You can read more of Disco's thoughts on Glasgow's PRO14 and European campaigns, Scotland's international fortunes, and much, much more at his excellent blog Top of the Moon.
KO 7.35 at Scotstoun Stadium
Friday 8th January 2021
Live on Premier Sports 2
- This is the 31st match in the 1872 Cup series. Glasgow have won 15, Edinburgh 14 and there has been 1 draw (the Warriors also won a non-1872 Cup clash at Murrayfield in August 2020).
- Huw Jones is the only survivor in the Glasgow backline from when these two sides last met at Scotstoun (in December 2019). Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings and Ryan Wilson are the returning starters in the pack from that fixture.
- For Edinburgh, Blair Kinghorn and Mark Bennett in the backs as well as Stuart McInally, Grant Gilchrist, Hamish Watson and Viliame Mata in the forwards also started that last clash at Scotstoun.
- The Glasgow pack is the heaviest selected for any match in the current campaign.
Teams
15 Huw Jones
14 Lee Jones
13 Nick Grigg
12 Robbie Fergusson
11 Rufus McLean
10 Ross Thompson
9 Ali Price
1 Oli Kebble
2 George Turner
3 Zander Fagerson
4 Richie Gray
5 Scott Cummings
6 Ryan Wilson (Captain)
7 Tom Gordon
8 Matt Fagerson
Substitutes
16 Johnny Matthews
17 Aki Seiuli
18 Enrique Pieretto
19 Lewis Bean
20 TJ Ioane
21 Jamie Dobie
22 Brandon Thomson
23 Glenn Bryce
15 Blair Kinghorn
14 Eroni Sau
13 Mark Bennett
12 Chris Dean
11 Jack Blain
10 Jaco van der Walt
9 Nic Groom
1 Rory Sutherland
2 Stuart McInally (Captain)
3 Simon Berghan
4 Andrew Davidson
5 Grant Gilchrist
6 Jamie Ritchie
7 Hamish Watson
8 Viliame Mata
Substitutes
16 David Cherry
17 Pierre Schoeman
18 Willem Nel
19 Jamie Hodgson
20 Magnus Bradbury
21 Henry Pyrgos
22 Nathan Chamberlain
23 James Johnstone
Head-To-Head
15 EVEN
14 ADV Glasgow Warriors
13 EVEN
12 ADV Edinburgh
11 ADV Edinburgh
10 ADV Edinburgh
9 ADV Glasgow Warriors
1 ADV Edinburgh
2 ADV Edinburgh
3 ADV Glasgow Warriors
4 ADV Glasgow Warriors
5 ADV Glasgow Warriors
6 ADV Edinburgh
7 ADV Edinburgh
8 ADV Edinburgh
Substitutes
16 ADV Edinburgh
17 ADV Edinburgh
18 ADV Edinburgh
19 EVEN
20 ADV Edinburgh
21 EVEN
22 EVEN
23 ADV Glasgow Warriors
Tale of the Tape:
BACKS
Tries
Glasgow Warriors - 62
Edinburgh - 57
Appearances
Glasgow Warriors - 309
Edinburgh - 347
1872 Cup appearances
Glasgow Warriors - 42
Edinburgh - 43
Average age
Glasgow Warriors - 26.5
Edinburgh - 26.9
Capped players
Glasgow Warriors - 4
Edinburgh - 4
FORWARDS
Pack weight
Glasgow Warriors - 912kg
Edinburgh - 902kg
Appearances
Glasgow Warriors - 602
Edinburgh - 759
1872 Cup appearances
Glasgow Warriors - 69
Edinburgh - 79
Average age
Glasgow Warriors - 26.9
Edinburgh - 28.3
Capped players
Glasgow Warriors - 7
Edinburgh - 7
SUBSTITUTES
Appearances
Glasgow Warriors - 128
Edinburgh - 440
1872 Cup appearances
Glasgow Warriors - 13
Edinburgh - 56
Average age
Glasgow Warriors - 27.2
Edinburgh - 27.8
Capped players
Glasgow Warriors - 2
Edinburgh - 3
Glasgow Greetings / Edinburgh Introductions:
Rufus McLean will become Warrior number 320 when the game kicks off on Friday night. The winger, who is equally comfortable at full back, was in outstanding form during the under 20 Six Nations in 2020. He will be the 8th player from that squad of Scotland u20s to make his top level club debut, following in the footsteps of Ewan Ashman, Jack Blain, Conor Boyle, Nathan Chamberlain, Rory Darge, Roan Frostwick and Cameron Henderson.
1872 Cup debuts:
- Robbie Fergusson
- Rufus McLean
- Jack Blain
Once A Warrior / Erstwhile Edinburghers:
Warrior numbers 184 (Henry Pyrgos - 147 appearances); 193 (Mark Bennett - 66 apps); and 298 (Andrew Davidson - 8 apps) will all be on the opposing side on Friday. George Turner (14 games for Edinburgh), Lee Jones (57 games) and Glenn Bryce (31 games) have made the reverse journey.
Matchday Milestones:
Ryan Wilson will start for Glasgow for a remarkable 27th consecutive match, having not missed a game for over 14 months. This moves him into 5th equal all-time for this streak alongside David Hilton (27 starts in a row between August 2000 and May 2001). Only 3 players in the club's history have managed longer runs - Sean Lamont, Jon Petrie and Bernardo Stortoni (twice) - with the Argentinian full backs streak of 43 consecutive starts between September 2007 and March 2009 being top of the tree.
When he is sprung from the bench Willem Nel will play his 150th match for Edinburgh. The prop has made a huge contribution to Scottish rugby since arriving in 2012. While his role at club level may have diminished from the early days (he played 81 out of Edinburgh's 87 matches from his debut until he went to the RWC in 2015 with Scotland) he remains central to the capital club's set piece.
Warrior to Watch / Edinburgher to Eyeball:
In the absence of Fraser Brown the top two choices at hooker for Scotland's Six Nations campaign will be on show at Scotstoun. Both George Turner and Stuart McInally build their game on a huge workrate. As well as playing key roles at scrum and lineout these are two players with high involvements around the park with the Warriors' hooker averaging 30.1 carries + tackles per 80 minutes in the PRO14 last season and his opposite number managing 28.8.
George is one of the forwards who brings an aggressive edge to the Glasgow pack. He's an abrasive tackler and a dynamic carrier and was the top performer for tackle breaks in the Warriors' pack last season. Stuart is more measured but certainly no less effective. His 98% tackle completion rate was 4th best in the league during 2019/20 and he is a relentlessly consistent performer.
Both men are converted back rows and their turnover threat comes into play when they themselves are not the ones making the tackles - and sometimes even then given their ability to work hard and get back on feet. This pair will give it everything on Friday night and neither will be taking any prisoners in the race for league points and Scotland shirts.
Glasgow v Edinburgh at Scotstoun in the PRO12/14 era:
- 6 wins
- 2 losses
- 2 Try BPs
- 26 points out of a possible 40 (65%)
Most recent match-up:
Officials:
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU, 48th competition game)
AR1: Finlay Brown (SRU)
AR2: Dunx McClement (SRU)
TMO: Charles Samson (SRU)
Mr Adamson's regular season record for 2019/20 in the PRO14:
Matches - 9 (all refs - 101)
Average penalty count - 19.2 per game (all refs - 19.1)
Home penalty percentage - 54% (all refs - 52%)
Average card count - 1.1 per game (all refs - 1.3)
Penalties per card - 17 (all refs - 15)
This will be the 8th time that Mr Adamson has taken charge of a Warriors' fixture, with all bar one of those games (v Southern Kings in 2017) being 1872 Cup matches against Edinburgh.
There has been a lot of hard graft to get to this point but next month Mr Adamson will become the first Scot to referee in the Men's Six Nations since 2002.