Gunners have eyes set on a home semi after thumping Cup victory
GLASGOW WARRIORS 15 EDINBURGH 30
Gunners triumphed in the Covid comeback derby at Murrayfield to take a giant stride towards a home-turf Pro14 semi-final.
Richard Cockerill’s troops had too much pace and power when it mattered most – and the Warriors’ slim hopes of a title play-off place were dashed.
And, to spread the icing on the capital cake, Edinburgh also retained the 1872 Cup, thanks mainly to two-try vice-captain Nic Groom. Now Groom and Co will set their sights on repeating the feat when the rivals clash again at the same venue on Friday to make sure of staying at the national stadium for the likely last-four showdown with Ulster the following weekend.
The opening exchange had been predictably scrappy and error-strewn after the enforced five-month lay-off. Gunners were handed the chance to break the deadlock when Matt Fagerson offended at a ruck.
And Jaco van der Walt’s crisp strike from 30 metres edged his side ahead.
The stand-off punished the Warriors again from close in two minutes later when the entire backline wandered offside. Having been under the cosh since the kick-off, Glasgow battled their way into enemy territory and Adam Hastings found the target to repair some of the damage.
A towering Hastings lob then sparked panic in the Edinburgh back-ranks, who were pressured into giving away a penalty on their own line.
Warriors spurned the chance of an equalising kick – and the gamble paid off as Pete Horne skipped through for a clever try midway through the half. Gunners skipper Stuart Mcinally was lucky to dodge a yellow card for hurling Horne to the deck as he celebrated his score.
And Hastings added the extras from dead in front of the posts to rub salt in the wounds of the rattled capital outfit.
Carelessness crept back into Glasgow’s game in the build-up to the interval and a brilliant dummy by Mark Bennett against his old team set up a chance.
The initial raid was repelled, but they patiently put together a series of phases before scrum-half Groom burrowed over to give van der Walt an easy conversion.
Warriors responded quickly and potently with a touchdown for Hastings following a well-controlled pick-and-drive sequence, but he couldn’t slot the kick from a tricky angle. Gunners pressed hard in a bid to grab back the lead in stoppage time. However Glasgow grit prevailed.
Both coaches made changes to their front-row line-ups at the restart.
A grubber kick into the danger zone by Huw Jones gave the Warriors the instant momentum, but they spoiled the good work by being guilty of a premature surge at the lineout. The contest continued to be blighted by unforced mistakes and failures in basic skills.
But what it lacked in finesse was more than made up for in terms of endeavour and desire.
Glasgow earned the first real points opportunity of the half as Hastings teed up a 40-metre penalty. However, he pulled it wide of the post.
There was another spate of substitutions on the hour mark, with rival skippers and hookers Mcinally and Fraser Brown exiting the fray. Within seconds Groom completed his double – finishing with ease after a trademark jinking dash and offload by winger Duhan van der Merwe.
Van der Walt’s strike opened up a five-point advantage for the locals. Then he immediately thumped over a long-range penalty to leave the Warriors with plenty to do.
They were unable to regain an effective rhythm and never looked like threatening to halt the capital charge.
And sub scrum-half Charlie Shiel made sure with a superb solo effort six minutes from time – Van der Walt again hitting the target.