Kicking battle victory was key to Exeter’s success says Rennie

• 24 Nov 2019

Warriors’ Heineken Champions Cup campaign stalled as Exeter Chiefs gave a stirring second half performance to wipe out a three-point deficit and power to a 34 – 18 win over the men from Scotstoun.

Reviewing the game, Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie said, “In the second half we made a couple of errors down our end and couldn’t get out of there.

“Exeter won the kicking battle by pinning us down in our 22, which was compounded by our trouble exiting.

“I felt every time we put a ball up in Exeter’s half we managed to create a bit of pressure, but we were totally out played in the second half.

“We talked about kicking smart at half time. We knew they’d want to play a bit of territory with the wind behind them. For us we didn’t kick well enough or often enough.”

Rennie praise his team’s grit and determination scoring in the final minutes of the game, saying, “We never gave up. We had two or three opportunities in the last quarter to register a try but you’ve got to give credit to Exeter some of their last line defence was outstanding.”

Speaking on Exeter’s recent performance’s in the cup, the man from New Zealand said, “We’ve been in the pool of champions the past few seasons so it may be a good omen for Exeter.

“They’re a good side that are very well coached, but we’ll bounce back in rounds 3 and 4.”

Looking forward to next weekend’s home Guinness PRO14 fixture against Leinster the head coach said: “The going doesn’t get any easier for us with Leinster next weekend.

“I’m expecting a reaction in training and we’ll look to continue to build on our recent performances in the league.”