'Different animal': Defiant Edinburgh Rugby vow to come out swinging

There weren’t many positives that Edinburgh could take from their trip to Hampden to play Glasgow Warriors but Boan Venter’s two late tries at least added a veneer of respectability to the final scoreline and the prop has promised that the capital club will “come out swinging” when the sides meet again at Murrayfield this weekend.

Glasgow were runaway 33-14 winners in the 1872 Cup first leg and are red-hot favourites to lift the trophy for a third year in a row. It would take a comeback of mammoth proportions for Edinburgh to overturn the 19-point deficit and secure an aggregate victory and their main priority will be simply to win the match and claim some much needed points in the United Rugby Championship.

Edinburgh's Boan Venter, partially hidden, plunges over for the first of his two tries in the defeat by Glasgow Warriors at Hampden. | SNS Group

That was what they did last year when they bounced back from a first leg defeat at Scotstoun to prevail at Murrayfield but Venter and his team-mates know that sooner rather than later they will need to arrest their wretched run of form away from home. You have to go back to April for their last win on the road, a worrying state of affairs for Sean Everitt’s squad.

“I think this season has proven we're a different animal when we play at home,” said Venter, whose power and quick thinking saw him score two tap-penalty tries in the final seven minutes at Hampden. “I think that's where some of the frustration comes in. We'd like to become that well-rounded team that can play well and win well away from home, just as well as we do at home. I've got no doubt that we'll come out swinging next weekend. It just depends on the balance of the ball and the day. I'll put all my weight behind the boys and hopefully the result goes our way.”

They won’t lack for backing. Over 30,000 tickets have already been sold for the match on Saturday. Following on from the 27,538 crowd at Hampden, the two 1872 Cup games are on course to attract a combined attendance of over 60,000.

Venter wants to give the Edinburgh supporters something to cheer and also atone for a first-leg performance which he said was unrepresentative of the club. They never looked like winning the match and at one point looked to be heading for their worst ever defeat in the fixture as they trailed 33-0.

Boan Venter says Edinburgh will 'come out swinging' against Glasgow at Murrayfield. | SNS Group

“It just wasn't a real reflection of what this side can do,” said the South African loosehead who came on as a second-half replacement. “I wouldn't say there's any blame on anyone. At the end of the day, it's rugby and it's a 23-man game. Whether you play in the first half or in the second half, it's an 80-minute game. It is frustrating that we went so far off script and did uncharacteristic stuff. But as I said, plenty of learnings in that game, loads of frustrating stuff. It’s back to the drawing board for next week. At least we get to go again next weekend and do our best to right our wrongs.”