Edinburgh held on to a three-point lead to secure four valuable URC points, whilst the Warriors kept the Edinburgh scoreline low enough to retain the 1872 Cup in the 2nd leg of the traditional Christmas-time derby tie. Edinburgh started the day with it all to play for: to secure the cup, Sean Everittโs side had to overturn a 19-point deficit after a poor performance at Hampden Park last Sunday.
Regarding the URC table, Glasgow sat comfortably in second place, 11 points behind no-loss Leinster. Edinburgh on the other hand started the day at ninth, level on points with four other teams, and by no means guaranteed a playoff spot come the end of the season. Scottish Gas Murrayfield was packed with 40,000 fans, a club record.
Glasgow started well, charging the ball up the field, simply overpowering the Edinburgh defence, before a Warriors’ offside halted their opening drive. Edinburgh looked to do the same with their first possession but struggled to move the ball forward, any breakthrough quickly halted by a strong Glasgow back line.
In the aftermath of a brawl, Jamie Ritchie left the field for an HIA, replaced by Hamish Watson, and didnโt return, in what could be a concerning injury for the capital side.
After a relatively dull passage of play, with both sides struggling to create chances, a good kick from Ross Thompson gave Edinburgh an attacking opportunity just shy of the 22-meter line. Eventually opting to kick for three to get Edinburgh on the scoreboard after 25 minutes. Bar a second penalty for Edinburgh, this one missed, a fairly uneventful first end ended with the closest try-scoring opportunity of the game so far, Luke Crosbie almost sliding under the posts, but lost the ball forwards after a knock from Gregor Hiddleston. A very start-stop first half ended with Edinburgh up by just 3 and no tries scored. Edinburgh certainly had the better chances, but failed to produce a breakthrough play.
The second half started much the same as the first, Edinburgh on the attack with the majority of the possession, but unable to find an opening in the solid Glasgow backline.
Glasgow almost managed to score the opening try of the game on a counter-attacking play, a kick charged down by Matthew Fagerson eventually scooped up by Ben Muncaster meters away from the goal line. A second attack went nowhere after a foul.
Edinburgh almost broke through with Sam Skinner grabbing the ball from Duhan van der Merwe, before being taken down near the 22. Van der Merwe in the process was brought down in an aggressive tackle from Gregor Hiddleston, becoming the second Edinburgh star-man of the day to leave the field for an HIA.
The try drought finally seemed to be over after Rory Darge looked like had finally scored for Glasgow, but again the ball was deemed to have been held up. The momentum certainly had shifted Glasgow’s way and finally, after 68 minutes the Warriors were awarded a penalty try after Edinburghโs Paddy Harrison prevented the score. Glasgow were in frontโฆ for about 30 seconds, the returning drive from Edinburgh forced through by Pierre Schoeman on the right-hand corner of the pitch, Ben Heally kicking to restore Edinburghโs three-point lead in an entertaining moment of back-and-forth play.
For the last few minutes, Glasgow looked to claw back, the cup contest was long over but valuable URC points were up for grabs, and Edinburgh seemed happy to sit back and defend, hoping to hold on for the four. Edinburgh held firm in a final scrum, kicking out of bounds to secure victory at the national stadium.
In a similarly despondent fashion to last year, Glasgow lifted the 1872 Cup after a second-leg defeat. The first-leg performance was enough to secure the aggregate score.
Both sides will now get a couple of weeks to recharge before their final two pool-stage matches in their respective European competitions.
Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt was pleased with his side’s performance: “I’m very pleased with how they responded this week. Obviously, as you would know, in this position it’s frustrating that we can’t do this every week. But if we take this game on its own, it was a tough week for the players after delivering that performance last week. But Iโm proud on how they turned it around because that’s what they’re capable of.โ
1. Boan Venter, 2. Dave Cherry, 3. DโArcy Rae, 4. Sam Skinner, 5. Grant Gilchrist, 6. Jamie Ritchie, 7. Luke Crosbie, 8. Ben Muncaster / 9. Ali Price, 10. Ross Thompson, 11. Duhan van der Merwe, 12. Mosese Tuipulotu, 13. Matt Currie, 14. Darcy Graham, 15. Wes Goosen
16. Paddy Harrison, 17. Pierre Schoeman, 18. Javan Sebastian, 19. Marshal Sykes, 20. Hamish Watson, 21. Charlie Shiel, 22. Ben Healy, 23. James Lang
1. Jamie Bhatti, 2. Gregor Hiddleston, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Gregor Brown, 5. Scott Cummings, 6. Ally Miller, 7. Matt Fagerson, 8. Jack Mann / 9. Jamie Dobie, 10. Tom Jordan, 11. Kyle Steyn, 12. Sione Tuipuloto, 13. Huw Jones, 14. Seb Cancelliere, 15. Kyle Rowe
16. Grant Stewart, 17. Rory Sutherland, 18. Sam Talakai, 19. Alex Samuel, 20. Rory Darge, 21. Angus Fraser, 22. George Horne, 23. Duncan Weir
Attendance: 40,063
