Glasgow v Edinburgh

Glasgow Team

15 Peter Murchie
14 David Lemi
13 Stuart Hogg
12 Graeme Morrison
11 Colin Shaw

10 Duncan Weir
9 Chris Cusiter

1 Jon Welsh
2 Dougie Hall
3 Moray Low
4 Richie Gray
5 Al Kellock (captain)
6 Rob Harley
7 Chris Fusaro
8 Ryan Wilson

Replacements

16 Pat MacArthur
17 Mike Cusack
18 Ed Kalman
19 Tom Ryder
20 John Barclay
21 Henry Pyrgos
22 Troy Nathan
23 Ruaridh Jackson

Not considered for selection due to injury: Federico Aramburu (shoulder), Ryan Grant (ankle), Rory Lamont (head/face), DTH van der Merwe (shoulder).

Not considered for selection due to injury: Federico Aramburu (shoulder), Ryan Grant (ankle), Rory Lamont (head/face), DTH van der Merwe (shoulder).

Beattie looked ok last week and thought he would have started. Backs don't look too inspiring to be honest.

Can see Edinburgh wining this one.

Surely this means that Duncan Weir is Glasgow's starting fly-half and by extension surely this makes him above Jackson in Scottish pecking order; Hogg will be interesting at centre, Morrison needs a big performance. To be honest I know nothing about Shaw or Murchie. For the six nations I think that we've a bit of a predicament at eight: Beattie's not a hundred percent, Vernon's not proven himself at international level and not really setting the world alight at Sale, Wilson and Macinally are young. That leaves Denton and Brown who both play blindside at club. Has Taylor/Hogg completely retired?

Surprised not to see Beattie either starting or on the injury list - his 20 min cameo on St Stephen's Day can't have tired him out? Happy to see Hogg get a run out at 13, altho I think we'll need him at fullback for the 6Ns, so the more pro games he has at 15 under his belt, the better. Morrison must be the luckiest player to retain a starting berth (while Nathan must be spitting), and think that if Weir handles this game well, he will be in pole position for Scotland's 10 shirt. Well earned rests for Barclay and Cusack.

Edinburgh:

15 Jim Thompson

14 Simon Webster
13 Matt Scott
12 John Houston
11 Tom Brown

10 Phil Godman CAPTAIN
9 Chris Leck

1 Kyle Traynor
2 Andrew Kelly
3 Jack Gilding
4 Steven Turnbull
5 Esteban Lozada
6 Stuart McInally
7 Alan MacDonald
8 Netani Talei

Substitutes
16 Alun Walker
17 Robin Hislop
18 Lewis Niven
19 Grant Gilchrist
20 Ross Rennie
21 Mike Blair
22 Harry Leonard
23 Lee Jones

Pretty much wholsale changes for the 'burgh - can see this being a bit of a humping comparing the two packs!

Our backs should hopefully be competitive though, apart from (good)Godman.

Wow, didn't see that coming, huge changes - as you say RDW, humpitty-dumpitty for the Embra pack, with Traynor and Gilding likely to get taken to the cleaners by Welsh and Low. Good to see youngsters Brown, Scott and McInally getting more game time too, and good for Alan MacDonald to have fought back from his injuries. Strength from 19 to 23 on the bench too

What's wrong with Jacobsen, Laidlaw and Visser. Glasgow are going to walk this

What! I know we've still got to stay fresh for other games, but......

Still interesting to see some fringe players, methinks 15 is too many though.

thats a joke surely? What is Bradley playing at? Is he resting players with a view to the Heineken cup games?

on another note, I fins it slightly concerning that Weir is in line for a scotland cap. He strikes me as a younger version of Parks, albeit without the defensive frailties. He doesnt appear to be able to ignite his backline, which is exactly what Scotland are trying to move away from.

Ive said it before, and ill say it again, albeit with a bit of a difference. Weir needs a run at inside centre. Not with the view of a permanent conversion, but for perhaps a season to develop a running and passing game without the pressures of controlling the game.

In my opinion, Weir would be a step backwards for Scotland at the moment, he still needs work.

Are all Edinburgh missing players injured or are players getting rested?

Kidnapped by aliens apparently.

Whether this is a request from up high or a squad management issue it does some bonkers to have made so many changes.

Yes there's 2 key matches in the HK coming up but surely it would have been better to rest the players for the Ulster game at home after Glasgow?

Unless he sees this as a game we're going to lose anyway?

It is still a competitive team though - great to see Al Macdonald back from injury as I think he's a fantastic player but he has no match fitness.

Ohhh, dear Edinburgh what have you done?
No Ford, no Chunk, no Laidlaw, no Visser, no De Luca, no Paterson, no hope...

The game is now Glasgow's to loose!

On the bright side though, heard from Twitter that there's less than 1500 tickets available, so at there should be a full-house to witness the slaughter.

Imperialbigdave wrote:thats a joke surely? What is Bradley playing at? Is he resting players with a view to the Heineken cup games?

on another note, I fins it slightly concerning that Weir is in line for a scotland cap. He strikes me as a younger version of Parks, albeit without the defensive frailties. He doesnt appear to be able to ignite his backline, which is exactly what Scotland are trying to move away from.

Ive said it before, and ill say it again, albeit with a bit of a difference. Weir needs a run at inside centre. Not with the view of a permanent conversion, but for perhaps a season to develop a running and passing game without the pressures of controlling the game.

In my opinion, Weir would be a step backwards for Scotland at the moment, he still needs work.

IBD, Lineen likes Glasgow to play a territorial game, and tbh with Morrison at 12, it's not like they are going to be able to do much else. But Weir is no Parks, as anyone who watched his performances at the JWC last summer will know. Yes, he has the kicking game to control territory, bu is more than a capable distributor and certainly happy to make a cheeky break when one is on offer. Plus his defensive skills are plenty good too. Jackson is capable of an all- out attacking game, but I wouldn't trust him to boss a game - that is what Weir does with aplomb.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Imperialbigdave wrote:thats a joke surely? What is Bradley playing at? Is he resting players with a view to the Heineken cup games?

on another note, I fins it slightly concerning that Weir is in line for a scotland cap. He strikes me as a younger version of Parks, albeit without the defensive frailties. He doesnt appear to be able to ignite his backline, which is exactly what Scotland are trying to move away from.

Ive said it before, and ill say it again, albeit with a bit of a difference. Weir needs a run at inside centre. Not with the view of a permanent conversion, but for perhaps a season to develop a running and passing game without the pressures of controlling the game.

In my opinion, Weir would be a step backwards for Scotland at the moment, he still needs work.

IBD, Lineen likes Glasgow to play a territorial game, and tbh with Morrison at 12, it's not like they are going to be able to do much else. But Weir is no Parks, as anyone who watched his performances at the JWC last summer will know. Yes, he has the kicking game to control territory, bu is more than a capable distributor and certainly happy to make a cheeky break when one is on offer. Plus his defensive skills are plenty good too. Jackson is capable of an all- out attacking game, but I wouldn't trust him to boss a game - that is what Weir does with aplomb.

There's been a bit of give and take between Jackson and Weir in recent weeks. One starts and isn't controlling the game as hoped then the other comes on and gets the backline moving. They are both young and will get better as they get older and more experienced. I'm glad Glasgow has 2 good FHs fighting for a starting place. I expect both to be included in the 6N squad when it's announced.

Edinburgh don't seem to be taking this game too seriously given the changes to the squad. Here's hoping for a good game.

tbf the junior world cup is not the same as test rugby. Dont get me wrong, I believe he has the potential to add to his game unlike parks, but he doesnt have the distribution skills atm. He needs opportunities to focus solely on his ball in hand play and not worry about kicking for territory. He could play outside jackson or wight, because honestly, it makes no sense to have 3 fly halfs, two of which are likely going to vie for the scotland shirt for years to come, and one who could be a great club player, with only one on the pitch at a time.

Imperialbigdave wrote:tbf the junior world cup is not the same as test rugby. Dont get me wrong, I believe he has the potential to add to his game unlike parks, but he doesnt have the distribution skills atm. He needs opportunities to focus solely on his ball in hand play and not worry about kicking for territory. He could play outside jackson or wight, because honestly, it makes no sense to have 3 fly halfs, two of which are likely going to vie for the scotland shirt for years to come, and one who could be a great club player, with only one on the pitch at a time.

Lineen can't win, he really can't. When we struggle in the HC and Pro 12, fans complain our squad is not good enough. Then when we do start to get something close to depth to our squad, fans then complain about good players sitting on the bench and want them moved on.

Jackson and Weir will both get plenty of gametime over the season. Also for all the people calling for one of them to be moved on, where do you suggest they go? Where in England or France do they walk into a team and be guranteed to start at 10?

Both are still developing and both are Warriors for another 2 seasons after this one. I would say that come the end of this contract period, then if both have progressed as hoped, then if there are good options for them avialable, one should be moved on.

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:

Imperialbigdave wrote:tbf the junior world cup is not the same as test rugby. Dont get me wrong, I believe he has the potential to add to his game unlike parks, but he doesnt have the distribution skills atm. He needs opportunities to focus solely on his ball in hand play and not worry about kicking for territory. He could play outside jackson or wight, because honestly, it makes no sense to have 3 fly halfs, two of which are likely going to vie for the scotland shirt for years to come, and one who could be a great club player, with only one on the pitch at a time.

Lineen can't win, he really can't. When we struggle in the HC and Pro 12, fans complain our squad is not good enough. Then when we do start to get something close to depth to our squad, fans then complain about good players sitting on the bench and want them moved on.

Jackson and Weir will both get plenty of gametime over the season. Also for all the people calling for one of them to be moved on, where do you suggest they go? Where in England or France do they walk into a team and be guranteed to start at 10?

Both are still developing and both are Warriors for another 2 seasons after this one. I would say that come the end of this contract period, then if both have progressed as hoped, then if there are good options for them avialable, one should be moved on.

I would agree with this Dorothy. I wouldn't move on if I was either player - they are clearly playing in a tight group of players with a granite forward pack that gives them some good ball and a consistently international quality half back partner with Cuss or Budgie (Henry not being bad either).

I personally love that there is genuine competition between three promising young 10s (Laidlaw, Weir, Jackson). I don't care if Weir needs better distribution - this will come over time. What I want a young 10 to have is a kevlar nerve for goalkicking (Weir has proven less fallable than Jackson in this regard) and the ability to execute the territorial basics well. Sean Lamont has shown that vision and handling skills can be improved with good coaching so I'd rather Weir started as Parks looking to add a bit of Cipriani than the other way round.

What must Laidlaw be thinking? How can he stamp his authority without any ball?

Edinburgh's front row are going to be in for a terrible time and to make Good captain is surely the Cherry of Irony on top of the Cake of Catastrophe.

George Carlin wrote:
Edinburgh's front row are going to be in for a terrible time and to make Good captain is surely the Cherry of Irony on top of the Cake of Catastrophe.

I think it will be a closer game that most people think. Glasgow should win this game and I think they will, but our lack of a cutting edge, means that we are rarely able to properly kill teams off.

Its a pity that Edinburgh have made so many changes, really devalues the game, espeically as its certainly looking like the first sell out of a Pro game in Scotland. I understand the reasons for resting players etc. But the fact now that teams are now resting so many players in even derby matches, really adds to the negative attitude so many people have of the Pro 12!

Great news for the Warriors that young Stuart Hogg has committed his future to them till 2015.

Good news for Edinburgh - new signings and players extending contracts with announcements expected in the NY: Embra signings

I wasnt suggesting that they move them on, i was suggesting that weir play 12 to get more experience, and develop a wider range of skills.

Right looks like Embra are at it here. Cheeky bar stewards. Let's take 5 here and murder their pack into the bargain. I reckon this is last chance saloon for Morrison as he has been utter garbage in his last 2 games. Why Nathan loses out is a total mystery as is Beattie,s absence. Go Warriors

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:Right looks like Embra are at it here. Cheeky bar stewards. Let's take 5 here and murder their pack into the bargain. I reckon this is last chance saloon for Morrison as he has been utter garbage in his last 2 games. Why Nathan loses out is a total mystery as is Beattie,s absence. Go Warriors

No idea how that Embra pack will play, and may get destroyed by an experienced Glasgow outfit, but if the Edinburgh back row starts winning yards it could be interesting. That really is not a bad line up with 2 internationals and 1 bright prospect.

Edinburgh backs a decent mix of old heads fighting to get back into contention and some of the young guns. No predictions, just interested.

Apart from one; expect Tom Brown to score.

Yes but Godman - bloody hell thats a throwback !

With Munster losing to Ulster and Edinburgh picking a dubious team, if Glasgow were to get a BP win and Cardiff beat the Ospreys with no LBP then we’ll be in 2nd place! Our time has come!

SA - dare we hope ?

The team selection for Edinburgh is extremely odd. Why rotate like that, the games aren't too close together, and Edinburgh really need to win to start getting back up the Rabo 12.

The team selection really annoys me in fact, totally devalues the game. There's supposed to be a trophy at stake. The SRU are doing a good job marketing these as big games (which as derbies they are), and the players are doing their bit in talking them up, and then Edinburgh go and put out a completely second string side.

Glasgow should win this quite comfortably. In fact, I hope Edinburgh get thrashed. I can't imagine the senior Edinburgh players are pleased with the selection.

fES, you got it spot on. What Bradley has done flies in the face of everything both clubs and the SRU are trying to achieve. He has treated the Glasgow and Edinburgh support with complete contempt. He has also treated the Warriors side with contempt and therefore I hope we bloody hammer them into the ground in front of nearly 10000.

in the ground at the moment having left the press 'box' (apt word!).
Good atmos building helped by the Stones on the tannoy.

I indeed do want to paint the world black with my hangover!

I hear it's a sell out?

Kick off 17:30 on BBCalba

yep - sell out.

Team sheet in my hands:

P Murchie
lemi
hogg
morrison
shaw
weir
cusiter
welsh
hall
low
gray
kellock
harley
fusaro
wilson

edinburgh

thompson
webster
scott
houston
jones
godman
blair
traynor
kelly
gilding.
Gilchrist
turnbull
denton
macdonald
mcinally

it doesn't appear to be online. why arent the bbc showing it on the website as well? cheep

3 - 0 to Glasgow.

That was an awfull game. Both teams were pants. Edinburgh as usual got bullied around and coughed up silly errors in the wrong places. Glasgow continued their brand of anti-rugby and did hee haw with the amount of possesion and territory they had.

That was the biggest chance to grow support that both teams will have this season, and they both ruined it.

Ref was awfull too. The mark of a good ref is when you hardly notice him during the game, but I think the camera spent more time on him than on the actual play.

On a side note, ill reiterate what ive mentioned earlier in the week:

If Weir is the future Scotland 10, then I despair. He showed nothing to suggest that he will provide anything more than Parks to our already dire attacking game. And thats not a one off.

I watched it on ALBA. One of the worst games I've ever seen. Everything about it was amateur. The only player to show up was Richie Gray, and even then, Tommy Seymour (not a bright spark) gave MOTM to Chris Cusiter, who was pretty awful.

I watched Leicester vs Sale directly before the game on SKY. Different sport sadly.

The Edinburgh front row was universally awful, and yet the ref couldn't see it. The lineouts were a mess, with only Richie Gray showing any ability to catch the ball (that's when the hookers would throw straight). The breakdown was made a lottery by a ref who clearly ate 2 turkeys at Christmas.

Neither backlines could have scored a try given 1000 minutes, so 80 was never going to be enough. Godman was the worst player on the pitch, closely followed by a completely inept performance from Duncan Weir (the worst I've seen him play). Morrison was static, Hogg never looked a centre, Houston was anonymous, and although the odd promising moment came from Matt Scott at 13, he was also out of position. Lee Jones continues to think that the ball must come to him, and Mike Blair's biggest contribution to Edinburgh was to ensure that every promising move was halted by slow static ball.

I'm very pleased Glasgow won, following Edinburgh's embarrasing team selection, but I saw that as a dark day for Scottish rugby. Not of sufficient quality, and well below the potential of these sides.

Imperialbigdave wrote:On a side note, ill reiterate what ive mentioned earlier in the week:

If Weir is the future Scotland 10, then I despair. He showed nothing to suggest that he will provide anything more than Parks to our already dire attacking game. And thats not a one off.

I've been pretty pleased with Weir over the course of the season, but on Boxing Day he was average, and today he was completely awful. He'll have to really pick up his game against Leinster otherwise he'll lose his spot to Jackson just at the wrong moment.

The biggest winners today will be the players that didn't feature. No-one did themselves any favours today.

What a rubbish spectacle these two games have been - and the one today was awful. Such a shame because we had a record crowd at murrayfield and a sell out at firhill and both games were baws.

So Robinson has got to decide - pick lots of Glasgow players and have a good set piece and good defence but awful in attack - hope to nick the odd game as per, or pick edinburgh and have a good attack but rubbish defence or set piece and hope we score more tries than the other team!

Not quite as confident about the future of Scottish rugby after these performances:(

Not sure you can really compliment the Edinburgh attack on the basis of these two games. In the first it functioned ok, but it was really Visser's finishing that made the difference. Edinburgh's attack today was completely toothless and predictable. Edinburgh really missed Laidlaw, De Luca and Visser today. Godman's kicking was about as bad as it gets.

The best thing I saw today from a Scottish perspective was Fraser MacKenzie at Sale. Put in a cracking shift in a losing cause.

I think the 6 Nations side will really need the exiles. Murray, Hamilton and Brown will surely feature in the pack, and presumably S Lamont (12), Ansbro (wing) and Evans (wing) in the backs.

Yeah this game the attack was rubbish for both teams, but last game Edinburgh were definitely much better in attack - and not just Visser's tries.

Still can't believe how bad the 2 games have been though!

Yes not a great game by any stretch of the imagination. Gray looked up for it and thought Low and Welsh destroyed the Embra scrum. Backs on both sides were woeful although Morrison actually managed to catch the ball on a few occasions without knocking on ! Referee was a Grade A prat throughout. Embra 13 wee bit unlucky to get carded as his momentum seemed to take him through the tackle on Harley and how on earth the TMO could call the try good I'll never know. Where was Jackson on the one night we actually needed him? Scott Wight did ok when he came on but his kicking is poor. Embra fans must be raging as Laidlaw, De Luca and Visser would have won that game for them at a canter

What a shame - as others have said, a missed opportunity to advertise Scottish rugby to the general public, but instead we were served up cold turkey ( altho as fES notes, Peter Allan had certainly been enjoying his Christmas food - triple helpings all round). Generally a fairly woeful display from both sides, with only a short handful of players finishing with their credibility in tact.

There was no real cutting edge to the attacks but there were some positives - mainly the Glasgow set pieces.

I lost count of the number of lineouts and scrums they stole possession from:

https://www.606v2.com/t21130-1872-cup-glasgow-v-edinburgh-match-report#814201

What we we expecting?

Edinburgh put out a team with 13 changes and nothing on the bench to bring on if things were not going well or they were closing to winning and needed that last little something!

These would have been the showcases for club rugby in Scotland and both teams made a proper mess of it!

Each coach certainly succeeded in proving beyond doubt whom their quality players are. The only ones who make anything actually happen, it seems.

What is Andy Robinson going to do now? Mix Glasgow forwards with Edinburgh backs?It's really the same problem that we had last year, but more acute. Go for broke and lose four tries to three? Or keep it tight and keep that dreaded scoreboard ticking over three at a time.

Cuister was probably the only back on show last night who will be in Andy Robinsons starting XV, so I dont see the need to be too depressed.

Until Glasgow can get a decent Centre combination we are going to struggle to score tries through the backs. We have good wingers in Lemi and Lamont, but getting the ball to them often enough is a problem.

Weir was rubbish last night, I have my doubts wither AR would have picked him in his 6 Nations squad, last night made it even more unlikely.

I think people are going a bit over the top about this game. Quotes like it being a "dark day for Scottish Rugby" are OTT!

tigertattie wrote:What we we expecting?

Edinburgh put out a team with 13 changes and nothing on the bench to bring on if things were not going well or they were closing to winning and needed that last little something!

These would have been the showcases for club rugby in Scotland and both teams made a proper mess of it!

long time no see Tigertattie, finally migrated over to v2?

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:I think people are going a bit over the top about this game. Quotes like it being a "dark day for Scottish Rugby" are OTT!

I'll take responsibility for that quote. Probably a little OTT but I was extremely disappointed by the game. Not just the game itself, but in particular the Edinburgh selections. The mass rotation was unneccesary, and in the end Glasgow only really needed to turn up to win, they certainly didn't have to play well. It's a shame that the derby was reduced to being a contest to be the least bad at rugby, rather than actually do anything positive. Some of the passages of play were below amateur.

All the players suggested that these games were highlights in the rugby calendar. Shame Bradley doesn't think so. He treated it like a reserve match outing, to test the depth in his squad (not sure he found much).

If there were people being introduced to rugby for the first time and that was their first match, I won't blame them for turning their back on the sport for good. Zero quality and zero intensity.

Haven't posted in a while due to family commitments but there are a few points here that I think need adressed.

In the previous Post FES states Bradley treated the fixture as a reserve outing. Personally I think Robinson had a huge impact on selection for both games. After seeing what happened to poor Rory Lamont I don't think Robbo was ever going to risk the likes of Laidlaw, Ford or Jacobson to injury. I feel Bradlye had very little input into his match day 23.

Secondly, the match was beyond dire. The 1st one although poor did have some intersting sparks of attacking endevour, the 2nd match was like drowning in wall paper paste.

Kudos to Glasgow for paggering out a win, but in all honesty with Edinburgh sending out the reserves for the 2nd match devalued the whole occasion, and ultimatly proved nothing.

A pity.