THE 1872 CUP has returned to Glasgow for the first time since 2017 after Danny Wilson’s men secured a bonus point win over arch-rivals Edinburgh last night to win the series 2-1.
After a humiliating defeat to Benetton last time out, it was clear that Warriors were determined to make amends, with the home players bristling with nervous energy during the warm-up and then celebrating like they had just won the Champions Cup when Edinburgh stand-off Nathan Chamberlain sent the kick-off out on the full. Throughout the remainder of the 80-minutes, the home players on the park, and the wider squad member in the stand, roared
Straight from the scrum, Nick Grigg made good ground up the left touchline – but the centre lost possession in contact, and Edinburgh had a spell in the ascendancy, but Warriors were ferocious in defence, and academy stand-off Ross Thompson saw off the threat this time by ripping the ball in a tackle then sending a 60-yard clearance downfield.
Thompson then fired the hosts into the lead with a 35-yard offside penalty, and Bill Mata was triple-teamed by Thompson, Thomas Gordon and Kyle Steyn straight from the restart to win another penalty for the hosts. Thompson duly kicked to the corner and Ali Price sent Cole Forbes – hitting a brilliant line like a runaway train – in for the first try of the evening.
The visitors demonstrated that they were not there just to make up the numbers and, aided by some familiar Glasgow indiscipline, they hauled themselves back into it when Dave Cherry burst over for a try off the back of a powerful line-out drive.
Chamberlain nailed the touchline conversion to make it 10-7, but the pendulum swung straight back again when Kyle Steyn chased down Edinburgh full-back Damien Hoyland straight from the restart, with Fraser Brown steeling possession and Foto Lokotui wrestling over.
While Glasgow’s intent going forward was impressive, that problem with discipline continued to haunt them, with Rob Harley – who had already chanced his arm a handful of times trying to disrupt Edinburgh’s maul – was sent to the sin-bin for side entry, and Pierre Schomen wasted no time in grabbing his team’s second try of the night from another line-out drive.
There was then two red-cards in quick succession. First Mark Bennett was given his marching orders after a ‘captain’s challenge’ from Fraser Brown highlighted that the Edinburgh centre’s shoulder had made contact with Ali Price’s jaw in a tackle, and five minutes later Henry Pyrgos made a successful challenge of his own when he was caught on the side of the head by Oli Kebble’s swinging elbow.
Under the law variations which are being trialled during this Rainbow Cup campaign, that meant both players would not be allowed to return to the match, but could be replaced after their respective sides had played the next 20 minutes with 14 men.
It had been a whirlwind of a match, but it was Warriors who went in with wind at their backs when Brown rumbled over to open up a 10-point lead at the break. Pyrgos launched another challenge against Thomas Lambert for not letting Jamie Ritchie get back into the defensive line after a ruck clear out, but this time referee Adam Jones decided there was no case to answer.
Scott Cummings was treated on the pitch then stretchered off after was knocked out whilst tackling Mata in the first minute of the second half. Happily, a thumbs up from the second-row as he was wheeled from the pitch provided reassurance that he wasn’t too badly hurt, and Warriors did not let that put them off their stride, and Kyle Steyn went over for the bonus point try.
Edinburgh kept the game alive when Stuart McInally marked his return to action after four months out with a try when he identified a yawning gap on the short side of a line-out maul and scurried over just a few minutes after coming off the bench.
Richie Gray was yellow-carded for collapsing a maul as Edinburgh battled hard for their bonus point try during the final 10 minutes. Despite being down to 14 men, Warriors held out thanks to some excellent work from Ratu Tagive to hold McInally up over the line.
Glasgow Warriors: C Forbes; R Tagive (C Lambert 40), N Grigg, S McDowall, K Steyn (N Matawalu 66); R Thompson (P Horne 66), A Price; O Kebble (R Tagive 57), F Brown (G Turner 61), Z Fagerson (E Pieretto 72), R Harley, S Cummings (R Gray 41), F Lokotui, T Gordon (K McDonald 59), R Wilson.
Edinburgh: D Hoyland; E Sau, M Bennett (J Johnstone 53), G Taylor, D van der Merwe; N Chamberlain, H Pyrgos (C Shiel 62); P Schoeman, D Cherry (S McInally 46), W Nel, J Hodgson, G Gilchrist (M Sykes, 59), J Ritchie (M Kunavula 40), L Crosbie, V Mata.
Referee: Adam Jones
Scorers –
Glasgow Warriors: Try: Forbes, Lokotui, Brown, Steyn; Con: Thompson 3; Pen: Thompson.
Edinburgh: Try: Cherry, Schoeman, McInally; Con: Chamberlain 2.
Scoring sequence (Glasgow first): 3-0; 8-0; 10-0; 10-5; 10-7; 15-7; 17-7; 17-12; 17-14; 22-14; 24-14; 29-14; 29-19.
Yellow cards –
Glasgow Warriors: Harley (30mins), Gray (73mins)
Red cards –
Glasgow: Kebble (38mins)
Edinburgh: Bennett (33mins)
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