It’s a pretty quiet dressing room – Rennie

• 28 Feb 2020

Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie was disappointed to come up short at the RDS this evening, as his side suffered it’s first defeat of the new decade at the hands of Leinster.

The men in
blue proved too strong for the Warriors under the RDS floodlights, with
econd-rower Ryan Baird and winger Dave Kearney each crossing for a hat-trick in
a 55-19 victory for the defending Guinness PRO14 champions.

“We got
beaten all over the park tonight,” admitted Rennie.

“We didn’t
look after the ball and made too many errors, and Leinster are too good a side
to let you get away with that.

“They
defended well for most of the match and they’re great with ball in hand. We
just lacked energy – we struggled to make it difficult for them, which was
pretty disappointing.”

A difficult start
saw the Warriors concede two tries within the opening 15 minutes, as Leinster
punished their visitors for any mistakes made. Whilst paying tribute to their
hosts’ ability to break from anywhere, Rennie underlined the disappointment
felt by his side in the immediate aftermath of the match.

“We were
into the breeze in the second half, but we know we didn’t give ourselves the
best chance tonight,” he said.

“We know
that you can’t make that many errors, and from turnover ball they were lethal.

“It’s a
pretty quiet dressing room, because we were miles off it tonight.”

The Warriors
remain in the playoff hunt in Conference A, with nearest rivals Ulster and the
Cheetahs both still to play this weekend. Rennie was able to identify bright
moments in the game when asked following the final whistle, but believes the result
underlines the level his side are required to reach at the business end of the
season.

“Against a
side like Leinster you’ve got to be at that level for longer than we were,”
said Rennie.

“Kyle [Steyn]’s
try was really well finished, but that was one of too few bright moments
tonight.

“It doesn’t
change too much for us in terms of the general picture, and it’s not terminal.
We know that we need to be at a higher level in these big games, though.”