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The Scotland sub-plot to this weekend's 1872 Cup decider

By PA
Sione Tuipulotu - PA

Franco Smith has challenged Glasgow to claim the 1872 Cup in style and ensure there is no repeat of last year’s bitter-sweet triumph.

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Warriors claimed the silverware 12 months ago after defeating Edinburgh 36-29 on aggregate, but only after the disappointment of losing the second leg at Murrayfield 19-14.

Smith’s men hold a commanding 33-14 advantage from the first leg at Hampden this time, but – with United Rugby Championship points also at stake – the Glasgow head coach wants to make sure they are heading back home along the M8 with another win under their belts on Saturday.

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    “Look, we don’t want to lose, nobody wants to lose,” stressed Smith. “So play to win. Last year in Edinburgh, it took away a little bit of the joy of winning the cup in a way.

    “So for us, there’s more to play for than just arriving and trying to win the game. We want to be the best version of ourselves.

    “It’s another URC game. We’re facing a difficult opponent away from home. We always knew that the second leg was going to be challenging.

    “Last year we found that out by losing in the last minutes. We obviously expect this game to be a tough one again, like any URC game should be.”

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    Glasgow led 33-0 going into the closing stages of last Sunday’s match but two late Edinburgh tries gave them a glimmer of hope for the second leg.

    “The two tries that we gave away in the last five minutes of the game was unnecessary for the quality of the performance,” said Smith. “So we know now that they know what to do and how to get under our skin and how to get to the other side of the pitch.

    “The work on for us this week was to be even better for a longer period.”

    More than 36,000 tickets have been sold for the Murrayfield showdown and Smith is adamant that the 1872 Cup still means a lot to his club, who are the defending URC champions.

    “It’s massive,” the South African said of the inter-city rivalry.

    “They’re not only competing for the cup but they’re also competing against each other for Test match places.

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    “There’s so much to play for. The boys are excited about being part of this. I think the 1872 Cup adds to the URC, it adds to the rivalry, it adds to the entertainment value.

    “The fact that the people are going to come from Glasgow and Edinburgh to make this a spectacular day is a compliment to this.

    “The boys are very motivated and eager to play well and to make Scotland proud.”

    Smith has made two changes to his starting XV, with Gregor Hiddleston replacing injured hooker Johnny Matthews and Jamie Dobie in for George Horne at scrum-half.


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    J
    JW 2 hours ago
    Where is the new breed of All Black 10?

    Players like Prendergast and Finn Smith already have a few seasons at top club level under their belt and are now test players, at an age when NZ players make their debuts in SR.

    That’s just a difference in standards. You’re confusing SR for being their local domestic comps, where it’s more accurately comparable to Champions Cup, apart from that teams are happy to throw games as it’s in a bit of a limbo in terms of importance atm.


    All these kids have been playing for a comparable NPC team for years now. Sam is no where near ready for tests but he has a great temperament, much like Sextons, that makes it a good choice to speed up his development. He wasn’t even a comparable Super Rugby starter before playing for Ireland, so not a great comparison.


    Fin would be much better example, but then England don’t have 3 world class Test tens in front of him (not that I’d put Beauden their but obviously in terms of young NZ players chances, he is). Would he otherwise have debuted at the same age as Fergus Burke (injury and leaving withstanding), around 24, a couple of years later? England also aren’t as pedantic to who they give jerseys to, in NZ a test jersey is very hard earned for the most part.


    In general I think the effects are as you say, but the only difference is the money involved, as you yourself said, their paths are just as all over the show being loaned out playing for clubs etc. My solution to that, and what you perceive as the problem, would be to introduce university football that utilitizes the large investment they have into high performance sport.

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