Sean Everitt pinpoints key to Edinburgh's 1872 Cup win as Glasgow come up against 'something special'

Sean Everitt praised his Edinburgh players for their “outstanding defence” and for the way they bounced back from a heavy defeat in the 1872 Cup first leg to defeat Glasgow Warriors in a tight second match at Murrayfield.

The coach had called on his squad to show “greater intent” and they responded, winning 10-7 in front of a record crowd at the national stadium. It wasn’t enough to win the 1872 Cup - Glasgow retain it because they prevailed 40-24 on aggregate - but it was a victory which showed the team’s character. It also gains them four important points in the United Rugby Championship.

“I'm very pleased with how they responded,” said Everitt. “Obviously, it's frustrating that we can't do this every week. But if we take this game on its own, it was a tough week for the players after delivering that performance last week. But I’m really proud of how they turned it around because that's what they're capable of.”

Edinburgh's Hamish Watson is all smiles after the 10-7 win over Glasgow Warriors at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. | SNS Group

Edinburgh lost the first leg 33-14 at Hampden and Everitt had accused the players of letting down the club’s supporters. It didn’t stop them turning up in numbers and there were 40,063 inside Murrayfield, the highest ever attendance for an Edinburgh home game.

They weren’t treated to a classic and had to wait almost 70 minutes for the first try. Edinburgh had led 3-0 at the break through a Ross Thompson penalty but Glasgow fought back in the second half and were awarded a penalty try in the 68th minute after a period of pressure which saw Edinburgh hooker Paddy Harrison sent to the sin-bin. The home side responded immediately, Pierre Schoeman burrowing his way over for the decisive try which was converted by Ben Healy.

Everitt admitted that the week after the Hampden defeat had been “a challenge” but one which he was happy to take on.

“At the end of the day, you get the reward of being in this job,” he said. “Pressure is a privilege, otherwise you'd be coaching amateur rugby somewhere where no one knows that you're playing on a Saturday.”

He added: “We spoke during the week about intent, and there certainly was intent. I think it's easier when you're on the front foot, and I think the guys showed that if you're well disciplined, the game becomes easier.

Scott Cummings, right, celebrates Glasgow Warriors' penalty try. Edinburgh responded with a try of their own almost immediately. | SNS Group

“And it's about the pressure that you put on the opposition. Although we didn't get tries tonight, we put a lot of pressure on them from an attack point of view, and they conceded the penalties – because you become impatient and suddenly you go for the wrong ball on the floor and you get pinged for it.

“So, proud of them, but I thought our defence was outstanding tonight. If you can see the line breaks that we had last week around the ruck, which were fundamental errors. If you can close that space down and you can set early, we were able to contain Glasgow.”

The coach knows Edinburgh now need to kick on and show they can also win on the road. They have not won an away game since April and face a trip to France to play Vannes in the Challenge Cup in their first match of the new year.

“I think a win tonight goes a long way to show what the players can do when they pitch up and have the right intent,” added Everitt.

“We have put teams away well at home. We've got to do that away and we've got a very big test on how we've improved in that area in two weeks' time against Vannes who aren't sitting on top of the Top 14 but play in a really hostile environment. It's not easy to go there and win, and Bordeaux found that out a couple of weeks ago.”

For Glasgow, it was flat end to a brilliant year but their head coach, Franco Smith, had no complaints about the result.

“No, I'm not disappointed at all,” said Smith whose side sit second in the URC. “Tonight we ran into a wall of blue defenders. There was something special about them. We said that before the first game, too. We said they’re a quality team, Sean is a good coach, and they're well organised.

“Last week, maybe it looked easy for us. This week we had three opportunities in the first half but couldn't score from them. And that was the difference. Last week we scored off the first three opportunities.”

Duhan van der Merwe on the attack against Glasgow. The Edinburgh winger later went off with a head injury. | SNS Group

Glasgow, the URC champions, remain second in the standings as the season reaches its halfway point. They have lost three times in the league, all by narrow margins.

“I want to win everything every day,” added Smith, whose side at least took a losing bonus point. “But we’ve lost by one point, three points and four points in this competition which is tight. So, therefore today the compliment was with Edinburgh, not necessarily with us not doing what we did. I just think they had answers for all the questions.”

Edinburgh lost both Jamie Ritchie and Duhan van der Merwe to head injuries but with no games next weekend, the hope is they will return for the Vannes match.