Glasgow boss admits there is plenty of room to improve ahead of trip to Exeter

DAVE RENNIE believes Glasgow Warriors were guilty of overplaying at times during yesterday’s nervy victory over Sale Sharks in the Heineken Champions Cup.

The Warriors were dominant for large swathes of the Pool Two opener at Scotstoun, but ended up hanging on for victory in the face of a late fightback from the English Premiership side.

Rennie was pleased to get the European campaign off to a victorious start ahead of next weekend’s trip to face Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park.

He also believes it was a sign of Glasgow’s growing maturity as a team that they were able to grind out a 13-7 win in the end.

But he insisted that an over-exuberance, particularly in the second half, was the main factor in why the game turned into such a tense affair when the Warriors could easily have been out of sight.

‘First and foremost, I’m pleased to get the win,’ said the Kiwi head coach with an obvious sense of relief.

‘I think it’s just about control for next week. There are times when I felt we maybe just overplayed a little bit in this match.

‘I think we’ve got a set-piece that will be competitive down there at Exeter. I also thought we defended well for big chunks of this game.

‘I just think we’ll maybe need to play a little bit smarter next week and improve the quality of our kicking.

‘We were choosing the right option a lot of the time, but it was just wasn’t quite implemented well enough.

‘We’ll need to be better there so that our big men aren’t having to work hard from 80 (metres) out.’

Glasgow have had their fair share of critics in Europe over recent seasons, most notably in the way they have been outmuscled by Saracens.

Sale were not of the same calibre of opposition, but Rennie believes that his team proved that they are not just a one-trick pony.

Glasgow’s penchant for attacking flair is well-known, but it was defence which ultimately proved key to victory in the latter stages yesterday.

‘We talk a lot about composure and rolling up our sleeves,’ he added. ‘A lot of people see us as a flash side, but maybe don’t see a lot of the detail that goes into the tries we score.

‘A lot of them come from really quick ball, which comes down to the quality of the carry and the clean-out and the brutality involved in that.

‘We’re pretty demanding. We always want more and we know we’ll need to be better next week.’

Elsewhere in Pool Two yesterday, Stuart Hogg played 66 minutes for Exeter Chiefs in their 31-12 bonus-point win over La Rochelle in France.