Need to Know: Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh, United Rugby Championship match preview 2021/22

KO 7.00 at Scotstoun Stadium
Monday 27th December 2021
Live on Premier Sports 1

• This is the 33rd match contested for the 1872 Cup. Glasgow have won 17, Edinburgh 14 and there has been one draw (during this era, the Warriors have also won two further non-1872 Cup clashes between these sides – in August 2020 and May 2021).
• The aggregate score across the previous 32 matches in the 1872 Cup series is Glasgow 624 – 618 Edinburgh.
• A combination of squad development and unavailable players means that just 11 of the 30 who started the last Glasgow v Edinburgh match at Scotstoun will also start this time around.
• This will be the first time Glasgow have played a match against Edinburgh without at least one of Rob Harley or Ryan Wilson in the lineup since 2nd January 2010.
• Outside centres, Kyle Steyn and Mark Bennett are the players to watch.

Teams

Tale of the Tape:

BACKS
42   Tries   44
263   Appearances   249
28 1872 Cup appearances 49
26.1   Average age   28.0
5   Capped players   6

FORWARDS
911kg   Pack weight   911kg
476   Appearances   581
57 1872 Cup appearances 53
26.8   Average age   27.5
7   Capped players   8

SUBSTITUTES
385   Appearances   179
40 1872 Cup appearances 14
26.7   Average age   27.0
3   Capped players   1

Glasgow Greetings / Edinburgh Introductions:

1872 Cup debutants – Glasgow:

• Josh McKay
• Sebastian Cancelliere
• Rory Darge*
• Jack Dempsey
• Murphy Walker

1872 Cup debutants – Edinburgh:

• Emiliano Boffelli
• Ramiro Moyano
• Cameron Hutchison
• Lee Roy Atalifo*
• Harrison Courtney
• Angus Williams
• Pierce Phillips
• Glen Young**
• Ben Vellacott
• Charlie Savala*

* has previously played in a non-1872 Cup match between Glasgow and Edinburgh

** club debut

Once A Warrior / Erstwhile Edinburghers:

George Turner and Rory Darge both made their professional debuts for Edinburgh prior to moving to Glasgow, while Henry Pyrgos (Warrior number 184) and Mark Bennett (number 193) made the opposite journey along the M8.

Among the Warriors’ ranks are two players who started their career in Glasgow, transferred to Edinburgh before returning to Scotstoun (via spells in England). It’s the classic story of being drawn to the dark side before redemption and a return to the light. Jamie Bhatti and Duncan Weir are essentially both Darth Vader.

Matchday Milestones:

Both Richie Gray and Luke Crosbie will play their 50th games in the URC (in all its guises). However, there’s a fairly significant contrast in how long each player had to wait to hit this landmark. Gray made his tournament debut in March 2009 against Ulster whereas Crosbie’s first game was in October 2017.

Warrior to Watch / Edinburgher to Eyeball:

Both Kyle Steyn and Mark Bennett will feel they have a case to put forward as options for Scotland at outside centre. Steyn has spent most of his recent playing time for Glasgow on the wing. Bennett’s Edinburgh career has been seriously disrupted by injuries. 1872 Cup games provide a rare opportunity to go head to head with direct rivals and both men will be keen to show what they are capable of with Gregor Townsend more than likely in attendance.

In the last two years, the Scotland 13 shirt has been almost entirely the preserve of Chris Harris (14 starts) and Huw Jones (3) with Sione Tuipulotu’s turn against Tonga the only break from that duopoly. While Harris is a British & Irish Lion and has an extremely strong grip on the jersey he will be nearly 33 by the end of the next RWC. That could mean opportunity knocks for someone – and both Steyn and Bennett have the talent and skillsets to put themselves in the frame.

Glasgow v Edinburgh at Scotstoun:

• 8 wins
• 2 losses
• 3 try BPs
• 35 points out of a possible 50 (70%)

Previous match-up at Scotstoun:

Officials:

Referee: Ben Blain (SRU, 15th league game)
AR1: Keith Allen (SRU)
AR2: David Sutherland (SRU)
TMO: Mike Adamson (SRU)

Mr Blain’s regular season record for 2020/21:

Matches – 6
Average penalty count – 17.8 per game
Home side penalties conceded percentage – 55.1%
Average card count – 1.0 per game
Penalties per card – 17.8

This will be the third time in charge of an 1872 Cup fixture for Mr Blain with the Warriors emerging victorious on both previous occasions – although losing the penalty count in each game.

Mr Blain famously sin binned five players when these sides met in Glasgow in December 2019. While his stats for last season suggest a tempering of the number of cards and penalties issued these fixtures can get heated – last time out at Scotstoun in the Rainbow Cup there were two red and two yellow cards. Hopefully, cool heads will prevail for the Warriors under the Monday night lights…

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Additional ref stats from: https://www.cardiffrfcfans.com/analysis/referee_heads.php?countryID=3