NEW Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie came away from his first look at his squad in action saying he was broadly happy with the evidence of the narrow defeat by Northampton Saints.
With most of the club's internationalists watching from the stand at Bridgehaugh and some of the new Southern Hemisphere signings yet to arrive, he was looking for evidence of strength in depth and prospects for the medium-term future, not at the core group that is likely to carry the side through the season.
He pronounced himself particularly satisfied with the performance from Adam Hastings, the 21-year-old fly half, who was the only player on either side to play the entire 80 minutes.
Though it was far from a flawless display – Hastings admitted that even his best moment, a kick-pass to Lee Jones that should have brought a try, was a miscue – it was a solid showing.
Hastings has an important role this season with both Finn Russell and Peter Horne likely to miss chunks of the action when they are on Scotland duty. With a solid kicking display and calm control in the open, Rennie has every reason to feel he has an answer to a problem position that dogged Gregor Townsend when he was head coach last season.
"It’s always difficult in pre-season games because you’re still a bit rusty even though you’ve been doing a lot of training," Hastings himself admitted. "It was a mixed bag; I think we could have put them away a bit earlier.
"They said ‘it’s a trial’ before the game, ‘you are all playing for places’. He [Rennie] said as soon as he came in he was going to pick boys on how they are playing and not reputation so as a youngster that is good to hear. Obviously going into that game you’re thinking, ‘if I do something half decent I might get a shot in the future’."
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