Need to Know: Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh part I (redux), PRO14 Match Preview 2020/21

KO 5.15 at Scotstoun Stadium
Saturday 16th January 2021
Live on Premier Sports 1

• The additions of Tom Lambert and Ollie Smith to the Warriors’ bench mean that 5 of the Scotland u20s’ side who beat Wales 52-17 a little over 10 months ago are on duty across the two sides at Scotstoun.
• With Six Nations’ squad selection on the horizon, Gregor Townsend will have plenty to keep his eye on in this game – there are 38 Scottish-qualified players on show, including 26 of the 30 men in the starting lineups.
• The Glasgow squad is the youngest selected this season. By contrast the Edinburgh 23 is the oldest they have put out during the current campaign.
• 3 Academy players in the 23 is the most in any Glasgow matchday squad since their April 2017 fixture against Zebre when Matt Fagerson, Cammy Fenton, Jamie Bhatti and George Horne were all included.

Tale of the Tape:

BACKS
62   Tries   57
309   Appearances   347
42   1872 Cup appearances   43
26.5   Average age   26.9
4   Capped players   4

FORWARDS
906kg   Pack weight   900kg
571   Appearances   767
66   1872 Cup appearances   80
26.9   Average age   29.0
6   Capped players   7

SUBSTITUTES
372   Appearances   400
38   1872 Cup appearances   55
25.4   Average age   27.4
3   Capped players   2

Glasgow Greetings / Edinburgh Introductions:

Rufus McLean, Tom Lambert and Ollie Smith are all in line for their Glasgow debuts on Saturday. Joining that trio in making their first appearances in an 1872 Cup match will be fellow Scotland u20, Jack Blain, and Scotland 7s’ Robbie Fergusson.

Rob Harley returns after a rare month without any game time (he did only miss 1 match mind you!) The Ginger Ninja has played in 71 of Glasgow’s last 76 fixtures, stretching back to the end of 2017.

Leone Nakarawa will make just his 3rd appearance at Scotstoun in the last 4½ years.

Once A Warrior / Erstwhile Edinburghers:

Warrior numbers 184 (Henry Pyrgos – 147 appearances) and 193 (Mark Bennett – 66 apps) will be on the opposing side on Friday. George Turner (14 games for Edinburgh) and Lee Jones (57 games) have made the reverse journey.

Matchday Milestones:

As mentioned in last week’s preview Ryan Wilson’s remarkable streak of starts for Glasgow will continue as he suits up for the 27th match in a row and Willem Nel will play his 150th match for Edinburgh. When he’s sprung from the bench the veteran prop may find himself up against Tom Lambert in the scrum at some stage. Lambert was 7 years old when Nel made his competitive debut for Western Province…

Warrior to Watch / Edinburgher to Eyeball:

The lineout gets a fraction of the attention that the scrum does, despite being the more commonly sighted of the setpieces. Last time these sides met, Richie Gray ruled the air, pinching 4 on the Edinburgh throw and managing 7 catches from his own side. In opposition to him again will be the capital club’s own lineout technician in the shape of Ben Toolis. The long-haired larrikin has been one of the most consistent performers in this facet of the game in the PRO14 in recent years and grabbed 6 takes at Murrayfield as his side’s primary jumper.

With the lineout providing an ideal platform to attack from the respective backlines will be hoping it is their man that can secure the best quality ball on Saturday night. With Scotland squad places on the line both Gray and Toolis know they need to shine in the area that provides their main point of difference from the other contenders in the second row.

Glasgow v Edinburgh at Scotstoun in the PRO12/14 era:

• 6 wins
• 2 losses
• 2 Try BPs
• 26 points out of a possible 40 (65%)

Most recent match-up:

Officials:

Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU, 48th competition game)
AR1: Finlay Brown (SRU)
AR2: Dunx McClement (SRU)
TMO: Charles Samson (SRU)

Mr Adamson’s regular season record for 2019/20 in the PRO14:

Matches – 9 (all refs – 101)
Average penalty count – 19.2 per game (all refs – 19.1)
Home penalty percentage – 54% (all refs – 52%)
Average card count – 1.1 per game (all refs – 1.3)
Penalties per card – 17 (all refs – 15)

This will be the 8th time that Mr Adamson has taken charge of a Warriors’ fixture, with all bar one of those games (v Southern Kings in 2017) being 1872 Cup matches against Edinburgh.

There has been a lot of hard graft to get to this point but next month Mr Adamson will become the first Scot to referee in the Men’s Six Nations since 2002.