Dave Rennie rated Glasgow Warriors thrashing of Ulster as ‘perfect’ last night as he claimed to have ended the evening angry rather than elated after watching his side rattle in seven tries while reaching a half century of points in their Pro14 semi-final at Scotstoun.
“I thought for 70 minutes we defended really well, but the last ten was not flash,” the team’s head coach explained.
“It’s funny because we were looking at the scoreboard and we’ve got 50 points on the board and we’re angry because of the way we finished the game, but for a big chunk of the game we were excellent – really clinical – turning defence into attack and scoring points from it.
“It’s perfect. If we had won 50 to three or something like that then that wouldn’t be ideal preparation. It is a reminder that we’ve got to keep going to the last whistle.
“We just got a little but tired didn’t have the same sort of urgency I the last 10, but I don’t want to talk negatively about it because for 70 minutes we were pretty good.”
Having seen his side repeatedly fail to cope with the pressure of big matches, Rennie admitted, however, to taking satisfaction with the way they did so this time around.
“It was a big occasion so what I’m rapt about is the fact that we went out and played like we normally play,” he said.
“We knew if we got it right, we had a chance to play at Celtic Park in front of hopefully a massive Glasgow crowd, so you can’t be nervous or anxious about that. We were excited, we had prepared well, we had clarity about what we were going to do and the plan was just to get out and play.”
“I thought it was a pretty good performance, but we know we are going to have to step it up further for next week.
Those sentiments were echoed by Stuart Hogg after his final appearance as a Glasgow Warriors players at Scotstoun earned him the chance for the ideal end to his time with the club in his adopted home city.
“At the start of the season we targeted getting into a position to win silverware and we're one step closer,” said the Scotland and British & Irish Lions full-back.
“Tonight wasn't the best performance, which is exciting. It will be a good week for us.”
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