Edinburgh Rugby v Glasgow Warriors
Date: Sat 28th December 2019
KO: 15:00
Venue: BT Murrayfield
Having secured the win fairly late in proceedings at Scotstoun, Glasgow travel to BT Murrayfield for the second leg with a minor spring in their step.
Neither side has made major changes from the teams that made such an uninspiring spectacle of the first leg.
Matt Scott returns from injury to sit the bench for Edinburgh while Nic Groom gets a chance to start at 9. Mark Bennett – who, along with Luke Crosbie and Lewis Carmichael announced new deals of unspecified length over the Christmas break – will again partner George Taylor in midfield.
In a slight change of selection policy from last season, Simon Hickey keeps the ten shirt rather than rotating with van der Walt, now that we’re starting to see a little more from the kiwi standoff.
With Tommy Seymour nursing a knock to the head, Ratu Tagive comes in to the wing for Glasgow but unusually Dave Rennie shows faith in the midfield pairing of Johnson and Jones – Jones repaid that faith last week with a decisive role in the key try for Ali Price and a decent all round showing.
Up front, Oli Kebble is the only change to the pack, with his front row partners Fraser Brown and Zander Fagerson having given their Edinburgh counterparts a torrid time last time out they’ll be hoping for more of the same. Perhaps in response, WP Nel is restored to Edinburgh’s starting XV having missed out altogether last week. Last weekend’s starting tighthead, Pietro Ceccarelli, is absent from the 23 and not listed among the injured; make of that what you will.
Hoepfully this week, there will be fewer yellow cards. You never know, there might even be some rugby.
Edinburgh Rugby: Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham, Mark Bennett, George Taylor, Duhan van der Merwe, Simon Hickey, Nic Groom; Pierre Schoeman, Stuart McInally, Willem Nel, Ben Toolis, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Viliame Mata.
Replacements: Mike Willemse, Jamie Bhatti, Simon Berghan, Lewis Carmichael, Magnus Bradbury, Henry Pyrgos, Jaco van der Walt, Matt Scott.
Glasgow Warriors: Ruaridh Jackson, Ratu Tagive, Huw Jones, Sam Johnson, DTH van der Merwe, Adam Hastings, Ali Price; Oli Kebble, Fraser Brown, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Jonny Gray, Rob Harley, Callum Gibbins, Ryan Wilson.
Replacements: George Turner, Aki Seiuli, Adam Nicol, Adam Ashe, Tom Gordon, George Horne, Nick Grigg, Nikola Matawalu,
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
Edinburgh unavailable: Chris Dean, Luke Crosbie, Fraser McKenzie, Jack Stanley, John Barclay
Glasgow unavailable: Siua Halanukonuka (calf), Sean Kennedy (shoulder), Kiran McDonald (hip), Robbie Nairn (knee), D’arcy Rae (hand), Tommy Seymour (head) and Brandon Thomson (calf).
PRO14 Exiles: our sole exile, Blade Thomson, has been upgraded to a starting slot for the Scarlets.
22 responses
This is in the bag for Edinburgh, Mike Adamson hates Glasgow.
I take it back, that’s the best game Adamson has had.
Agreed. I was glad to see him go straight to the penalty try, too, instead of giving endless warnings.
Well done Sam , very gracious retraction, takes a big man to admit it , Adamson was in great form and deserves praise.
Back three – Edinburgh; centres – Glasgow (perhaps on rep, rather than form…); half backs – Glasgow; back row – Edinburgh, 2nd row – Glasgow; Front row – evens, home advantage – Edinburgh. Techt on paper.
I knew my Edinburgh men would batter those Glasgow dogs into submission and send them scurrying back to whence they came this time around, merely a fluke last weekend.
Scott has usurped the Aussie for the 12 Jersey.
Yeah, Edinburgh were really convincing as they lost the gainline battle in both attack and defence… So physical!
How long until Adamson gets to ref a Six Nations game? … Or does Gatland get to pick that too?
That was a really good, if confusing match. I thought Adamson actually had a good game, scrums aside.
Glasgow’s won the gainline battle, yet Edinburgh comfortably made more metres. Glasgow’s lineout was pretty rubbish initially, but once they got it sorted the match was even. The difference between the teams was place kicking and a yellow card. I’d be glad if both teams can equal or better that standard for the rest of the season. Schoeman was comfortably better than Kebble, and Edinburgh’s back three is far more threatening than Glasgow’s at present. Giving any of them loose ball or space is a great way to lose a game! On paper, I think Edinburgh have a more balanced XV at the moment, though Glasgow have seriously upped their game in these last two matches.
From a Scotland perspective, it great to see Jones and Scott having good games, and Bennett looked good, too. Gray and Gilchrist had good games, and I thought Cummings was excellent. Zander had another strong game, funky scrum battle aside. Hastings was looking good, too – was a real blow when he went off. Horne and Price both looked sharp, and Pyrgos looked the most dynamic he has in ages. Graham and Kinghorn looked ace, too. Really positive to see.
Looking forward to round 3! And I’m cautiously optimistic about what these new coaching appointments do with Scotland in the 6N. The building blocks are there, Gregor et al. just need to pull them together into a cohesive, dedicated, skillful team.
Fagerson is useless at tighthead. He cannot scrummage. His feet are all wrong. Easy to play against. His bind is loose. He is set with long legs. Easy to con ref. Just come of him 1 inch and he is flat on his nose. Please ask the Bear to help this boy. He can play rugby. However at present his technique is flawed.
As a Glasgow man well done Edinburgh. It was eachy peachy for 75 mins then Grigg of all people lost knocked on. Bennett flew forward, great pass to Graham and even De Merve looked slow against his pace. However, what a fabulous game which will excite Townsend particularly. Jones looking great, Matt Scott? Scintillating inside centre, Graham on fire. Over the leagues there doesn’t seem to be an injury problem as of recent years and most of the previous returnees are getting towards match fitness. Hutchinson and Taylor playing well, Lang, Hamilton and Harris too. Looking great? Betcha it’s the wooden spoon again. Said with irony but not easy being a Scotland supporter.
Bit worried about Glasgow now. I feel their season might completely implode during the 6 nations when their best players are in the Scotland camp. Fagerson is probably looking forward to the 6 nations so he can get a bit of a break and doesn’t have to play 80 minutes every week. Where do guys like Nicol and Ashe get confidence if Rennie won’t play them off the bench?
I’ve been surprised at the lack of comments over the last few days.
Firstly, thanks to all those that edit and provide the content, secondly to commenters. I think this site deserves more support, so maybe we can all incorporate the link in other anti-social media, should we ever use it of course.
Just wanted to add a few bullet points before the training squad is announced, negatives first:
Something not right at Warriors if bench not being emptied. Why.
What was going on with Harley and Johnson, interchanges at scrum and centre.
What to do with Magnus.
No loosehead claiming the spot.
No #8.
Positives:
Jamie Ritchie. Attitude personified.
Matt Scott. Best in form 12.
Huw Jones. Been abused by GW but is class when played correctly.
Scott Cummings.
Terrific match for the neutral, and a good crowd, with atmosphere in the ground building through the last quarter with the result on the line.
For me the turning point was Cockerill’s early resort to his bench, whereas Rennie’s substitutions were reactive, piece-meal and too late to influence the outcome. By 70 minutes the Glasgow starters were running on empty.
After Glasgow went ahead, Edinburgh regrouped and had the spirit to grasp the match which was won won with 2 contrasting team tries.
Matt Scott was a revelation with lines every bit as incisive as those of Jones in the first half.
The pack must have been on the scrummaging machine till they puked, since they had the upper hand in the set piece from the off. Glasgow’s lineout was a shambles.
Lost the rest of my post!, will try to recall.
Happy new year though.
Tom English reporting that Johnny Gray will sign for Exeter in the summer. No one deserves to be on a massive wedge more, fair play. Could be great for Scotland if he makes a regular partnership with Skinner. I had wondered at one time if SRU might try to get Skinner to Glasgow.
Also this move will probably help Gray’s case with the next Lions tour. Very interesting to see where Glasgow go from here.
Yes, good for Scotland as Gray only likely to improve at a good club under a great coach. But tough to take for Glasgow – Wilson will have a sizeable rebuilding job to do and needs SRU backing with funding for recruitment. It sounds like that might materialise from the article but whether Glasgow can attract the right calibre of recruit is another thing.
With the lack of a Hogg replacement, and better value from Seymour now he is not on international duty, there should at least be some cash available to Wilson spend wisely…
Priorities?
Lock, Fly-half cover, no 8.
Maybe they can convince Nakarawa to stick around?
Yes. Was relieved to hear that.
J Gray needs to toughen up to be a top lock at test level…and not just rely on his stats as evidence he can be a top player. Exeter will be exactly what he needs.
Likewise, Glasgow needs an overhaul anyway. Far too much dead wood getting games for them. They need to reset and refresh.
Grigg should move on at any rate. Not test level…and if Glasgow actually want to challenge at a high level…he isnt their standard either.
Rugby pass reporting Nick Grigg now also looking to move on.
Most likely agent-spin given his contract is up for renegotiation and curious timing, having been dropped for both the ’72 games and not exactly missed…
Grigg’s biggest fan is moving to Oz.
With Jones & Steyn both better than Grigg, Grigg’s possible departure only weakens the the wider squad/ squad during the 6N . Also gives the opportunity for Stafford McDowall to get much needed game-time. J.Gray, G.Graham would be good signings too