Rennie says new pair are fit for Kings
GLASGOW Warriors boss Dave Rennie has challenged new half-back pairing Adam Hastings and George Horne to make an instant impression when his team return to Pro14 action against Southern Kings at Scotstoun tonight.
Hastings, son of Scotland legend Gavin, and Horne, younger brother of Warriors star Peter, have big shoes to fill as they step in for Finn Russell and Ali Price/ Henry Pyrgos at nine and ten in a reshuffled side.
But Rennie hopes to see them lay down a marker ahead of an autumn window in which he will be without 19 internationals and as many as ten more of the squad who are currently injured.
They are part of a new core to the team as it resumes domestic duties following back-to-back Champions Cup defeats to Exeter Chiefs and Leinster, which will include skipper Rob Harley lining up alongside Matt Smith and Matt Fagerson in the back row.
Callum Gibbins and Ryan Wilson both suffered concussion against the Irish side last week — Wilson also sustained a nasty leg gash that required eight stitches and a dislocated thumb — but the news on both is positive and, although they miss out tonight, Rennie expects them back swiftly.
Adam Ashe, meanwhile, is facing three months out following ankle surgery.
Asked if young half-backs Hastings and Horne were ready for this level, Rennie replied: ‘Absolutely. George spent the whole off-season with us and played in the two trials.
‘He has had a couple of cameos off the bench and has been training full-time with us, and is a very good half-back.
‘Adam also started the two preseason games and played a big chunk of the Connacht game, then got injured, which kept him out for some time. He is young and it is difficult to make comparisons with Finn, but he really impressed us in pre-season.
‘He has the ability to challenge defences and make space for others, has a pretty solid kicking game and he is brave. In terms of managing a game, he has made improvements in that area and hopefully we will see evidence of that against Southern Kings.
‘We’ve got to go deep with our squad over the next month, but this is the chance for Adam and George to lay claim to those positions. But this is about the whole squad learning from our recent games and moving us on now.’
Glasgow are leading the Pro14 after a storming start to the season but it has been a different story in Europe where they are already staring elimination in the face.
Watching his team come undone against Exeter and Leinster in the opening fortnight, Rennie believes one of the main problems was a desire to pull the trigger in attack too quickly.
‘We have won our first six games in the league but we have big strides to make,’ he explained. ‘A lot of it is about our patience and our ability to build pressure.
‘We will go four or five phases and then put in a little kick or force a pass that isn’t on and that releases pressure. You can get away with it in some games, but against big teams like Leinster and Exeter it can hurt you.
‘We played a lot of good footy in the past two weeks — we went behind and fought back and we had a fair bit of momentum at 24-18 — but you have to hand it to Leinster, and Exeter, because they choked us down our end and got a result, so we’ve got to be better.
‘But there’s a lot of growth in the group and you’ve got to take things on the chin and learn from them. That’s why I think the last couple of weeks have been good for us.’
The challenge this evening, with the first-ever visit of the Southern Kings to Scotstoun, would appear very different.
The South African side joined the Pro14 this season but have yet to register a point and have the worst defence in the competition, having conceded 223 points in their six matches. However, some of their better players are now free of Currie Cup commitments and the team will be desperate to regain some pride.
Rennie feels they will provide a similarly direct threat to the one Glasgow faced in their past three games — the forward-orientated assault from the Toyota Cheetahs and the pack-fuelled sieges of Exeter and Leinster.
‘It’s similar in some ways because a lot of their points have come from a driving lineout,’ he said. ‘They have a big pack, so I think they’ll try to ask questions of us down our end of the field and around the edges.
‘They battled a little bit at the start of the competition with such a short assembly time and lost a lot of their Super Rugby players.
‘They’ve had a couple of weeks now to tidy a few things up and bring in some new personnel, so they will be better than they were for the first few weeks.