Grant Gilchrist feels Edinburgh didn’t get the physical contest they and their fans wanted in the opening 1872 Cup and wants his team to impose their game on Glasgow again.
The scrummage at Scotstoun was a particular source of frustration for Edinburgh, an area where they have dominated their rivals before but were definitely outplayed in the 20-16 loss to the Warriors.
Gilchrist thought it wasn’t a straight-up physical contest at that setpiece and realises it’s something the Edinburgh forwards themselves will have to sort out.
“There was a lot on the ground, we wanted to come and scrum but we spent all day on the ground and didn’t get a scrum battle all day,” he said.
“If you watched our games in the lead-up to this, we don’t have many scrums go to the ground. It takes two to tango, I know that as much as the next person but we need to get it sorted out for next week.
“We’ll look at ourselves first, we’re not going to go complaining and crying to anyone. We want a battle, the crowd want a battle – they don’t want to see scrums going to the deck every time.”
There was a little consolation having come so close at Scotstoun, suggesting to Gilchrist that not a lot needs to be altered.
“We need to be more accurate on the whole,” he said. “You can’t fault the effort – we were right in the game.
“At key times we made errors, whether that’s dropping the ball or not being strong in contact. For us it felt like one that got away – we’re bitterly disappointed we didn’t come away with the win because we back ourselves to be better than that.
“I think it’s clear, certainly to me, that if we tidy up a few things we weren’t a million miles away.”
Back at Murrayfield, things should be different, with Edinburgh having a strong home record in general and recently against Glasgow, losing only one of the last six games hosting the Warriors.
“We hope to get a big crowd (over 20,000 tickets have been sold) and we hope that the Edinburgh public have seen enough in us to come and support us,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll create a great atmosphere for us to play in. We love playing at Murrayfield, that’s clear by our form, and we’ll take on anyone there.
“It’s a huge game now, in the context of the 1872 Cup and the league. We took a point at the weekend, which could be important come the end of the season, but only if we win this week.
“If we win, we’re still right in the hunt. We’ve be working hard this week and making sure that we’re in the best possible shape to go and do that.”