Warriors win first leg of 1872 Cup
Junior Bulumakau, Josh Strauss and Alex Dunbar all crossed for the Warriors as they won 25-12 at Murrayfield – their first win at the venue in exactly three years.
Edinburgh only had 12 points from the boot of Duncan Weir to show for their efforts and they will need to impress at Scotstoun on the last day of the regular season if they are to retain the Cup they won last season.
Following Glasgow's superlative double over Racing 92, Gregor Townsend opted to make six alterations to the starting XV for this clash.
One of those changes was the inclusion of wing Bulumakau for his first start of the season and he did not have to wait long to have an impact.
Inside the first minute of the game Dunbar's deep kick drew an error from Edinburgh fullback Blair Kinghorn – who inked a new deal this week – as he spilled the ball on the wet turf allowing Bulumakau to dive on the ball for the simplest of tries.
It was a dream start for the Warriors in their bid to reclaim the Cup but the in-form Russell pulled the conversion wide and the hosts then found their feet.
They exerted plenty of territorial dominance and the Warriors were bleeding penalties at the breakdown – Weir punishing one in the eighth minute to trim the lead to 5-3.
And then after one infringement too many Alex Allan was sent to the bin for the Warriors and Weir kicked the hosts in front for the first time.
However, Townsend's side marshalled their ten minutes down to 14 impressively and when restored to their full complement hit back in style.
Strauss was the beneficiary at the back of a rolling maul, burrowing over the line for their second try and this time Russell was on target with the extras.
And there was still time for the in-form Scotland flyhalf to add a penalty before the interval and the visitors went in 15-6 ahead.
After the break the Warriors were on the front foot for the first ten minutes but Russell tugged a penalty wide while Weir showed him how it was done after a rare Edinburgh second-half foray.
Before the hour mark some quick thinking from Russell – who slotted a drop goal after the ball was blown off the tee right at the end of his allotted 90 seconds for a penalty – restored a nine-point advantage at 18-9.
But Weir soon pegged his old club back again to 18-12 as the game entered the final quarter of an hour.
However, the Warriors then found another gear and after an exhausting passage of play in attack, the tiring Edinburgh defence was eventually punctured for the decisive score.
Phase after phase in the Gunners' 22 took its toll in the end and it was Dunbar who went over in the left corner, fed by replacement Sean Lamont.
Russell added the extras to make it 25-12 and the rest of the match was spent with the home side trying in vain to claim a consolation score that would trim the points difference to a losing bonus point and give them a better chance of retaining the 1872 Cup at the end of the season.
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Pens: Weir 4
For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Bulumakau, Strauss, Dunbar
Cons: Russell 2
Pen: Russell
DG: Russell
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 Chris Dean, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Tom Brown, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Grant Gilchrist (captain), 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Viliame Mata, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Glenn Bryce.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Junior Bulumakau, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Henry Pyrgos (co-captain), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray (co-captain), 4 Brian Alainu'uese, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown,1 Alex Allan.
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 Adam Ashe, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Ali Price, 22 Nick Grigg, 23 Sean Lamont.
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
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