Having tweaked the Warriors’ tail in his favourite fashion earlier in the week, Richard Cockerill was gushing with praise for Edinburgh’s inter-city rivals as the two sides sized each other up with their selections.
The Edinburgh head coach takes great delight in trying to stir the derby rivalry, while opposite number Dave Rennie has made it a strict policy to avoid it. But Cockers artfully changed tack yesterday when considering his hosts’ selection for the opening 1872 Cup match at Scotstoun this evening (kick-off 5.45 pm).
“You don’t get to top of leagues and get to finals like they’ve done without being a good team,” he said of a Glasgow side struggling a little this season. “There’s been some change in their backline but with respect to everyone, you take Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg out of any team there’s going to be a difference.
“Hogg’s a generational player and very hard to replace. But (Adam) Hastings is a cracking player at 10 and I’ve got a lot of time for George Horne, he’s quick and dangerous.
“Ruaridh Jackson at 15 means they’ve got two good ball players on the pitch, it makes them more dangerous if anything. Huw Jones, we know what a quality finisher he is and that will be a great contest with Mark Bennett. Sam Johnson’s probably been the best back in Scotland over the last 12 months.
“I don’t think Glasgow are particularly weaker than previously. They’re a good side and are well coached, but it’s the same for us, I just think Edinburgh as a team have got better. They’ve been leading the charge against us being in the pack and it’s always easier to chase. We’ve been chasing Glasgow this last few years to be as good as they are.”
Cockerill did concede that the two teams had changed positions in a year, with Edinburgh coming into the matches over Christmas and New Year settled and in form, while Glasgow are the ones scrambling for points.
“They’re in a different position that they’ve been used to, and it’s a bit like ourselves coming into the game last year,” he added. “But we’re only a third through the season and whether either team wins or loses the game the next two weekends, it’s not going to be the end of their league season.
“There’s not a lot of weakness in their side but when I look at the selection sheet there’s not a lot of weakness in this Edinburgh side.
“It’s a good sign for Scottish rugby. I think it’s two evenly matched teams, a sold out Scotstoun, and we’re looking forward to going there and taking on the challenge of what’s going to be red hot derby.”
Cockerill’s decisions were more difficult based on who to leave out, with Simon Hickey starting at 10 ahead of Jaco van der Walt, and Jamie Ritchie on the bench for a back row of Bradbury, Watson and Mata just showing Edinburgh’s riches in that area even without the injured John Barclay and Luke Crosbie.
Edinburgh won both ends of the doubleheader last Christmas – recording only their second win in Glasgow in 16 years – but then were well beaten in the third game, also at Scotstoun, at the end of the season.
“We played them last game of the year and we had a tired squad and they were better than us on the day, they were more physical and we got a sound beating,” said Cockerill.
“We are well aware of what their strengths are and what they can do up front. Our forward pack has played well over the past few weeks, the line-out drive has been good so it will be a full on contest.”
Edinburgh team: Blair Kinghorn; Darcy Graham, Mark Bennett, George Taylor, Duhan van der Merwe; Simon Hickey, Henry Pyrgos; Pierre Schoeman, Stuart McInally, Pietro Ceccarelli; Ben Toolis, Grant Gilchrist; Magnus Bradbury, Hamish Watson, Viliame Mata.
Replacements: Mike Willemse, Jamie Bhatti, Simon Berghan, Lewis Carmichael, Jamie Ritchie, Nic Groom, Jaco van der Walt, James Johnstone.
