FIRST BLOOD
Warriors strike late to win 1872 Cup opener
IN the season of peace on earth and goodwill to all men, there was a sense of irony in the fact that five yellow cards were dished out as these two great rivals clashed.
It paints the impression of a dirty, ill-tempered derby. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth.
Yes, it was brutally physical and error-strewn at times. But it was hardly vicious. Both sides will have legitimate questions to ask of referee Ben Blain in the aftermath.
In the end, Glasgow took the spoils. Dave Rennie’s men scored two tries in a chaotic final 20 minutes to effectively keep their season alive.
Having lost the 1872 Cup in each of his two seasons at the club, Rennie will now head into the return at Murrayfield next week looking to land some silverware prior to leaving for Australia next summer.
The battle between the back-rows was always going to be pivotal. Matt Fagerson has been Glasgow’s best player in that department this season, but he was suspended following his red card against La Rochelle last weekend.
In his absence, the experienced trio of Rob Harley, Callum Gibbins and Ryan Wilson went up against Edinburgh’s Magnus Bradbury, Hamish Watson and Bill Mata.
It was Mata who looked lively early on, the big Fijian No8 making some good ground with a couple of powerful carries.
But an Adam Hastings penalty had Glasgow 3-0 in front after just seven minutes. Indeed, his kicking from hand was just as good as he moved his team into good field position over the opening 20 minutes.
Rennie made the admission in midweek that he felt his side had perhaps lacked intensity in these festive derbies over the past couple of years, primarily because they have typically been well clear at the top of the standings.
That wasn’t the case last night. They looked fired up, with Zander Fagerson in particular typifying their aggression. The Scotland prop was playing like a man possessed.
He was a colossus in the scrum. At the breakdown, he was winning all manner of turnovers which a backrower like his brother Matt would have been proud of.
A penalty from Edinburgh fly-half Simon Hickey levelled the scores at 3-3, shortly before Glasgow were reduced to 14 men on 28 minutes.
Ruaridh Jackson could have no complaints. With Darcy Graham flying past him at speed, the experienced Warriors full-back stupidly stuck out a leg to trip the young Edinburgh winger.
Hickey swiftly put Edinburgh in front with another penalty. Yet, with Fagerson dominating Pierre Schoeman at the scrum, another set-piece penalty allowed Hastings to make it 6-6.
It was a blessing for Glasgow that Edinburgh were unable to make any further inroads during the 10-minute period Jackson was in the sin bin.
Glasgow were knocking on the door and really ought to have scored the opening try on the stroke of half-time.
Edinburgh clung on, albeit at the cost of a yellow card to Mata for what the officials perceived to be a cynical intervention from an offside position.
Warriors opted against taking the points — and it proved costly as, after choosing the scrum, Fagerson was punished in what was pretty much the only blemish on his copybook.
It had been a bitty, fragmented first half. Both sides struggled to find any fluency and were guilty of making sloppy mistakes any time they got into threatening positions.
Edinburgh were then shown a second yellow card on 50 minutes — and in highly controversial circumstances.
Glasgow hooker Fraser Brown had already been tackled and was falling into his opposite number Stuart McInally by the time contact was made.
McInally didn’t use any particular force and, although his arm did make contact with Brown’s head, it looked totally accidental and unavoidable.
But referee Blain took exception and sent the Scotland skipper to the sin bin, as Edinburgh once again had to regroup with just 14 men.
With Brown off for a Head Injury Assessment, his replacement George Turner was then sent to the sin bin just five minutes after coming on for a no-arms chop tackle on Schoeman.
From the resulting penalty around 50 metres out, Hickey sent a booming kick between the posts as Edinburgh edged into a 9-6 lead. Entering the final 20 minutes, it was set up for a tense finale.
It may have been a slow-burner, but the game burst into life in the final quarter — and it was Hastings who combined with Huw Jones to spark it all.
Hastings dinked a clever chip over the top of the Edinburgh defence, which Jones latched on to. He then slipped a clever pass back inside for Ali Price — who had only been on for only a couple of minutes — to race in and score.
Hastings converted for a lead of 13-9 but Edinburgh came roaring back with a fine try of their own through Blair Kinghorn on 71 minutes.
After the ball had gone through the hands of Watson and Jamie Ritchie, Kinghorn jinked back inside and finished expertly in the corner, with Jaco van der Walt slotting a brilliant conversion as the visitors reclaimed the lead.
But, crucially, Edinburgh replacement scrum-half Nic Groom was then shown a yellow card on 75 minutes for a high tackle as the game swung back in Glasgow’s favour.
They were banging on the door. After taking the line-out from the penalty, they rumbled over the Edinburgh line and Turner was the man who dotted down.
Hastings kicked a terrific conversion from out wide as the home side held on for a vital 20-16 victory. It wasn’t pretty, but they got the job done.