Three weeks of face-to-face time was enough for Dave Rennie to drive home his message as Glasgow Warriors got their PRO14 season off to an impressive start at the Sportsground.

There was only very brief signs of the flowing rugby that the former Chiefs coach has become renowned for in his time in New Zealand, but such were the conditions in Galway that it would have been foolish to venture away from a tight game in attack.

Nevertheless, it was one such play from the strike list that blew this game asunder as Peter Horne cut a swathe through the Connacht defence off the back of a scrum, which allowed Ali Price to score.

Price was responsible for the game clincher eight minutes from time when he picked out Leonardo Sarto with a cross-field kick, which saw Lee Jones apply the finish.

It was far from polished in attack as Warriors and Connacht racked up high handling error stats in the sheeting rain and howling wind, but instead it was a solid defensive showing from Warriors that pleased their new coach.

“We thought we were trying to play a little bit too much footie at times, but we are happy with the defence. I thought we put a lot of pressure on them and turned a lot of ball over. Our lineout defence was excellent. We made it really difficult for them at set-piece,” said Rennie.

“Not overly happy with our kicking game in the second-half, we could have used the ball a lot better and played a lot of the game in and around our half but character-wise and attitude-wise it was great.”

The change from the PRO12 to PRO14 is a lot more than just the addition of the two South African teams, and already the value of away wins over your conference rivals is clear to see. Just three teams will reach the play-offs from each group, but this head start could well prove vital against the champions of two seasons ago.

“Important to win and get points especially against teams in your own conference. The Cheetahs got knocked over this weekend and Cardiff got knocked over so it has been a good weekend from that point of view.

“We had a lot of guys on debut tonight too so it was pretty special. We had Alex Dunbar playing his 100th and that always adds to the motivation. We knew it would be tough, it was tough conditions for both sides.

“We did pretty well into the wind and held them out for long periods and got a little bit of ball on our hands. We can be a hell of a lot better, and I know Connacht can be a hell of a lot better too, but it’s important to win those games especially against teams in your pool too.”

Next Friday is another early Conference A tussle, but it could be that this Ospreys side that arrive at Scotstoun will be a stiffer test that Connacht produced last weekend. The Welsh side were far from convincing in their victory over Zebre, but like Warriors they are sure to be buoyed by the return of some front line players.

There will be no Stuart Hogg, Fraser Brown, Tommy Seymour or Jonny Gray next week, but Rennie expects Finn Russell back to steer his side – even though Horne had an impressive day in the No 10 shirt in Galway.

There will be questions about the availability of Sam Johnston who left the field after eight minutes and failed a head injury assessment, while his replacement Adam Hastings was stretchered off with a leg injury after an eye catching display.

“He got a massive gash on his leg so it was quite serious. He is off to hospital, and we will know a bit more about that. It will require some serious stitching by the look of it,” Rennie said of Hastings.

“He came on very early. Sam Johnson unfortunately has probably been our best player in the trials we have had so far, got knocked out early.

“We have got a handful of injuries, and then Finn Russell is back next week, Tommy Seymour is still three weeks away on leave.

“In the end it was important for us because a lot of guys that we use tonight are going to be available during the Autumn break and the Six Nations so it was great to get a bit of confidence, and show those boys that we had confidence to play tonight.”

He may only be three weeks on Scottish soil, but a year down the line since he was signed up, Rennie has been doing his homework. He knows his squad inside out and has already hit the ground running.

“There has been a hell of a lot of good work done before I arrived. We have had endless calls and Skype calls. The coaches flew down to South Africa and caught up with us when we were over there with Super Rugby.

“We have done a lot of work but really it’s the coaches and trainers that have been here making it happen and putting it on the park. I am really thankful to those guys they have done a great job. We have a good culture of work ethic so that’s an important start for us.”

Scorers:

Connacht: Pen: Carty (2, 19, 40, 60).

Glasgow Warriors: Try: Price (48), Jones (72). Con: Horne. Pen: Horne (12, 46).

Scoring sequence (Connacht first): 3-0, 3-3, 6-3, 9-3 (half time), 9-6, 9-11, 9-13, 12-13, 12-18.

Connacht: D Leader; C Kelleher, E Griffin (T Farrell 50), B Aki, M Healy; J Carty, K Marmion; D Buckley, T McCartney, F Bealham (C Carey 56); U Dillane, J Cannon; E Masterson (S O’Brien 50), J Butler, J Muldoon.

Glasgow Warriors: R Jackson; L Masaga, A Dunbar, S Johnson (A Hastings 8) (L Sarto 58), L Jones; P Horne, A Price (H Pyrgos 73); J Bhatti (O Kebble 38-40) (Kebble 46), G Turner (J Malcolm 73), Z Fagerson; T Swinson (G Peterson 73), S Cummings; R Wilson, M Smith (M Fagerson 61), A Ashe.

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU).

Attendance: 4,017