Need to Know: Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh part 3, PRO14 Match Preview 2019/20

KO 5.15 at BT Murryfield
Saturday 22nd August 2020
Live on Premier Sports 1

• This is the 29th match in the 1872 Cup series. Glasgow have won 15, Edinburgh 12 and there has been 1 draw.
• Less than half (14) of the starting XVs return from the Warriors’ previous home leg in this series, at Scotstoun in December.
• Huw Jones will be making his 18th start at Murrayfield (Glasgow and Scotland matches). In the previous 17 games he has scored 10 tries.
• There are only two occasions in the past three seasons when Glasgow have selected a heavier pack than the 922kg unit that will start this fixture.

Tale of the Tape:

BACKS
120   Tries   82
554   Appearances   344
53   1872 Cup appearances   25
28.4   Average age   27.2
6   Capped players   3

FORWARDS
922kg   Pack weight   896kg
810   Appearances   727
78   1872 Cup appearances   58
27.8   Average age   28.4
7   Capped players   6

SUBSTITUTES
366   Appearances   190
30   1872 Cup appearances   24
27.6   Average age   25.4
4   Capped players   2

Glasgow Greetings / Edinburgh Introductions:

Club debuts:

Surprise inclusion Dylan Evans could become the first player to make their Warriors’ debut against Edinburgh since 2012 when Jonny Gray took his bow. Andrew Davidson and Nathan Chamberlain should both make their first appearances for Edinburgh.

More than eight years after he last played a game against Edinburgh, Richie Gray returns for his Glasgow Warriors’ re-debut.

1872 Cup debuts:

• Dylan Evans
• Glenn Bryce *
• Eroni Sau
• Andrew Davidson
• Jamie Hodgson
• Nick Haining
• Nathan Chemberlain

* 1872 Cup debut for Glasgow – Glenn played twice for Edinburgh in this series during the period that he was exiled on the East coast in between spells with the Warriors.

Glenn will become the 9th man to appear for both sides of the M8 divide in 1872 Cup matches, following in the footsteps of:

Glasgow then Edinburgh – John Barclay, Mark Bennett, Henry Pyrgos, Duncan Weir, Jamie Bhatti.
Edinburgh then Glasgow – Grayson Hart, Lee Jones, George Turner.

Once A Warrior / Erstwhile Edinburghers:

Warriors’ numbers 193 (Mark Bennett – 66 apps); and 298 (Andrew Davidson – 8 apps) will be on the opposing side on Saturday. George Turner and Glenn Bryce (14 and 31 games respectively for Edinburgh) have traversed the M8 in the opposite direction.

Matchday Milestones:

This week it was confirmed that Glenn Bryce will be a Warrior until at least the end of 2020. The full back is in line to feature in his 50th PRO14 match on Saturday. In a nice bit of synchronicity this will be his 25th game in the competition for Glasgow with his other 25 coming during his time in Edinburgh.

Warriors to Watch / Edinburghers to Eyeball:

There is a distinct possibility that the four starting props for Saturday’s game will also be the quartet that Gregor Townsend favours for his Scotland matchday squads this Autumn. Zander Fagerson and Willem Nel have been the top choices at tighthead for while now with the younger man just starting to ease past the veteran for the starter’s role.

On the loosehead side, Rory Sutherland exploded back onto the international scene during the Six Nations, putting a near four year gap between Tests behind him style with some powerful performances. Oli Kebble has recently completed his three year residency and the South African born prop will almost certainly seal his Scottish qualified status with caps in October and November.

The Edinburgh pairing probably have the edge at scrum time, conceding around a third fewer penalties than their Glasgow counterparts in the most recent completed PRO14 season. The Weegies should have the edge in the loose though with the Kebble / Fagerson duo contributing nearly 10% more carries and tackles. All in all it should make for a fascinating battle around the park with Townsend and new Scotland forwards’ coach John Dalziel likely to be very interested spectators.

Glasgow at home to Edinburgh in the PRO12/14 era:

• 7 wins
• 3 losses *
• 2 Try BPs
• 1 Losing BP
• 31 points out of a possible 50 (62%)
• * 1 of the ‘home’ losses was played at Murrayfield

Most recent match-up:

Officials:

Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU, 44th championship appearance)
AR1: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
AR2: Finlay Brown (SRU)
TMO: Neil Patterson (SRU)

Mr. Adamson’s regular season record for 2018/19 in the PRO14:

Matches – 13 (all refs – 147)
Average penalty count – 17.2 per game (all refs – 18.4)
Home penalty percentage – 51% (all refs – 53%)
Average card count – 1.0 per game (all refs – 0.9)
Penalties per card – 16 (all refs – 19)

Mr. Adamson’s penalty count has crept up slightly to 18.5 during the current campaign but he’s still solidly middle of the pack among PRO14 officials. That said he did dish out 24 penalties when these two teams met at Murrayfield in December and with this being the first time both sides have played under the new law guidance at the breakdown there’s a strong chance of a relatively high crime count.