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 5.15 at Scotstoun Stadium
Saturday 16th January 2021
Live on Premier Sports 1
- The additions of Tom Lambert and Ollie Smith to the Warriors' bench mean that 5 of the Scotland u20s' side who beat Wales 52-17 a little over 10 months ago are on duty across the two sides at Scotstoun.
- With Six Nations' squad selection on the horizon, Gregor Townsend will have plenty to keep his eye on in this game - there are 38 Scottish-qualified players on show, including 26 of the 30 men in the starting lineups.
- The Glasgow squad is the youngest selected this season. By contrast the Edinburgh 23 is the oldest they have put out during the current campaign.
- 3 Academy players in the 23 is the most in any Glasgow matchday squad since their April 2017 fixture against Zebre when Matt Fagerson, Cameron Fenton, Jamie Bhatti and George Horne were all included.
Teams
15 Huw Jones
14 Lee Jones
13 Nick Grigg
12 Robbie Fergusson
11 Rufus McLean
10 Ross Thompson
9 Ali Price
1 Aki Seiuli
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 Tom Lambert
18 Enrique Pieretto
19 Leone Nakarawa
20 Robert Harley
21 Jamie Dobie
22 Brandon Thomson
23 Ollie Smith
15 Blair Kinghorn
14 Jack Blain
13 Mark Bennett
12 Chris Dean
11 Eroni Sau
10 Jaco van der Walt
9 Nic Groom (CC)
1 Rory Sutherland
2 David Cherry
3 Simon Berghan
4 Ben Toolis
5 Grant Gilchrist (CC)
6 Magnus Bradbury
7 Hamish Watson
8 Viliame Mata
Substitutes
16 Mike Willemse
17 Pierre Schoeman
18 Willem Nel
19 Jamie Hodgson
20 Luke Crosbie
21 Henry Pyrgos
22 Nathan Chamberlain
23 James Johnstone
Head-To-Head
15 EVEN
14 ADV Glasgow Warriors
13 ADV Edinburgh
12 ADV Edinburgh
11 ADV Edinburgh
10 ADV Edinburgh
9 ADV Glasgow Warriors
1 ADV Edinburgh
2 ADV Glasgow Warriors
3 ADV Glasgow Warriors
4 EVEN
5 ADV Glasgow Warriors
6 EVEN
7 ADV Edinburgh
8 ADV Edinburgh
Substitutes
16 ADV Edinburgh
17 ADV Edinburgh
18 ADV Edinburgh
19 ADV Glasgow Warriors
20 ADV Glasgow Warriors
21 ADV Edinburgh
22 EVEN
23 ADV Edinburgh
Tale of the Tape:
BACKS
62 Tries 57
Glasgow Warriors - 62
Edinburgh - 57
309 Appearances 347
Glasgow Warriors - 309
Edinburgh - 347
42 1872 Cup appearances 43
Glasgow Warriors - 42
Edinburgh - 43
26.5 Average age 26.9
Glasgow Warriors - 26.5
Edinburgh - 26.9
4 Capped players 4
Glasgow Warriors - 4
Edinburgh - 4
FORWARDS
Pack weight
Glasgow Warriors - 906kg
Edinburgh - 900kg
Appearances
Glasgow Warriors - 571
Edinburgh - 767
1872 Cup appearances
Glasgow Warriors - 66
Edinburgh - 80
Average age
Glasgow Warriors - 26.9
Edinburgh - 29.0
Capped players
Glasgow Warriors - 6
Edinburgh - 7
SUBSTITUTES
Appearances
Glasgow Warriors - 372
Edinburgh - 400
1872 Cup appearances
Glasgow Warriors - 38
Edinburgh - 55
Average age
Glasgow Warriors - 25.4
Edinburgh - 27.4
Capped players
Glasgow Warriors - 3
Edinburgh - 2
Glasgow Greetings / Edinburgh Introductions:
Rufus McLean, Tom Lambert and Ollie Smith are all in line for their Glasgow debuts on Saturday. Joining that trio in making their first appearances in an 1872 Cup match will be fellow Scotland u20, Jack Blain, and Scotland 7s' Robbie Fergusson.
Robert Harley returns after a rare month without any game time (he did only miss 1 match mind you!) The Ginger Ninja has played in 71 of Glasgow's last 76 fixtures, stretching back to the end of 2017.
Leone Nakarawa will make just his 3rd appearance at Scotstoun in the last 4.5 years.
Once A Warrior / Erstwhile Edinburghers:
Warrior numbers 184 (Henry Pyrgos - 147 appearances) and 193 (Mark Bennett - 66 apps) will be on the opposing side on Friday. George Turner (14 games for Edinburgh) and Lee Jones (57 games) have made the reverse journey.
Matchday Milestones:
As mentioned in last week's preview Ryan Wilson's remarkable streak of starts for Glasgow will continue as he suits up for the 27th match in a row and Willem Nel will play his 150th match for Edinburgh. When he's sprung from the bench the veteran prop may find himself up against Tom Lambert in the scrum at some stage. Lambert was 7 years old when Nel made his competitive debut for Western Province...
Warrior to Watch / Edinburgher to Eyeball:
The lineout gets a fraction of the attention that the scrum does, despite being the more commonly sighted of the setpieces. Last time these sides met, Richie Gray ruled the air, pinching 4 on the Edinburgh throw and managing 7 catches from his own side. In opposition to him again will be the capital club's own lineout technician in the shape of Ben Toolis. The long-haired larrikin has been one of the most consistent performers in this facet of the game in the PRO14 in recent years and grabbed 6 takes at Murrayfield as his side's primary jumper.
With the lineout providing an ideal platform to attack from the respective backlines will be hoping it is their man that can secure the best quality ball on Saturday night. With Scotland squad places on the line both Gray and Toolis know they need to shine in the area that provides their main point of difference from the other contenders in the second row.
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.