Rennie satisfied with bonus-point win

Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Dave Rennie insists that there’s still more to come from his side, despite this evening’s bonus-point 56-24 victory over Zebre at Scotstoun.

The Warriors
ran in eight tries on their return to Guinness PRO14 duty, yet having touched
down twice inside the opening ten minutes Rennie believes the first-half
showing from his team still has room for improvement.

“We started
well, and then we lost control of the game for 25 minutes,” he said.

“That was
frustrating, but I thought we responded pretty well after half-time. We kicked
pretty well in the second half, and we were clinical when we got opportunities.

“We’ll still
reflect back on what we think was a fairly average defensive performance – we lacked
a bit of intensity at times and let in a couple of soft ones, so we’ll look at
that.

“There were
a lot of good decisions throughout tonight, though. We scored some good tries,
but there’s enough in there to give us a bit of edge in training this coming
week.

It was a
debut to remember for hooker Mesu Dolokoto, with the Fijian international
touching down twice on his first appearance in a Glasgow jersey. With George
Horne continuing his impressive scoring run against Italian sides en route to
the man-of-the-match award and Leone Nakarawa making an eye-catching return to
Scotstoun, the Scotstoun faithful certainly had plenty to cheer under the
Friday night lights.

“Mesu’s a
pretty handy player,” smiled Rennie.

“We’ve got good
depth at hooker and it was good to get him out there tonight. He’s had a bit to
learn since he arrived, but he’s a good athlete and you saw a bit of that tonight.
We’re rapt with how he went.

“George was
chomping at the bit to get out there tonight, and it showed. I thought he took
his two tries really well and he’s in good form.

“Leone’s a
handful, isn’t he? He makes space for others and it was great to see him back
at Scotstoun tonight.”

The
bonus-point victory sees Rennie’s men remain firmly in the mix for a playoff
spot in Conference A, as they battle Ulster, the Cheetahs and Leinster for a place
in the 2019/20 Final Series. The Glasgow boss isn’t looking too far ahead,
though, highlighting the fact that it’s a familiar position in which the club
finds itself.

“It’s the
same situation as last year,” said Rennie.

“We knew that
we had to win every match to get into the playoffs, and it’s the same again this
year.

“We’ve had a
good look at the fixtures – we’ve still got to play the teams ahead of us again,
including Ulster twice. We’re aware of the situation, so we’re happy to get
five points tonight.”