Having told his players that their careers were on the line if they did not react in the right way to last weekend’s tame exit from the European Champions Cup Glasgow Warriors coach Dave Rennie declared himself satisfied with last night’s efforts as they swept Ulster aside to consolidate their lead at the top of the Pro14 Conference A table.
“That was the response we wanted,” said the New Zealander. “We knew it would be tough. Both sides had a lot on this game and we felt we had a bit to prove, so I’m really rapt with the attitude. Some guys were playing for their future in regards of the next few weeks and everyone understands we’re not scared to make big decisions around selection. We needed to stand up. Last week wasn’t good enough and we know we’re a better side than that, so this was a chance to do that.”
He was particularly pleased with the turn-around in their defensive effort, having let in seven tries as they were overrun by Saracens.
“We conceded a try early, so to not concede any points beyond about the eight minute mark is a hell of an effort,” Rennie observed.“The boys understand it, they were tough on themselves too. We didn’t work hard enough last week on what was a massive occasion and didn’t defend well enough. We thought we did some good stuff with the ball last week and again we were pretty good tonight, but the big turn-around was the quality of our defensive effort which was much better.”
Rennie also paid tribute to the performance of former club captain Jonny Gray, who suffered the indignity of being dropped to the bench for their biggest match of their season last week, but was given the man-of-the-match on a night which saw him complete a century of Warriors appearances.
“Jonny was fantastic, a big part of our defence,” said his coach. “He had the bit between his teeth. He wasn’t happy about starting off the pine last week and so I thought it was a great performance from him on his 100th.”
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