Scottish Rugby

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Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith has challenged his side to retain the 1872 Cup in style with a rare away win over Edinburgh on Saturday.

The Scotstoun side, who lead 24-12 from last week's first leg at Hampden, have only won one of their past 10 visits to their derby rivals.

Glasgow have won the cup three seasons running, but the shine was taken off the past two triumphs after losing the second leg.

"We always want to play better," said Smith.

"In the last two years we felt disappointed in the result in the second game. The boys will be chomping at the bit to try and play well against a very determined Edinburgh.

"It's an opportunity for us to continue growing our processes because that's what's going to be important.

"If we want to compete in Europe and keep on progressing in this tournament [the URC], we need to step up and progress.

"I'm excited to see the big challenge in front of a lot of people at Murrayfield to continue our process of growing and progressing."

Smith has made six changes to his forward pack for the game because he wants "new energy", meaning he will have big-hitters like Zander Fagerson, Gregor Brown and Rory Darge to come off the bench.

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Glasgow head coach Franco Smith has opted to make six changes to his starting pack for Saturday's 1872 Cup second leg away to Edinburgh.

Warriors defeated their inter-city rivals 24-12 in an attritional affair at Hampden last weekend.

While Smith has kept the same back-line - meaning captain Kyle Steyn will make his 100th appearance for the club - he has reshuffled his entire front row and second row, with back-rowers Matt Fagerson and Jack Dempsey the only two forwards remaining in the starting XV.

Senior players Zander Fagerson, Gregor Brown and Scott Cummings, who stands to make his 150th appearance for Glasgow on Saturday, are rotated to the bench.

Edinburgh have made three changes to their XV from last weekend, with hooker Ewan Ashman and centre Piers O'Conor both missing out due to concussion.

Prop Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 19, drops to the bench where he is joined by his 21-year-old brother Jerry, who ?is set for his professional debut.

Harri Morris and Paul Hill come into the front row, while James Lang returns from injury to take O'Conor's place in midfield.

Tom English and Andy Burke answer audience questions, look back on the first leg of the 1872 Cup and chat to Edinburgh's Dylan Richardson.

With advantage Glasgow after the first leg, can Edinburgh respond to Glasgow's 1872 sting at Murrayfield? And is Hampden truly a home away from home for Glasgow? Tom and Andy have you covered.

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Sandy Smith
Fan writer

Callum Hunter-Hill's yellow card on the 75th minute summed up Edinburgh's performance in the first leg of the 1872 cup, strong, aggressive but ultimately pointless.

Our defence was good as everyone has pointed out. Seven of Edinburgh's starting forwards took the top seven places in the tackle stats.

However, like when you are asked, "Do you want fries with that?" and decline only to regret it almost immediately this was also a dish that was missing something. In Edinburgh's case though the absent ingredient was their attack.

Edinburgh ran for 213 metres which was less than half of Glasgow's total. Ben Vellacott alone was responsible for around 35% of those metres.

Second choice for the scrum half was a pass and he did that less times than he has on any other occasion this season, except against Zebre in the opening round of the URC. This was frustrating enough without bringing that game back to your attention.

He could be described as profligate in comparison to the rest of our midfield though. Cammy Scott, eight passes. Piers O'Conor, one pass. Matt Currie, eight passes. By comparison, Adam Hastings made 23 passes. All on his own too!

It's been said before but what is the point of wingers like Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe if Edinburgh aren't going to give them the ball?

In fairness I don't imagine that at the start of the season the coaching staff foresaw us going into this contest with this midfield. This is our fourth different starting combo and our last two standing centres.

It also felt like we got caught up in the occasion a little. Edinburgh were awarded six penalties in the second half, four of which were kickable by either of our left footed kickers. Instead we kicked to the corner repeatedly and were either repelled or made an error.

Just two of those penalties would have given Edinburgh a potentially crucial losing bonus point and a much more appealing margin to try and overcome next week.

Edinburgh have only managed to win a deciding 1872 cup match by 12 points or more and then take or retain the trophy twice in their history. The most recent being in 2022.

I'll take a win of any stripe. It'll take a coup to cop the cup. Vive la revolution.

Sandy Smith can be found at The Burgh Watch, external

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Is Hampden working as Glasgow's second home?

There's an interesting debate going on about Hampden and its suitability as Glasgow's second home for bigger games.

The atmosphere was undoubtedly flat for the first leg of the 1872 Cup against Edinburgh, the result of a dour game and 21,000 fans (6,000 down on last year) in a 52,000-capacity stadium.

It's hard to know if persevering with Hampden is the way to go for Glasgow, but it's worth keeping in mind Edinburgh took time to build towards the record 40,000 crowd they got at Murrayfield last year.

The capital side would seem to have the better end of the deal – the weekend after Christmas tends to be more manageable for most people than the weekend before.

It's thought around 10,000 represents the 'break-even' figure for Glasgow, so in that context 21,000 (three times the Scotstoun capacity) is not to be sniffed at.

If Warriors return to the national stadium next year, or even later this season for a potential European knockout game, they need to figure out how to hook in even more punters. Not easy in a football-dominated city.

Grunt rather than guile wins the day

The fact all six tries scored at Hampden came from forwards told its own story of this first leg.

With so much attacking talent in both backlines, it was frustrating that we saw so little of the X-factor players that could have lit up what was, ultimately, a fairly uninspiring spectacle.

Edinburgh stood up well in defence, but Glasgow's big boys, in particular the excellent Matt Fagerson and Rory Darge, just had that little bit more about them when it mattered and Warriors never really looked seriously troubled.

Smith shines in more familiar role

Ollie Smith told us last week on the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast how he does not care which position he plays for Glasgow or Scotland, as long as he plays.

Having been deployed at various points on the wing and at outside centre for club and country in recent times, he was back in his more familiar role at full-back and was one of the few backs to make a real impression on the game.

Smith looked dangerous with ball in hand, was largely solid under the high ball, had some excellent defensive plays – including a try-saving tackle on Darcy Graham – and his booming kicks made huge territorial gains for the Warriors.

After that devastating knee injury that cost him over a year of rugby, Smith now seems to be taking his game to a new level.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Ben Vellacott says Edinburgh's failure to make the most of their opportunities was costly as they went down 24-12 to Glasgow Warriors at Hampden.

Dylan Richardson and Grant Gilchrist scored tries either side of half-time to keep Edinburgh in the game, but Glasgow always looked in control and ran in four tries to secure a 12-points advantage going into next week's second leg of the 1872 Cup at Murrayfield.

"It was played at a pretty feisty intensity," Vellacott told BBC Scotland.

"Obviously, really disappointed. Fair play to Glasgow when they got into our 22, they executed and came away with points. Us on the other hand, we got in there and we didn't execute.

"You get into a 22 like that, if you don't come away with points, you're going to get punished and that's what happened.

"I can't fault our fight in defence. That was absolutely awesome, but we've just given them too many opportunities to get into our half. And against a side like Glasgow, you can't do that.

"You've got to limit the number of times they get in there. Otherwise, like they did, they come away with points and they come away with four tries. So, yeah, on to next week."

We asked for your views on Glasgow Warriors 24-12 win against Edinburgh.

Here's what some of you EDINBURGH supportes said:

Martin: It's a real problem being an Edinburgh supporter. When the coach is a happy man that we only got into their half once in the first half but we scored, that is a problem.

Edinburgh huffed and puffed but ultimately didn't do very much. Dreading next week, I think Glasgow could field a second XV and still win. It seems one good victory over Toulon and it's classed as a successful season.

David: Great defensive effort by Edinburgh and no faulting the spirit but the attack side, from a back's perspective, is totally lacking. Two wingers who are Scotland's top try-scorers, and not one worthwhile pass to them. Have Edinburgh got an attack coach?

Graeme: Sean Everitt played a second string last weekend in the Champions Cup to save the big boys for this one, well that worked out well didn't it! Time for a new voice and ideas in charge of Edinburgh but also one that doesn't accept mediocrity, someone along the lines of Franco Smith.

Adam: Edinburgh clearly have a strong set of forwards as the Toulon victory shows, however, our backs sadly offer so very little in attack. The tragedy of taking off 50- cap superstar Duhan van der Merwe is clear because unlike Glasgow, our midfield is average and struggles to bring him into match.

And here's the views of you GLASGOW fans:

Colin: Glasgow need to be more clinical when pummelling the opposition line, too often it results in being held up. The margin of victory would have been much greater had they converted the number of chances they set up in the first half.

Edinburgh don't seem to understand that they have two international wings or how to get the ball to them quickly in space. If Scottish Rugby's plan is to have two professional teams playing the brand of rugby that the Scotland team wants to promote, then Edinburgh need to sort themselves out. I was sitting just behind their coaches and they were more animated at keeping Glasgow out than scoring tries.

Stuart: Was always going to be a tough match, but with Warriors having five held-up tries and scoring four showed their dominance. Edinburgh's defence stood up well for long periods, slowing the ball so Warriors couldn't use width. Seb Stephen coming on and scoring the try was the icing on the cake.

Paul: In the years before Smith, Glasgow were known for adventurous back play but also a bit of a lightweight pack. I reckon the forwards have led the way in recent wins over the Bulls, Toulouse and now Edinburgh. They are still blessed with a good backline, but it is great to see that pack throwing its weight around.

Alastair: Pre-match thinking was it would be an easy win for Glasgow. In the end it was reasonably comfortable but at around 60 minutes Glasgow seemed to switch off. Credit to Edinburgh's defence but Glasgow should have better finished their opportunities. As Franco said post-match there is much to work on.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Rory Darge says it was a special feeling to be part of Glasgow's victory over Edinburgh at Hampden having missed out on last season's 1872 Cup meeting at the national stadium.

The Scotland back-row produced a man of the match performance, including a try, as Warriors ran out 24-12 winners in the first leg.

"I missed the chance to play here last year, so to experience playing at a ground like this is, I don't know, it's a bit different isn't it?" Darge told BBC Scotland.

"You get used to playing at the same grounds every week and you don't take it for granted, but to come to Hampden is something a bit special and to get the win over Edinburgh, five points to the league table going into Christmas is a really nice feeling."

Darge said Warriors had to be patient to break down a resolute Edinburgh defence.

"I think there will have been a bit of talk in their camp throughout this week about a reaction to how they turned up to Hampden last year [a 33-14 Glasgow win].

"They wouldn't have been happy with that and they would have wanted to change things. To be fair, they did.

"I think there were three hold-ups over the line in the first half. Physical, physical game, like a typical derby match. We're delighted to come out on top of that because it was really evenly contested."

Glasgow Warriors took a big step towards winning the 1872 Cup for the fourth year running with a bonus-point first-leg victory over Edinburgh at Hampden.

Let us know your thoughts here.

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Edinburgh head Sean Everitt: "I thought the boys were brave defensively. We gave Glasgow enough opportunities to have a go at us, and then we were able to keep them out.

"The first half was a good example. We got into their 22 once and we scored once. At half-time, the game is anyone's to be won.

"We then spent the majority of the second half in their 22, but just couldn't get over the line and credit to Glasgow and how they defended. But we can also need to be better in that area of the field.

"We wanted to kick contestables and not to kick the ball out, which obviously will hand over position if you don't win the aerial battles.

"If we improved and won some more kicks back, it might have been a little bit different. Maybe we wouldn't have had to defend for those long periods. But it wasn't like that.

"I'm proud of the boys but we need to do more when we've got ball, and it's something that we'll look at this week.

"I don't think it'll be too difficult [to motivate the boys]. The guys are used to coming back in the second game at home.

"It's quite a big deficit, when you look at derbies, to make up. That's why that last try hurt us a bit. But we'll be motivated to get a good win and make sure that we contest the 1872 Cup."

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Glasgow head coach Franco Smith tells BBC Scotland: "A massive, hard-fought victory. We expected Edinburgh to be up for the challenge, the way they've obviously prepared, and they proved it.

"They played really well, from a defensive perspective, specifically. We had so many entries in their 22m which we couldn't convert.

They ended up prolonging our opportunities to score. We've got quite a bit to work on.

"Last week against Toulouse, we were a team that played with the mentality of nothing to lose. Now we have everything to lose.

"[Patience] was part of the message. We wanted to create as many opportunities as possible, but Edinburgh snuffed a lot of them out tonight. We'll have to go and look and see how we can improve on that.

"What an all-around player and all-around performance [from Ollie Smith]. He kicked the ball miles tonight.

"He's played at centre for us, he's played at wing and he's done an excellent job tonight. He's a very valuable asset and good to have him now in our environment for the near future.

"I don't think I need to motivate the boys much. They realise how important it is, just from every perspective, is rolling out the best performance there."

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Seven Scotland internationals return to the Edinburgh starting XV for Saturday's 1872 Cup first leg against Glasgow Warriors at Hampden.

Pierre Schoeman, Grant Gilchrist, Dylan Richardson and club captain Magnus Bradbury are all restored to the forward pack after being rested for last weekend's Champions Cup defeat by Castres.

Hooker Ewan Ashman is promoted from the bench, while Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe and Wes Goosen come into the back three.

Matt Currie and Piers O'Conor continue as the centre partnership, while youngsters Ollie Blyth-Lafferty and Liam McConnell both start.

"We're excited to get stuck into it at Hampden tomorrow, playing in front of a big crowd in Glasgow before facing them again at Murrayfield next week," head coach Sean Everitt said.

"1872 bragging rights are up for grabs, but they're a bonus, we want to get URC points. It's a congested table right now, so every point we can get will be crucial for our season."

Edinburgh XV to face Glasgow: Goosen, Graham, O'Conor, Currie, Van der Merwe, Scott, Vellacott; Schoeman, Ashman, Blyth-Lafferty, Young, Gilchrist, McConnell, Richardson, Bradbury.

Replacements: Harris, Venter, Hill, Hunter-Hill, Douglas, McAlpine, Thompson, Davidson.

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Leicester Tigers' Cameron Henderson says his omission from the Scotland set up in Autumn has "lit a bit of a fire" within him.

The 25-year-old lock was left out of the squad for the Autumn Nations games against USA, New Zealand, Argentina and Tonga but insists the decision has allowed him to flourish for the Tigers and push him to perform better and improve his game.

He was last called up during the 2025 summer tour.

"It's been frustrating and it was disappointing when I wasn't selected," Henderson - who has two Scotland caps - said.

"It's lit a bit of a fire, and that's the best way I can describe it.

"[Scotland coaches] have given me pieces of the game they feel I can improve, and it is around the physical side of the game, it's nothing new for my career.

"But I feel like I'm putting good performances in week in, week out, so hopefully I can keep pushing on.

"I still think that I'm building, and I still feel that there's a lot more to come and I can bring more in defence and just around the physical side of the game. That's probably the thing that I feel I can grow the most, and try and bring big, big moments consistently through games."

Leicester are fourth in the Prem after six matches, but have lost both their Champions Cup matches so far this season.

Henderson has been pleased with his own performances and revealed he has been focusing on both technical and mental improvements.

"It's been a solid start," he said. "I do feel that the more games I play, the more I get into rhythm, and that helps me a lot. I feel like I build into it quite nicely.

"I've been working hard on the technical side of it, because you can have all the aggression in the world but if you don't get the technique right, nothing's going to happen.

"There's a little bit of both. I have been working on the mental side of the game to try and be hungrier for those moments more frequently."

BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering some of your Scottish rugby questions.

Martin asked: What is the point in qualifying to play in the Champions Cup? Why did that happen (the 33-0 loss to Castres)? Was it to save players for Saturday? If so, all the goodwill and confidence is now gone and Glasgow are on the front foot. Are Edinburgh fans being short-changed?

Tom answered: It was a really disappointing second half from Edinburgh. Their team selection left them vulnerable to a beating and then they had bad luck with injuries on top of that.

I wouldn't be so downbeat, though. That's a very tight Champions Cup group they're in and they're still well in contention. Sean Everitt has to play younger players. That's part of his remit.

He got it wrong when pitching so many of them in at the same time, but maybe there'll be a reward down the line. These young lads need games. That's how Glasgow built their depth. Short-term pain for medium-term gain, you'd hope.

Sandy asked: Given the number of Scotland players in the Glasgow team, how do you explain the difference in mentality to come back and win games like that against Toulouse, when in a Scotland jersey the opposite seems to be the case?

Tom answered: It's a question a lot of people are asking. What I'd say is winning Test matches against the biggest teams is harder than winning Champions Cup games, even against Toulouse.

Test rugby is more unforgiving. Everything is of a higher standard. Also, Glasgow players have good memories of winning big games. They've been to South Africa and have won a URC title against the odds.. They've done it and they know what they're capable of in a Glasgow shirt.

There's no such confidence at Test level because Scotland have never won anything and until they do I can see them doubting themselves when the heat comes on.

Graham asked: Do you think there is an effective path for young talent to break into the senior squads at the high levels? Seems to be a lot of players in these teams now that are there through residency or ancestral links.

Tom answered: That's why David Nucifora was brought in. The pathway system has been failing young Scottish players for a long time (albeit some very good ones have made their way through).

Nucifora's plan has seen the SRU lump more money into player identification and player development. It had to happen

Glasgow and Edinburgh are getting more and more Scottish and that will continue to be the case. The challenge is this: if the pathway system does its job then where are all of these players going to play? That's a problem already, to be honest.