«CAPITAL CLASS SHOULD LEAD TO DERBY DOUBLE READ ROB ROBERTSON
The balance of power in Scottish rugby has shifted. It has taken him two-and-a-half years to get there but Richard Cockerill has finally assembled an edinburgh squad better than the one Dave Rennie has at Glasgow Warriors.
That is why his side will go into the back-to-back Pro14 derby matches as firm favourites to win them both.
edinburgh have the better players, all the momentum and the game changers to inflict more misery on Rennie in his final season at Glasgow.
Cockerill knows the next two derby games — the first at Scotstoun four days before Christmas and the other at BT Murrayfield three days later — can enhance the reputation of both him and his team.
Glasgow’s heineken Champions Cup hopes are all but over following the home defeat to La Rochelle — and they badly need the Pro14 points to bolster their bid to qualify for the end-of-season play-offs.
While Glasgow are only two league defeats away from a crisis, edinburgh are looking good in the Pro14 and have a chance of making the european Challenge Cup knockout stages after their away win over Wasps.
With Stuart hogg having left for exeter Chiefs in the summer, there are no world-class stars left at Glasgow. Granted, you wouldn’t put any of the edinburgh players in that category — although hamish Watson is getting there — but, overall, they have better players than the Warriors in most positions.
The real strength of edinburgh is the back row and that unit can lay the foundations for victory over Glasgow. Jamie Ritchie and Watson on the flanks, with Bill Mata at eight, is one of the best back rows in northernhemisphere rugby.
The pick of the Glasgow Warriors back row this season has been No8 Matt Fagerson and he is set to miss both derby matches after being sent off in the weekend defeat to La Rochelle.
Glasgow co-captains Callum Gibbins and Ryan Wilson on the flanks are not a patch on Ritchie and Watson. At full-back, Blair Kinghorn is more an attacking threat than Tommy Seymour, although both are brave and safe under the high ball.
At fly-half, Adam hastings is still not the finished product and has no real back-up. edinburgh have two solid rather than spectacular tens in Simon hickey and Jaco van der Walt. If one is having an off day, at least the other might be on form.
At hooker, Scotland captain Stuart McInally isn’t far ahead of Fraser Brown at Glasgow but was given longer off after the World Cup and will be fresher going into the two derby matches.
In the second row, Grant Gilchrist — rested in the Challenge Cup win over Wasps to keep him fresh for the Glasgow game — forms a better partnership with Ben Toolis than Jonny Gray does with Scott Cummings.
edinburgh have the best finishers in wingers Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe compared to anyone in the Glasgow Warriors side. Kyle Steyn knows his way to the try line but Niko Matawalu has been struggling of late.
Glasgow scrum-halves Ali Price and George horne are sharper than henry Pyrgos and his understudy Nic Groom but in tough, winter conditions, the capital pair have better game management.
Cockerill has all the aces and I expect edinburgh to confirm their supremacy with back-to-back victories over their inter-city rivals.