Warriors edge bruising 1872 Cup opener
PRO14 REPORT: A late try from George Turner earned Glasgow Warriors bragging rights – with a 20-16 win over Edinburgh in the opening contest of the 1872 Cup after a fractious affair at Scotstoun.
Five yellow cards were handed out over 80 minutes as the pendulum swung one way and then the other with Adam Hastings and Simon Hickey trading penalties in a tight opening hour.
But a flurry of late tries saw the hosts claim bragging rights as scores from Ali Price and Turner, either side of a brilliant effort from Blair Kinghorn, sealed victory for Dave Rennie’s men.
Edinburgh has claimed the 1872 Cup in the last two seasons but Warriors have now won back-to-back meetings against their Scottish rivals and will travel to BT Murrayfield next weekend for the second part of their festive double-header.’
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Key moments
It took just six minutes for Glasgow to land the first blow of the evening. Hastings doing the business from the tee after Edinburgh were penalised at the breakdown.
The hosts were given a further boost moments later, winning a penalty from a scrum under their own posts as Zander Fagerson outmuscled Pierre Schoeman to get the upper hand.
But Edinburgh gradually began to creep back into the game and after Glasgow were pinged for offside, Hickey stepped up to level the scores with just over 20 minutes played.
More indiscipline from Warriors enabled Kinghorn to secure territory for Edinburgh, who were given a further boost when Ruaridh Jackson was sin-binned for a cynical trip.
The visitors failed to capitalise initially as Hickey’s penalty struck the post but after Edinburgh regathered the ball, Warriors handed him a second chance by conceding another penalty.
This time Hickey made no mistake from 15m out, straight in front of the sticks, to give Edinburgh the lead for the first time against the 14 men of Glasgow.
Rather than building on their momentum, Warriors’ dominance in the scrum gave the hosts a chance to respond almost immediately – a chance Adam Hastings grabbed with both hands.
And with just seconds to play in the first half, Edinburgh were also reduced to 14 when Bill Mata was sent to the naughty step after being adjudged offside as he thwarted a potential Glasgow score.
Cockerill’s men responded to the disappointment of losing a man by winning a scrum penalty against Fagerson, ensuring the two sides went into the break all square.
Despite Warriors’ best attempts, they were unable to take advantage of Edinburgh’s missing man as Mata returned with the sides still unable to be separated on the scoreboard.
But before Edinburgh could get back their full complement they were reduced to 14 again when Stuart McInally was sin-binned for a high tackle on Fraser Brown on 49 minutes.
Yet in a game where the tackles were flying in, Warriors’ man advantage lasted only a few minutes before they had another man sin-binned when Turner was penalised.
Hickey held his nerve to land the three-pointer to put Edinburgh back in front but Glasgow showed their spirit to respond with the game’s opening try after a bit of magic from Hastings.
The flyhalf’s clever chip over the Edinburgh defence was collected by Huw Jones, who sprinted towards the line before drawing the man and putting Price in under the posts.
The score kicked off a frantic final ten minutes as Kinghorn cut through the Glasgow defence to finish a beautiful sweeping move and put Edinburgh back in front.
But after Nic Groom saw yellow on 74 minutes, Warriors saw their opportunity and Turner drove over in the closing minutes to secure a famous win.
Man of the match
Who else but Fagerson? The Glasgow man was a man mountain from start to finish, causing Edinburgh all sorts of problems in the scrum with a monumental performance.
The 28-year-old Scotland international was defiant in defence, turned the ball over for fun at the breakdown and repeatedly displayed his set-piece prowess.
Play of the day
It was a brutally tight affair at Scotstoun with neither side giving an inch. In fact, it looked like being a try-less game until Hastings popped up with a moment of genius.
The flyhalf spotted the space behind the Edinburgh line and his delicate chip over was gathered by Huw Jones, who stormed into the Edinburgh 22 before putting Price in under the posts.
The scorers
For Glasgow:
Tries: Price, Turner
Cons: Hastings 2
Pens: Hastings 2
For Edinburgh:
Try: Kinghorn
Con: Van der Walt
Pens: Hickey 3
Yellow cards: Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors, 27), George Turner (Glasgow Warriors, 55), Viliame Mata (Edinburgh, 40), Stuart McInally (Edinburgh, 49), Nic Groom (Edinburgh, 74)
Teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Kyle Steyn, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Callum Gibbins (captain), 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Aki Seiuli.
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Adam Nicol, 19 Adam Ashe, 20 Tom Gordon, 21 Ali Price, 22 Nick Grigg, 23 Niko Matawalu.
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 George Taylor, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Stuart McInally (captain), 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Lewis Carmichael, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 James Johnstone.
Referee: Ben Blain (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White, Hollie Davidson (both Scotland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Report by @PRO14Official
