Dave Rennie to succeed Gregor Townsend at Glasgow
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Rennie, 52, currently coach of the Chiefs Super Rugby side, will come north with an impressive pedigree.
He joined the New Zealand-based Chiefs in 2012 and won two Super Rugby titles in his first two seasons. In doing so he became the first first-year coach to win a Super Rugby title since 2000.
He has signed a two year deal with Glasgow.
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Hide AdMark Dodson, chief executive of Scottish Rugby, said: “It is a clear indication of the progress Scottish Rugby, and Glasgow Warriors, are making that we can attract a coach of Dave’s experience to Scotland to work with our players.
“Gregor has developed a great winning culture at Glasgow Warriors and I’m very confident Dave will be able to build on that solid foundation to bring more success to the club.
“We have a group of talented Scottish players at Glasgow and we want to maintain their progress and this appointment will expose them to fresh ideas and new approaches to the game. Dave’s experience at the Chiefs and at New Zealand age-grade level can only help to develop them and the team further.”
Townsend led Warriors to the Guinness Pro12 title in 2015 but it was announced this week that he would be leaving Glasgow in summer 2017 to replace Vern Cotter as Scotland head coach.
Rennie said: “I am delighted to be appointed to the head coach role at Glasgow Warriors. The opportunity to work with such an exciting group of players at a club that has such big ambitions and a great winning culture was one I couldn’t turn down.
“It’s no secret I have been interested in coaching abroad and this chance with Scottish Rugby fitted the bill perfectly.
“As a coach you want to test yourself in new environments with new challenges. The work Gregor and his team have done at the Warriors speaks for itself and I am very motivated to continue that success and build the club.”
Rennie was a centre with Wellington as a player and then held a position at the International Rugby Academy of New Zealand as a resource coach between 2003-2007.
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Hide AdHe also coached Manawatu in the ITM Cup between 2006-2011, and alongside that role he coached the New Zealand U20 side which won three consecutive Junior World Championships between 2008-2010.
He started his coaching career in 1999 at Wellington, where the team won their first NPC title in 14 years in his opening season as head coach in 2000.
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