We’ll be better for it next week – Rennie

Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie was philosophical after his side’s opening pre-season encounter, which saw Ulster run out 50-19 victors at the Kingspan Stadium.

Three
first-half tries had given the visitors a half-time lead, before the
Belfast-based side pulled away in the second 40 minutes. However, Rennie
believes that there are still positives to take from proceedings despite the
result.

“I thought
we played pretty well in the first half,” he said.

“We led 19-7
with about 10 minutes to play in the half, so we were in a good place.

“I thought
Ulster were sharp, but we’ll be better for it next weekend.”

In total, 12
players were making their first appearances in a Glasgow jersey, including
18-year-old scrum-half Jamie Dobie and academy prospect Marshall Sykes. Whilst in
no way an ideal start to their Glasgow careers, the Warriors boss is confident
in his squad’s development.

“We got a
bit of a lesson in the second half, but we had a lot of young men on the field
that deserved their opportunity,” said Rennie.

“They’ve
worked hard in pre-season and will learn a lot from today.”

The two
sides meet again in just a week’s time, as Scotstoun plays host to The Famous
Grouse Pre-Season Challenge on Saturday 14 September (kick-off 2.30pm). Rennie
expects to have a few more players available for selection, and is targeting an
improved performance in front of the Warrior Nation.

“I thought
we were good early on today – we just didn’t look after the ball well enough in
the second half,” he said.

“Ulster were
clinical and asked a lot of questions of us. We’re not too disheartened though,
we’ll bounce back next week.

“There’ll be
a handful of guys that will come in next week – some guys will come back from
injuries and international camps and so on. Like I said though, we’ll be better
for it when we run out at Scotstoun next week.”

Click here to secure your tickets for The Famous Grouse Pre-Season Challenge against Ulster on Saturday 14 September.