Edinburgh fall shot in derby thriller

  • 16 January 2021

Edinburgh Rugby left Scotstoun with just a losing bonus-point as the hosts edged a thrilling intercity encounter 23-22, meaning the 1872 Cup will go to a third and final derby.

Richard Cockerill’s side had a chance to win it in the dying moments after Eroni Sau’s try cut the deficit to just a point [23-22], however Jaco van der Walt’s touchline conversion fell agonisingly wide.

In match that had everything: tries, yellow cards, but most of all, drama, the Warriors edged the match-up despite the capital side’s dominance and numerical advantage in the closing stages.

Edinburgh led 9-10 at the break thanks to Jaco van der Walt’s penalty and Jamie Farndale’s well-taken score, however the Warriors battled back through bruising tries from Matt Fagerson and George Turner early in the second period.

With a numerical disadvantage – following Van der Walt’s sin bin – Edinburgh replied instantly thanks to David Cherry’s powerful break and Chris Dean’s excellent finish.

And, with just two minutes remaining on the clock, Sau went over in the corner to make it a one-point game.

However, it simply wasn’t meant to be as Van der Walt’s tricky conversion fell just wide – with Glasgow holding on to claim the derby win.


Key moments

When the teams last met just a fortnight ago, it took more than an hour of turgid action before a point was scored.

There was no delay in things heating up this time, with Warriors' 21-year-old stand-off Ross Thompson marking his first professional start with two swift penalties before Edinburgh hit back with a Van Der Walt attempt.

Turner found himself in the sin-bin on 34 minutes when he needlessly thrust his shoulder into Grant Gilchrist's midriff off the ball.

It took Edinburgh just three minutes to make their extra man count. Huw Jones did brilliantly to put in a try-saving tackle on Farndale – a late call-up after Jack Blain failed a pre-match fitness test - in the far corner.

But undeterred, they worked it all the way to the left before quickly switching back to the right side as Blair Kinghorn and Dean fed the ball to Farndale, who this time was free to run in for the score.

Yet Glasgow were able to trim the interval deficit back to one as Thompson booted his third penalty after Groom's mistake saw him kick the ball out with 30 seconds still left to play having been confused by the train horn.

Warriors were now the team on the charge and they scored twice inside the first 11 minutes of the second half, first when Fagerson smashed over after some patient build-up play before Turner barged through from a driven line-out following a yellow card for Van Der Walt.

But the 14-man visitors hit back immediately as Dave Cherry pierced the line before Hamish Watson released Dean to score under the posts.

Glasgow then had to see out the final five minutes a man down when Jones was next to be shown yellow for illegally slowing an Edinburgh attack.

Sau thought he had won it for the men from the east with 90 seconds remaining when he danced down the line to score, only for Van Der Walt's conversion to creep wide.

Man of the match Thompson had the chance to increase the victory margin to four points at the end - but he was wide with another penalty.

live commentary 5:15 PM Saturday 16 Jan 2021

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Kick-off 5:15 PM

Glasgow Warriors

Edinburgh

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