RENNIE EXCITED BY ‘EXPLOSIVE’ NAIRN

GLASGOW Warriors head coach Dave Rennie has backed winger Robbie Nairn to have ‘a big future in the game’ after handing him his first competitive start in two years at the club. The 21-year-old has only ever played for a few minutes off the bench in competitive action and Rennie is looking forward to seeing him ‘under a little bit of heat’ when his Conference A leaders take on Scarlets in a Guinness Pro14 clash at Scotstoun tonight. Nairn is called into the starting team — with Fijian Niko Matawalu on the other wing — after Tommy Seymour and DTH van der Merwe were rested following international duty. It represents a huge opportunity for the Livingston-born wide man, who started out in the Harlequins Youth Academy before signing for Glasgow after a successful spell with the Scotland Sevens team. ‘We’ve been keen to get Robbie involved for a number of weeks,’ said Rennie. ‘He is explosive and powerful and has a big future in the game. ‘He’s been with us for two seasons and has been training full-time although he was injured for a lot of last season. ‘We talk a lot here about earning the right to start for Glasgow and we have very good depth on the wing. ‘DTH has been away with Canada, so this opens up an opportunity for Robbie. We’re excited to see what he can do and how he goes under a little bit of heat.’ After four months out with a broken leg, second row Tim Swinson is deemed fit enough to make his first start of the season following last weekend’s comeback off the bench against Cardiff Blues. ‘Swinno is a wrecking ball,’ added Rennie. ‘He is a similar type of player to Scott Cummings and I’m looking forward to seeing them starting together in the second row. ‘It’s been a frustrating time for Tim and, to his credit, he has worked really hard. He came off the bench last week and is excited at having the chance to start for us again. ‘He’s keen to start putting pressure on the other second rows for regular starts during the rest of the season.’ Meanwhile, Rennie made confident noises that Huw Jones will remain with Glasgow despite the Scotland centre having held signing talks with Leicester Tigers.