Rennie. “They will ask

DAVE RENNIE ON COTTER questions of us with their ball carriers. Vern will be keen for them to play at the right end of the field as well. They have a high kicking ratio in the competition. We expect them to be really brutal.”

Led by France’s interna- tional No 8 behemoth Louis Picamoles and orchestrated by the brilliant Kiwi stand-off Aaron Cruden, Rennie found it difficult to pinpoint specific threats.

“They have too many to mention,” he said. “Bismarck du Plessis is back from injury and they have a huge backline. We know a lot about Aaron Cruden and the two South African boys in midfield are both big men.

“They have [Fijian] Nemani Nadolo on one side of the field and [France cap] Benjamin Fall on the other, and they are unbelievable athletes.

“We’re looking forward to it. We’ve defended very well but we will find out a bit more about our boys under the blowtorch tomorrow night.”

“He will be demanding physicality from his team. But he is also an innovative thinker around the game”