DAVE RENNIE has confirmed that Aaron Cruden will not join Glasgow Warriors next season, putting to bed several months of speculation about whether the New Zealand playmaker will be a big money summer signing for the club.
“He’s not coming,” Rennie told the BBC. “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.”
Much of the conjecture linked to Rennie and Cruden’s long history and mutual respect. They were coach and captain of the New Zealand Under-20s side which won the Junior World Championship in 2009. Cruden was also Rennie’s stand-off at Manawatu Turbos (where Warriors backs coach Jason O’Halloran was on the staff as well) between 2008 and 2011, and they were then reunited at the Chiefs during the franchise’s back-to-back Super Rugby title successes in 2012 and 2013.
When asked about the possibility of Cruden joining Glasgow Warriors last month, Rennie chose to neither confirm or deny the link.
Also in his interview with the BBC, Rennie stated that he believes Hastings has the potential to be a better stand-off than his predecessor in the Warriors 10 jersey and Scotland’s first choice Finn Russell.
“I truly believe Adam has the ability to be better than Finn,” he said “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.”
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