Edinburgh’s defence and resilience, with a late try from stand-off Phil Burleigh, completed the double over Scottish rivals Glasgow and retained the 1872 Cup at BT Murrayfield.
Outplayed in the first half and trailing for much of the second, the capital club’s dogged attitude nullified the Guinness PRO12 champions and Burleigh’s score with seven minutes left lifted them to the narrowest of wins.
With their 23-11 win from the first leg it’s Edinburgh’s first double win in the annual Inter City contests since 2003, and they move into the play-off places in the PRO12 at the halfway point in the season. Glasgow, meanwhile, slump into eighth place and there were worrying injuries to key men Peter Horne and Josh Strauss to add to Gregor Townsend’s woes.
It was something of a bizarre scene at the national stadium with Glasgow fans in the clear majority after the match was moved from waterlogged Scotstoun just 60 hours before kick-off, but the travelling Warriors support did their team proud, creating more of an atmosphere than 23,000 had the previous week at the same venue.
However on the pitch Edinburgh’s defence had the measure of the Warriors again, and they slowly gained a grip at the setpiece and the contact area in the second half. Glasgow did enjoy far the better of the first 40 minutes but coughed up far too much ball and should have had much more than Mark Bennett’s try.
Edinburgh soaked up pressure and targeted ball effectively again, although John Hardie was initially well policed after the havoc he’d caused at the breakdown a week ago.
A fumble and then a loose lineout throw blunted Glasgow’s bright start, but Duncan Weir kicked them ahead after five minutes when Edinburgh were penalised trying to bring the ball out from their 22.
Edinburgh’s first foray into the Glasgow 22 saw Jonny Gray pinch their lineout ball, one of five lost in the first half alone, while they were also penalised at the first scrum.
However Glasgow continued to cough up ball while making promising inroads, and after Sam Hidalgo-Clyne had levelled the scores in 16 minutes, Edinburgh took the lead against the run of play.
Another Glasgow fumble in midfield was booted downfield by Cornell Du Preez, and Matt Scott caught the retreating Mark Bennett five metres from his own line and forced the penalty, which Hidalgo-Clyne kicked.
Glasgow finally made their possession count seven minutes before half time when Zander Fagerson juggled a pass but then smashed a gap, Chris Fusaro took it on close to the line and when the Warriors broke left, Bennett slid over from an Ali Price pass for an uncoverted try.
The Warriors lost Josh Strauss to a knock during the build-up to that try, and went for a second right on the whistle but Fraser Brown obstructed Hidalgo-Clyne as they went for the line and the gap remained just two points.
Glasgow’s execution still seemed off as the second half began, another fumble and then a drop of a routine catch by Weir in his own 22 led to a scrum penalty for Edinburgh, but Hidalgo-Clyne pushed it wide.
Instead the Warriors increased their lead after Fusaro and Price made ground and Edinburgh killed it in front of the posts, Weir booting the penalty with 55 minutes played.
With the rain falling neither side seemed to be able to get a grip of the ball in the rain or what referee Peter Fitzgibbon was looking for, especially at scrum and lineout, but Edinburgh were gradually gaining the upper hand.
Two penalties against Glasgow gave Hidalgo-Clyne a chance straight in front and he kicked his side back to 11-9 with 12 minutes left, and then more penalties against the Warriors gave Edinburgh the field position to make their decisive blow.
Twice they opted to kick to the corner rather than attempt a penalty wide out, and after the forwards sucked in defenders with drives, Burleigh slipped outside Stuart Hogg’s tackle and slid over despite replacement Peter Murchie’s attempt to stop him.
Peter Horne was stretchered off after the try leaving the Warriors with 14 men for the final minutes, but although they rallied for a series of desperate attacks on Edinburgh’s line the capital side’s defence held firm for the win.
Glasgow: S Hogg; T Naiyaravoro, M Bennett (P Murchie 74), P Horne, S Lamont; (L Jones 54) D Weir, A Price (G Hart 68); G Reid (R Grant 58), F Brown (S Mamukashvili 68), Z Fagerson (S Puafisi 54); G Peterson, J Gray (capt); R Wilson, C Fusaro (L Nakarawa 60), J Strauss (H Blake 34).
Edinburgh: J Cuthbert; D Fife, M Allen, M Scott, D Hoyland; P Burleigh, S Hidalgo-Clyne; R Sutherland (A Dell 68), R Ford (N Cochrane 34), WP Nel (J Andress 68); A Bresler, B Toolis (A Toolis 59); M Conan, J Hardie, C Du Preez.
Ref: F Fitzgibbon (IRFU)