Hogg 'went beserk' at training - Rennie
Dave Rennie has urged his Glasgow players to put on a show for Exeter-bound Stuart Hogg as he prepares to bring the curtain down on his Warriors career.
The Scotland star will call time on his nine-year Scotstoun stint after Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 grand final at Celtic Park.
The British and Irish Lion is hoping to depart with a second league winners’ medal tucked away in his bags but Irish giants Leinster stand in the way as Glasgow look to repeat their 2015 triumph.
Rennie admits he had been forced to tell the “excitable” 26-year-old to calm down at times during the build up to the Parkhead showdown.
But now he wants the rest of his squad to ramp up their effort levels and make sure Hogg goes out on a high.
“We tried to put the brakes on Stuart today,” said Rennie after getting his first look round Celtic’s 60,000-seater home. “He went berserk yesterday at training, putting in some massive high-speed numbers.
“He’s seen that the field is a little bit shorter (at Celtic Park) so he was lining up some kicks from the opposition 22m line type of thing.
“He’s an excitement machine. He’s desperate to go out on a big note and all we need him to do is to play as well as he has in the last few weeks and hopefully it’s enough.
“It would be brilliant for him to end with a trophy. It’s as much about the environment, the occasion, and the quality of the opposition too.
“Leinster are a massive powerhouse in European rugby, they won the title last year and they’re going to be tough to roll.
“It’s nice that we’re at home and we’ve got plenty to play for as well as Hoggy leaving. I expect to see the boys front up.”
Hogg may be the only member of Rennie’s squad who has to fend off autograph hunters any time he ventures into the centre of Glasgow given the city’s famous preference for its two big football clubs.
But the fact more than 43,000 tickets for Saturday’s final have already been sold has impressed the head coach.
Now he hopes Celtic Park’s famous roar can inspire his team to victory.
He said: “The field is immaculate and the stadium has a bit of a South African feel to it with the massive stadium, high walls and the crowd being really close.
“It will be pretty special when it’s full.
“There’s a lot of excitement clearly. We’re where we want to be. We’ve talked about trying to put ourselves in a final at home so it’s clear that there’s excitement.
“We’re ready to go and have plenty in the tank.
“What are we on, 43,000 tickets sold? It would be awesome if we got a few more walk-ins, that would be great.
“But having 40-odd thousand here, 50-odd down the road (at Hampden for the Scottish Cup final), that’s a hell of an effort from the Glasgow community.
“Maybe it can be a bit of a blessing being in Glasgow with such a football focus that we can walk around with no-one having a clue who we are.
“So to be able to stage a massive game here is special and we’re racked that we can be a part of it.”
Rennie has stuck with the same XV that stormed past semi-final opponents Ulster last week with a 50-20 triumph.
⚔️🛡️ Here is your Glasgow Warriors team to play @leinsterrugby in the Guinness PRO14 Final at Celtic Park tomorrow evening, brought to you by @MackenzieConstr.
🎟️ BUY ONLINE HERE 👉 https://t.co/eVQ8FXod9G pic.twitter.com/CgBe7qUGX9
— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) May 24, 2019
But he admits his team will have to up their game if they are to get the better of Leo Cullen’s Dublin powerhouse.
He said: “It’s hard to accurately say what more we need but we know we can play a lot better than last week.
“We think we can defend better but we were really clinical. That’s important in big games.
“I don’t imagine we’ll get the number of openings we did last week but if we get two or three we need to nail them and that’s an area we’ve been really good at over the last month.”
PA
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Comments on RugbyPass
Danny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
35 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to comments