Edinburgh fall short in derby clash

  • 28 August 2020

Edinburgh failed to build on their 1872 Cup victory on Friday evening as they fell victim to their first loss at BT Murrayfield this season - at the hands of age-old rivals Glasgow Warriors.

Following last week’s promising restart to competitive rugby, Friday’s match was a chance for Edinburgh to continue building on the areas of their game that were up for improvement following the six-month hiatus. Unfortunately for players and supporters alike, the match was a slow burner, with play being largely dominated by penalties and physical stalemates.

Although the match was a dead rubber, the real story of the day were undoubtedly the supporters, who, after six long months, returned to BT Murrayfield in game that was the first rugby fixture in the UK to host a crowd since the COVID-19 pandemic.

With around 700 or so Season Ticket Members in attendance, it was a huge boost to the club and a massive step forward for sport in the country.

Glasgow were the first to breathe life into the scoreboard early on, as hooker Fraser Brown spun away from his tackler following a try-line ruck to batter the ball down over the whitewash in his 100th game for the club, with Adam Hastings adding the extras to make it 0-7.

Little more than five minutes later and a burst into the Glasgow half came in the familiar form of a Duhan van der Merwe run, who beat his first two men before eventually finding Hamish Watson. The Scottish international was brought down by a controversial high tackle from Huw Jones though, leaving Nathan Chamberlain to make a successful kick for posts – marking his first points in an Edinburgh jersey. (3-7)

An uneventful 25 minutes followed, as neither team managed to gain the upper hand in what was a much more frustrating match than the previous week. Moments of promise were often side-lined by scrappy penalties, broken phases, and mistakes from both sides. A couple of would-be tries from Glasgow brought the newly-returned Edinburgh supporters to the edge of their seats, but with both scores disallowed, half-time would fall on an unchanged score-line.

Edinburgh started the second half with a brand new front-line, as club stalwarts Stuart McInally and WP Nel swapped in, joined by Rory Sutherland in an attempt to energise the side.

Whilst there were moments of the impressive style of play that we are accustomed to from Edinburgh, it would be Glasgow who claimed the only try of the half, as a period of advantage play saw them progress deep into Edinburgh territory. Huw Jones found Ratu Tagive out wide, who managed to dive over in the corner for the first points in 45 minutes. (3-12)

This only aided Glasgow’s confidence, as they widened the gap with an Adam Hastings penalty just minutes later. (3-15)

These would be the closing points of the match, marking the end of an unbeaten run at home, and a dampener on Edinburgh’s spirits as the curtain fell on a less-than memorable derby day fixture, the final score being 3-15.

Whilst an undesirable final score in this fixture Edinburgh can now shift their focus to their Guinness PRO14 home Semi-Final against Ulster next Saturday 5 September.

live commentary 7:35 PM Friday 28 Aug 2020

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Kick-off 7:35 PM

Edinburgh

Glasgow Warriors

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