Rennie encourages his Warriors to embrace Semi-Final opportunity

• 17 May 2018

Having secured a home Semi-Final in his first season in charge, Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie is encouraging his squad to fully embrace the opportunity presented to them, as his side prepare to face Scarlets in the last four of the Guinness PRO14.

Friday’s fixture at Scotstoun will be the club’s first fixture for three weeks, with Rennie and his coaching staff making the most of the break to ensure the squad is fully prepared ahead of tomorrow night’s crucial encounter.

“It’s been a bit of everything,” said Rennie.

“The first week we had a pretty big week, second week we gave the three days off to mentally and physically freshen up and then we had a couple of days at the end of last week to get a bit of a head-start on Scarlets.

“It’s been good. I think we’ve managed to time it really well – we’ve got the bodies and minds right, and we’re looking forward to Friday.”

Despite coming into the tie on the back of consecutive defeats, Rennie dismissed any thoughts of his side not being fully focused on the task at hand.

He said: “We haven’t dwelled on those games. What we know is that we have to be pretty desperate this week, because there’s no tomorrow from a PRO14 perspective.

“We qualified for the Final Series with six or seven games to go and nailed top spot with a couple to go, but that’s not an excuse. We know we weren’t clinical enough in those games, and that we need to up our game against a really good Scarlets side.”

The Scarlets come to Scotstoun off the back of an impressive display against the Toyota Cheetahs in their Quarter-Final, whilst the defending champions also reached a first European Semi-Final in 11 years.

“We’ve got a lot of respect for them – they’re defending champions and a quality side,” said Rennie.

“They’ve had a great season and a good performance in Europe, but we’ve got a pretty good side here as well. We’ve prepared really well, and we want to go out and show that on the weekend.”

With the capacity of Scotstoun extended to 10,000 for this weekend’s fixture, the Warrior Nation will be in full voice as their team attempts to book their place in the inaugural Guinness PRO14 final. It’s an aspect not lost on Rennie, who paid tribute to the club’s supporters.

“The crowd here is fantastic,” said Rennie.

“They’re really engaged in the game, and it’s been something I’ve really enjoyed since coming here from New Zealand.

“We’ve had a great record here this year so far, but all that’s gone now – it’s a one-off game. Everyone’s really excited, and you’ve got to embrace finals footy rather than fear a negative result.”

The last remaining tickets for Friday night’s Semi-Final at Scotstoun are available HERE