“I thought we played well both sides of the ball” – Rennie

• 2 Nov 2018

Niko Matawalu scored a hat-trick off the bench with man of the match Nick Grigg also bagging a try but it wasn’t just his side’s attacking performance that impressed Rennie.

He said: I’m really happy to pick up five points against an Ospreys side that are having a pretty good year.

“I thought we played well both sides of the ball, there were a number of really good defensive sets where I was really rapped with the composure.

“We didn’t over commit to rucks and continued to bring line speed and eventually forced the error. There were a couple of key moments in the game defensively and we dealt with them well.”

Niko Matawalu started the game on the bench but was introduced after just five minutes following an injury to Ruaridh Jackson and his head coach was pleased with the impact he brought to the game, especially going forwards.

He said: “We’re fortunate to have someone of Niko’s ability to bring off the bench and make the impact he did.

“He got his hands on the ball post tackle and is really dangerous ball in hand, he was good and was one of a number of guys who played really well last night.”

Nick Frisby and Brandon Thomson combined for the first time in a competitive match for the Warriors and also impressed Rennie who said: “We were really happy with our half-backs too.

“Brandon hasn’t played an awful lot of ten this year, but he was really strong. He controlled the game well and made some good decisions and I thought Nick Frisby was also excellent. His distribution was great and his ability to challenge and create space really stressed Ospreys.”

Despite Matawalu’s three tries it was Nick Grigg who won the man of the match award and Rennie was equally as impressed with his midfielder’s contribution.

He said: “Nick was fantastic again, I thought he was excellent last week too. His ability to spot a miss-match to create Niko’s try and the way he took his own score was really impressive.

“He also played really well defensively, brought a lot of line speed in the wide channel and forced a lot of errors out there. We’re lucky that we’ve got someone of Nick’s ability with three midfields with the Scottish side.

“I also thought Stafford McDowall played well. He’s a young kid who is going to be really good, we’re really excited by him.”