SCOTSTOUN will welcome Dave Rennie this afternoon as the new Glasgow Warriors coach makes his home debut against Ospreys.

But for Glasgow centre Peter Horne, the Warriors are targeting victory on two counts – the first to ensure Rennie makes a winning start, the second as the first brick in what the Scotland international hopes is the rebuilding of ‘Fortress Scotstoun.’

Warriors made a tremendous start to their Guinness PRO14 campaign last weekend with an 18-12 win on the road against Connacht in Galway.

And for Horne, cementing that success could be key to Warriors success this term.

“Before the season began all the players discussed what could make this season better and we generally hit upon improving our home form over last season, when to be honest, we let some of the standards we’d set in previous years slip,” said the 27-year-old back.

“If you have ambitions of reaching the play-offs then home form counts for so much. In past seasons, that has played a big part in our success and we want to get back to making Scotstoun a place where teams turn up knowing just how tough a test they’ll face. And we can hopefully put down that marker against the Ospreys.”

However, Horne admits that improvements to Scotstoun have inspired visiting teams of late.

“The G4 pitch is a magnificent surface to play on, and we love it – but so do some of our opponents, and teams are turning up looking to play a running game against us.

“That didn’t really happen when we were at Firhill or on the old grass pitch at Scotstoun when at times, especially if it was a wet winter, that matches were just a slog on a heavy, muddy surface.

“Ospreys will be up for this trip. They’ve begun the season with a good win against Zebre. Dan Baker and Justin Tipuric looked really sharp in that one, and they have real pace out wide with Jeff Hassler. So this is a big game for us but one you really have to look forward to being part of.”

Peter is still on a high after beginning this campaign with that away win over Connaught, which he says, was as tough an 80 minutes as he has ever faced.

“Remember what I said about Firhill and the old Scotstoun? Well, those under-foot conditions were ideal preparation for what we had to contend with in Galway.

“I have never played in anything like that win and rain. After five minutes, you were soaked, as if you’d been standing under a shower. There was little point in changing kit at half time – five minutes later you’d have been drenched again.

“The good thing – the only good thing actually – in terms of the weather was that it was quite mild. Had that been like that, in the dead of winter, you would seriously have run the risk of suffering hypothermia. You would have been frozen.

“That said, by the end it was a bit chilly by the end. But you quickly forgot about that having taken the victory.

“We had to defend really well at times, but in attack, we were quite clinical with the scores we got through Ali Price and Lee Jones, and while I might be expected to say it, I think we deserved the win.”

Perhaps modesty prevented Horne admitting he weighed in with a conversion and a couple of penalty goals. However, regardless of who grabbed the points for the Warriors on the night, taking the spoils of victory was all that mattered.

“It wasn’t pretty, by any means. However, the only thing that mattered, given the elements, was getting a win. You only had to look in to the faces of the Connacht players to see how hard it was for them, having had to contend with those conditions, and coming away with nothing.

“Last weekend was the All-Ireland hurling final, and all of Galway was set up for a party last weekend. I think we put a bit of a dampener on that last Saturday – but at least they’d have made up for it on Sunday when Galway beat Waterford.”

For the visit of Ospreys, Horne switches from fly-half to centre to accommodate the returning Finn Russell, while Callum Gibbins makes his Warriors debut at open-side flanker.