Glasgow have to match Edinburgh physically as well as play their more attractive rugby if they are to overhaul the 12 point deficit and regain the 1872 Cup at Scotstoun on Saturday, believes Peter Horne.
The Cupar-born Scotland centre skippered the Warriors in Sunday’s 23-11 loss at BT Murrayfield in the absence of Jonny Gray who failed his last concussion protocol in the final training session on Boxing Day and admitted the way his team had been manhandled by their city rivals was “tough to take”.
“When we looked after the ball, we looked dangerous and caused them problems, but ultimately our ill-discipline and not being “ball-tough” enough was the problem,” he said.
“We lost the ball in contact countless times, and fair play to them they worked really hard at the breakdown, slowed us down and we struggled to get the tempo into the game that we wanted.
“There were only two times we got above five phases in the first half and Mark’s (Bennett) was one of them. If we get tempo in our game and keep our shape we are dangerous and score tries, but we coughed up too much ball.”
Edinburgh’s physicality didn’t surprise the Warriors, he added, but they simply weren’t able to counter it.
“We also never really made our points stick; we’d get back within two points and then give away a penalty, they’d kick to the corner, get another penalty and before you know it it’s back to five points,” he continued. “Then they kick to the corner, lineout drive and there’s the try.
“We just need to play with real intensity to match them in 80 minutes, and it’s something we’ll need to do on Saturday. But we’re confident we can make the adjustments.”
Horne’s Scotland team-mate John Hardie led Edinburgh’s physical assault, and although the man of the match was bloodied and scarred after the game he relished the occasion.
“It was up there with Test match rugby, really physical; the most physical game I’ve played with Edinburgh and I really enjoyed it,” he said.
“They really chucked it at us in that first 15 minutes. I Iooked at the scoreboard and thought there were 40 minutes gone but there were only 15, so the lungs were going already, but I loved it.
“It’s always a great one playing against some of your mates. You never want them to get one over you, so I really enjoyed it.”
Tom Brown, giving up eight inches in height and several stone to Taqele Naiyaravoro, still made a key tackle on the giant at the end which kept the margin to 12 points and was typical of the effort.
“Defence was probably the key overall, they’ve got so many exciting players and they’ve got Nakarawa who can off-load and do anything and Naiyaravoro as well, but I think wee Tommy there really put his body on the line and that’s the sort of commitment we need to win those games,” added Hardie.
Boosted by victory, the openside believes they can go to Scotstoun, retain the cup and even win in Glasgow for the first time since 2002.
“I’d back us,” he said. “It’s going to be tough, They’re going to come out firing, they’ve got great players all across the paddock, really chuck it to us and 12 points doesn’t take much.
“We’ll be going out to win though. That’s the mindset we need. We can’t go out there to just defend and hold on.”