Clinical Edinburgh took a giant leap towards a Pro14 semi-final with a hat-trick of tries from their scrum-halves.
World Rugby’s new breakdown directives had seen a daft amount of penalties conceded in other competitions which had started up before the Pro14, and referee Mike Adamson had the first blast of his whistle within a minute. And that wasn’t to let up.
Jaco van der Walt opened the scoring, after the second penalty Glasgow had conceded within the first 2mins for breakdown infringements.
Edinburgh threatened around the 13min mark when trying to work the ball wide, but the move was pulled back for a supposed forward pass by Chris Dean, when it seemed that momentum had taken the ball forward.
Dean may not be a superstar name in Scottish centre circles, but he’s been a solid and consistent performer when called upon for Edinburgh in the last few years, when Scott and Bennett were on the treatment table.
An interesting little head-to-head happened at a 15th min scrum when Zander Fagerson got the call over Rory Sutherland, allowing Adam Hastings to reduce the deficit to 3-6.
For all the talk of Edinburgh raining bombs on auxiliary full-back Huw Jones, it was Blair Kinghorn’s error on an up-and-under which led to Peter Horne squeezing over, and an out of turn reaction from Stuart McInally, who grabbed Adam Hastings by the neck in the post-try celebrations, which also led to a Glasgow penalty after Hastings had knocked over the conversion for a 10-6 lead.
Nic Groom bagged his first try after some good, patient possession play, but Adam Hastings showed his fleet of foot to put Warriors back into the lead going into half-time.
Half-time: Glasgow Warriors 15 -10 Edinburgh
Glasgow had utilised the threat of Duhan van der Merwe by employing a more passive approach in their defence and boxing the powerful winger in, but when he got a half sniff of a chance, he took it magnificently to help put Edinburgh back into a lead they wouldn’t surrender.
The sooner we get Duhan van der Merwe capped for Scotland, the better. He’s turning into a superb player.
There’s balance to the raw power. If you don’t hit him hard he stays on his feet, and with a little bit of space, he bounced off some weak tackles before putting Groom in for his double.
Jaco van der Walt, who really grew into the game in the 2nd half in a ding-dong battle with Hastings – who did the attacking part well, but missed tackles in the lead up to two Edinburgh tries – smacked over a great penalty, and the coup de grace was supplied by Charlie Shiel with an utterly magnificent solo score, weaving his way past four Warriors.
Edinburgh are starting to get to that stage where you call wins like this “professional”. They weren’t particularly the better team in the first half, just before Groom’s first try, the Warriors had held out for what seemed like an age – with Richie Gray at the fore – but they took the chance, and once into the lead in the second half, they didn’t let go.
Jamie Ritchie’s still to come back too, Toolis will be back to claim line-outs for the semis, so Edinburgh fans should be pretty excited about the short term future at least.
Full Time: Glasgow Warriors 15 – 30 Edinburgh
SRBlog MOTM: I’m hearing shouts for Blair Kinghorn, but he made one big error which led to a Warriors’ try. “The Mish” was a pest as you’d expect, but when the scores were tight, Jaco van der Walt kicked an important penalty, and was pretty solid with his decisions throughout, so there’s your MOTM.
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
Attendance: 0
6 Responses
Good win for Embra in what was an excellent first game from both teams. Toonie will be pleased with the intensity of both sides.
Enjoyed the game – haven’t watch any live sport since lockdown – so was really pleased with the game.
No surprise. Harley subbed off and Glasgow fall apart. What were they thinking subbing him off.
That Charlie Shiel-run was pretty impressive. Great to see the boys back in action.
I thought it was a pretty accomplished performance for Huw Jones at full back dealt nicely with some awkward kicks. Although I missed the 3rd quarter so haven’t seen the whole game yet.
So if that was Glasgow’s home game, did the chippy’s change to asking you if you want salt and vinegar on Saturday ? My moneys on Glasgow winning on the away leg.
So, Edinburgh v Ulster home semi final is eminently winnable for Edinburgh. Let’s hope they don’t choke as a first final for Edinburgh would be a big landmark.
Whilst Leinster would start any final big favourites I do think Edinburgh have the tools to unsettle them. Hopefully, SRU getting a pilot game with crowds at Murrayfield early doors means it is in pole position to host the final of Edinburgh make it.