Warriors retain 1872 Cup, despite loss

MATCH REPORT: Glasgow Warriors missed the chance to end 2023 top of the United Rugby Championship after losing 14-19 to Edinburgh at Murrayfield – but did manage to retain the 1872 Cup.

Edinburgh gained a measure of revenge for last week’s defeat at Scotstoun by snatching a late victory over the Warriors in the United Rugby Championship thanks to a Duhan van der Merwe try.

But there was some compensation for the Warriors in their retention of the 1872 Cup despite missing out on the chance to end 2023 top of the table.

Trailing 22-12 from the first leg eight days earlier, the home team needed to win by 13 points or more at Murrayfield to lift the silverware.

But they never really looked like winning by that margin in a game which, despite being played in bitterly cold conditions, attracted a record crowd for a Scottish fixture of 37,881.

After beginning with a high-tempo attack in which Tom Jordan came close to breaking through, Glasgow took an early lead when Edinburgh offended and the penalty was sent to touch deep inside the home 22.

Johnny Matthews, always a potent threat from such situations, finished off from the line-out maul and George Horne added the conversion.

Edinburgh hit back thanks initially to Darcy Graham. The wing tapped and ran with a penalty, getting close to the Warriors’ goalline.

Then, when play went left, Mark Bennett floated a superb pass to his fellow centre Matt Currie, who dived to score in the left corner. Ben Healy was wide with the conversion attempt.

Inside the last five minutes of the half, another Glasgow penalty was sent to the corner.

The line-out drive was held up but Edinburgh offended again and the ball was sent back to touch – only for Matthews’ throw to be ruled not straight.

Ten minutes into the second half, a Healy penalty, awarded for a ruck offence, put his team ahead for the first time.

But it did not take long for Glasgow to regain the lead thanks to Stafford McDowall, who powered past three defenders before stretching out to reach the line.

Horne added the two points to put his team 14-8 ahead but with quarter of an hour left Healy halved the deficit with his second penalty of the day.

Then, inside the final 10 minutes, Darcy Graham robbed Glasgow of the ball inside his own 22 and broke before passing to van der Merwe.

The wing just had the stamina to reach the line before the defence closed him down, putting his team 16-14 ahead.

Healy’s conversion attempt missed but with time running out he made it 19-14 with another penalty before Edinburgh replacement Marshall Sykes was yellow-carded for foul play in the last minute.

Player of the Match

Edinburgh wing van der Merwe not only scored a long-distance try late in the game, he also put in one of his best overall displays at club level. He went looking for work from the opening minutes and was always a threat.

Play of the Match

Graham is best known as a superb finisher but the Edinburgh wing showed his versatility with minutes to go. First he stripped Glasgow of the ball at the breakdown inside his own 22 and then broke and put in van der Merwe for his team’s second try.

The scorers

For Edinburgh
Tries: Currie, van der Merwe
Con: Healy
Pens: Healy 3

For Glasgow
Tries: Matthews, McDowall
Cons: Horne 2

Yellow card: Marshall Sykes (Edinburgh, 81 – foul play, high tackle)

Teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Currie, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ali Price, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (captain), 4 Glen Young, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Boan Venter, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Cammy Scott, 22 Emiliano Boffelli.

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Huw Jones, 13 Sione Tuipulotu (captain), 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Ally Miller, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Thomas Gordon, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Oli Kebble, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Max Williamson, 21 Henco Venter, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Ross Thompson.

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Jonny Perriam (Scotland) and Finlay Brown (Scotland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)