Glasgow & The West snatch second place from Edinburgh

LEWIS STUART @ Braidholm

A TOPSY-TURVY game that defied all the usual rugby logic ended with Glasgow snatching second place in the Inter District Championship with an 82nd minute try that gave them the lead for the only time in the match. It was dramatic stuff from the hosts who had to score twice in the final five minutes to claim the result and see off their oldest rivals.

It was never less than an enthralling contest, if anything made even more exciting by the strong wind swirling round Braidholm. In both halves, it seemed to inspire the side facing it. Forced to play hard, open rugby they both took on the wind and dominated play.

Still, Edinburgh were left wondering how they managed to go from 24-15 up going into the final four minutes to losing a game they seemed to have won thanks to a storming first half.

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Kenny Diffenthal, the Glasgow coach, had one explanation. “Sometimes, in these games. guys seem to take the foot off a little bit when they think they’re gonna have the elements,” he suggested. “So, I thought it almost looked like the teams were trying to play less when they had the wind and really went for it playing into the wind.

“Making changes at the right times was important and I told the players at half-time that we had to go out and play in the second half, I didn’t want to see anyone kicking the ball. The guys coming off the bench, the finishers, stood up to be counted.”

It was a striking second half performance from the Glasgow side, because they had had so little of the first 40 minutes but somehow managed to keep their self belief when conventional logic says they should have been dead and buried.

“One of our big things has been that everybody works together,” added Diffenthal. “We’re all from different clubs, but are having a good time together and the players go out and enjoy themselves. At training and in the changing room, you’d never now they are from different clubs, there is so much spirit in the side.”

Which is not to suggest there was any lack of determination or spirit in the Edinburgh side, who gave as good as they got until they buckled under intense pressure in the final minutes.

Still, it was enough for Bob McKillop, their coach, to wonder at the mindset change which saw his players lose their accuracy and cohesion just when it really mattered.

“We had a very, very good first half into the wind – on both sides of the ball,” he said. “We attacked well and got some really good tries.

“Somehow we couldn’t keep a hold of the ball in the second half and fair play to Glasgow, they just kept coming and coming at us, retaining the ball really well.

“We can still take some encouragement though. The way we defended our goal-line and the way that they kept running, showed that. Last year Edinburgh came into this underprepared and we underperformed. This year we’ve been involved in three one-score games and only just come out on the wrong side on two of them.”

Certainly, full marks for drama as McKillop’s men started playing into the teeth of Storm Kathleen, and managed the brighter start. Their short passing game carved out holes for the big forwards to rumble into, with locks Jake Mills and Michael Badenhorst both prominent as they powered their way to the home line.

Eventually, the pressure told and after another close call from Badenhorst, they moved the ball right, where a well-timed offload from fly half Danny Owenson put full-back Charlie Brett over the line for a score superbly converted by Owenson.

Having started so well, Edinburgh promptly decided to shoot themselves in the foot, running the ball out of defence but making a mess of it as the pass went behind the whole back line. Tom Lanni, the Glasgow wing, was first to react, swooping low to collect the ball and having the strength to ground it despite Badenhorst’s attempt to hold him up.

The setback didn’t seem to dismay the capital men. Centre Robbie Kent showed real power as he charged out of his own half on a strong run, shrugging off multiple tackles before finding Brett in support. The full0back made it into the 22 but it was the brilliance of his behind-the-back flick that did the real damage and Rory Hindhaugh took the ball the rest of the way.

Though the Glasgow pack were starting to get on top in the scrum, it was still Edinburgh who finished the half on a high as Kent eased through the midfield after the forwards had done the hard work on the other side of the field.

You would have expected the visitors, with the wind advantage in the second half, to ease clear, but instead they seemed to find the elements a handicap. Glasgow were forced to handle and after making a raft of changes at the break and in the opening minutes of the half, they raised the tempo and showed how to keep the ball through the phases.

The first score did rely on Edinburgh making another blunder to gift them the attacking position, but, after props Ali Rogers and Alex Apthorpe had got them close to the line, there was nothing lucky about Andrew Goudie‘s dummy that opened his path to the line.

It was then the turn of the forwards, who worked a return pass at the front of the line-out for Paul Cairncross, the hooker to drive over and suddenly Glasgow were right back in the game.

Owenson did ease Edinburgh a bit further ahead with a penalty but that only set them up for a barmy final five minutes.

Glasgow were in total charge up front and Edinburgh were making too many mistakes to hang onto the ball as the penalty count against them mounted. A yellow card for No 8 Stuart Allison made it even tougher before Roger’s drove over in a pile of bodies with time running out.

But there was time for Glasgow to launch one final attack, going through phase after phase as they moved the ball from their own 22 to the shadow of the Edinburgh posts. They were well into double figures for phases when replacement wing Max MacFarlane cut across the defence to give his side the lead for the first time as the final whistle went.

Teams –

Glasgow & The West: James Couper (Glasgow Hawks); S Bickerstaff (Marr), C Lonegran (GHA), C Bickerstaff (C) (Marr, M MacFarlane GHA, 59), T Lanni (Ayr); C Sturgeon (Marr, A Goudie, GHA, 46), G Baird (Marr, R Baird, Marr, 53); B Sweet (Marr, A Rogers, Marr, 41), P Cairncross (Glasgow Hawks, T Martin, Ayr, 64), M Fox (GHA, A Apthrope, Marr, 41), D Andrew (Marr), M Crumlish (Glasgow Hawks, R Airlie, Ayr, 41), L Stewart (Glasgow Hawks, L McCutcheon, GHA, 42), M McCornick (Newton Stewart), B Jardine (Marr).

Edinburgh: C Brett (C) (Currie Chieftains); R Hindhaugh (Musselburgh, P Cunningham, Musselburgh, 61), R Kent (Edinburgh Accies), R Watt (Musselburgh), R Daley (Currie Chieftains); D Owenson (Musselburgh,), C Lessels (Currrie Chieftains, S Clark, Preston Lodge, 58); R Dunbar (Edinburgh Accies, C Imrie, Edinburgh Accies, 51), R Stewart (Currie Chieftains, R Jackson, Heriot’s Blues, 64), C Crookshanks (Edinburgh Accies, G Carson, Currie Chieftains, 64), J Mills (Edinburgh Accies, S Whittaker, Edinburgh Accies, 69), M Badenhorst (Musselburgh, A Bain, Currie Chieftans, 49), R Davies (Currie Chieftains), R Kirkpatrick (Heriot’s Blues, J Minty, Watsonians, 69), S Allison (Watsonians).

Referee: M Todd

Scorers –

Glasgow & The West: Tries: Lanni, Goudie, Cairncross, Rogers, MacFarlane; Cons: Goudie 2.

Edinburgh: Tries: Brett, Hindhaugh, Kent; Cons: Owenson 3; Pen: Owenson.

Scoring sequence (Glasgow & The West first): 0-5; 0-7; 5-7; 5-12; 5-14; 5-19; 5-21 (h-t) 10-21; 15-21; 15-24; 20-24; 22-24; 27-24; 29-24.

Yellow Cards –

Glasgow & the West: Lanni (28 mins).

Edinburgh: Crookshanks (58 mins), Allison (77 mins)

Player-of-the-Match: Much more of a team effort for Glasgow than having any individual shine but the player who lifted the tempo of the whole performance was Grant Baird when he came on for the second half and he gets our award.

Talking Point: Another thoroughly entertaining match in surprisingly good conditions shows the value of the Inter-District model and should encourage the Murrayfield bosses to expand the whole concept and help market these games more.

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