Glasgow boss Rennie quashes Cruden rumours
NEWS: Dave Rennie has quashed speculation in Scotland that fellow New Zealand Aaron Cruden is being lined up for a summer move to Glasgow.
The former All Black out-half had been rumoured to be in line to finish up his contract a year early at Montpellier and make a pay-cut switch to the Warriors.
However, Rennie has dismissed the rumours of Cruden coming to Scotstoun, claiming the club is sufficiently resourced in the No.10 position despite losing Finn Russell to Racing last summer.
“He’s not coming,” said Rennie, speaking on Friday ahead of the weekend Scottish derby against Edinburgh.
“There was a lot of speculation around Aaron and has been for a long period of time. I’m constantly talking to him. I know him well and we’re pretty close. I’d love him to join us. I think he’d be great around educating our young 10s, Adam (Hastings) and Brandon (Thomson), but he’s not coming.”
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Speaking to BBC Scotland and other local media, Rennie then went onto sing the praises of Hastings, who have sufficiently help fill the void left by Russell to ensure Glasgow are leading their PRO14 conference heading into the final match before the end-of-season play-offs.
“I truly believe Adam has the ability to be better than Finn,” said Rennie about the 22-year-old who had been at Bath before linking up with the Warriors.
“Look, Finn’s a really talented player but his ability to read play and build pressure still has a wee way to go, as has his work off the ball. You see a little inconsistency around Finn’s game and Adam is probably the same, but he’s a young man who’s probably going to get a lot better.
“He’s had an excellent season. We were able to build more pressure with Adam in the 10 seat because he doesn’t feel the need to do something fancy after four phases because we’re not going anywhere. Adam is on track to develop into a really good 10 who will put pressure on Finn (for Scotland).”
Despite speculation linking him to the Australia job, Rennie insisted he is committed to the recently inked extension that will keep him at Scotstoun until June 2020.
“I’ve signed and I won’t walk away from that contract. I’m not saying that Australia is impossible but it’s improbable. They’d need to wait until 2020, which is pretty unlikely. I’m really happy here.
“We only signed for one more year and, to be honest, it’s more around family. I’m not sure I could convince my wife to sign for two years because that would be two more years away from children and grandchildren.
“Our three sons and the grandkids are all in New Zealand. Family is important to us and she is tugged a little bit to go home. We Skype three nights a week and get videos sent every day by our daughter-in-law. It helps, but it’s not quite the same.”
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