Edinburgh backline will have to deliver for derby
UNLESS the Edinburgh back division turn into the Magnificent Seven at Murrayfield on Saturday, then Glasgow Warriors will ride off into the sunset with an easy win.
With the forward packs equally matched, it all comes down to who runs in the tries and attacks best.
Even Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill admits his side are a distant second in that department.
‘All the best talent, backs-wise, has gone to Glasgow. There’s no getting away from that,’ he said.
Cockerill (below) isn’t playing mind games here. The Warriors back division are streets ahead of their capital counterparts.
Glasgow dominated selection for Scotland in that area in last month’s three internationals.
Only one Edinburgh back played any part. That was centre Phil Burleigh, who got the final 18 minutes of the last game against Australia.
The seven-man starting back division against Samoa and New Zealand was made up exclusively of Glasgow players.
Five of the Scotland backs who started against Australia were also from the Warriors. It would have been six if Stuart Hogg hadn’t injured his hip before kick-off.
For Edinburgh’s backs to have any chance of pushing their way into Gregor Townsend’s plans for the Six Nations, they have to outplay their opposite numbers in the first derby of the season.
That gives this weekend’s game an extra edge for both sides.
‘Our boys want to stay in there with Scotland so that is our incentive to do well at Murrayfield,’ said Glasgow winger Lee Jones, formerly with Edinburgh. ‘From Edinburgh’s point of view, they want to knock our boys off, so that’s the big incentive for them.’ The likes of full-back Blair Kinghorn, wingers Damien Hoyland and Dougie Fife and scrum-half duo Sam Hidalgo-Clyne and Nathan Fowles will all have to stand up and be counted. They will be facing a team in which the world-class Finn Russell and scrum-half Ali Price make up the half-back pairing. Tommy Seymour will be on one wing and Jones on the other. Ruaridh Jackson will take over from the injured Hogg at full-back. The Warriors have an embarrassment of riches in the centre, with Huw Jones, Alex Dunbar, Peter Horne and Nick Grigg all competing for a place. You fear for the Edinburgh backs against a Glasgow unit that’s among the best in the business.