Rennie fears that keeping dynamic duo will be tricky task for Warriors
DEPARTING Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie believes the club has a fight on its hands to keep top young stars Scott Cummings and Zander Fagerson.
Cummings, who is out of contract next summer, has impressed so much that Rennie believes the 23-year-old will be a Scotland regular for years to come. Fagerson has two years left on his current contract and the Australia-bound coach predicts English and French clubs will be after the signature of the prop forward when his deal runs put.
‘Scott Cummings can become the new Jonny Gray,’ said Rennie. ‘Scott has the potential to be a phenomenal international player. He’s a real point of difference with the second rows over here, he’s a great athlete, so deceptively quick.
‘He’s really developed an edge to his play around the physicality. He’s a very smart man, very good line-out caller, very composed.
‘He will be playing in the second row next season with Richie Gray, who has come back from France. I’ve no doubt Richie will have plenty to teach guys like Scott and that will be great. Scotty’s far from the finished article but he’s got a massive upside and we’ve seen his emergence at the World Cup and afterwards, and that’s exciting from a Scottish perspective.
‘Someone like Zander Fagerson at 24 would also be on the radar for a bigger club somewhere in the near future. He’s a phenomenal player. He’s only young but his scrummaging has come a long way. He’s got a big engine, a massive work-rate and his brutality is first rate around the tackle.
‘He’s got a really good skill set and I think he’s just going to get better and better. Maybe it’s a challenge to try to keep him in Glasgow and Scotland.’
New Zealander Rennie, who leaves Scotland for good over the next two weeks to take over as Australia head coach, said the Scotstoun club simply could not compete with big-spending outfits like Racing 92 of Paris, who signed fly-half Finn Russell and Exeter Chiefs, who took Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray away from Scotstoun.
‘Great players have left and you’ve got to find someone to fill the hole,’ he said. ‘I can’t see that changing because we can’t afford to keep someone like Hoggy and pay him the sort of money Exeter do.
‘Losing players is something I accept over here, because it happens in New Zealand as well. Back home we have players who get lured over to France and Japan because they can make massive money, so I understand that.
‘That’s why you’ve got to find good, young guys coming through and try and accelerate their learning. It takes time.’
Rennie believes he leaves Glasgow in good shape after nearly three seasons at the club and that new head coach Danny Wilson can make them competitive in the Pro14 and the Heineken Champions Cup.
‘I think there’s certainly enough X-factor in our group, but there’s a lot of steel now too,’ added Rennie. ‘We’ve got a pack, when we’re at full strength, to compete with anyone in Europe.
‘We’ve got to keep building on that, keep developing good young kids. We need to make sure that we’re still bringing in some highquality guys who can contribute and grow the club. Sometimes you’ve got to spend a little bit of money on a couple of key players.’
Rennie believes he is a far better coach for working at Glasgow and that experience will help him when it takes over as head coach of Australia.
‘I’ve learned lots of stuff,’ he said. ‘That was the big goal coming up here — to experience a different culture, a different brand of footy and different conditions.
‘I’ll treasure the time we’ve had up here, it’s been brilliant. Great people. We’ve absolutely loved it and we’re just looking forward to the next chapter now.’